Web Developers: Charging Too Little Hurts the Entire Community

Last month’s survey asked a simple question: How much do you charge for a simple, custom-designed, WordPress-powered website? Much to my surprise (and dismay), a large portion of readers charge less than $300 for their services. Fellow web developers, you are hurting the entire community by charging too little.

Why I Charge What I Do

For a fairly simple, custom-designed, WordPress-powered website, my rate starts at $1000 and is usually closer to $1500 depending on the features required. This may sound incredibly high to some people but let’s take a look at why I charge what I do (and why people are happy to pay):

  • Time investment: I spend many hours coming up with the exactly, at least on paper, the client wants. This may include research into competitors, finding what interface and usability features will give them a competitive edge, and try to get a better understanding of the market they are targeting. I care about the clients I work with and I try to make my work reflect that – I’m not in it to just make them a website, I want to help their business succeed.
  • Satisfaction guarantee: When it comes to the actual design, I spend a lot of time making detailed Photoshop mockups of the website. I go back and forth with the client multiple times until we reach a design that both I and the client are happy with. Usually it takes about 3-4 rounds of iterations before coming to this point but for me, it’s totally worth it as I don’t have to completely change the code later on. It’s also certainly worth it for the client as they know exactly what to expect.
  • Quality: Web development and UI design is my profession, so I treat it as such. I invest a lot of time and resources into improving my skills and perfecting my craft, which ultimately results in a consistent level of high quality work. When clients hire me, they know the work isn’t outsourced and that they can expect a great looking website in return.
  • Professionalism: Again, since this is my profession, I make sure to treat it as such and deal with clients with utmost professionalism. If work is taking longer than expected, I let the client know ahead of time. Communication is key and I provide my clients with constant updates on the progress of the project.

While it’s true that most clients know that “you get what you pay for,” I still have clients every now and then come to me and say My friend is a web developer and he’ll do it for $300, why do you charge so much? While I have no problem explaining the reasons I charge what I do, the trend itself is becoming more and more worrisome. You charge $300 for what you do because you’re new, a Ukrainian teenager will charge $200 to undercut you and an Indian “agency” will follow up by asking for $100. Other than the diminishing cost and level of quality, this is leaving a decreased sense of value for the client, which ends up hurting us all.

My Humble Plea

So my request to fellow developers is please, consider what you’re charging and just make sure it’s fair to both you and the client. Don’t work endless hours for abysmal rates and always try to provide your clients with the level of work they pay for. Instead of producing cheap work that lacks quality, focus on making higher quality work and charge more – it will aide your reputation, make you more money in the long run and increase the overall worth of the work we do.

This Month’s Poll

For the remainder of January, I want to know what host you guys use for your website. Right now I’m with Linode (they sponsor this blog and are, from my experience, incredible), but I want to get an idea about what you guys use for serious sites that require stability. So when you get a chance, take a second and answer the poll in the sidebar. Thanks!

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  • http://www.muntzdesigns.com Ed

    As a new freelance designer I’m just having trouble finding out what is a quality quote? For example…What would everyone charge for a WordPress Theme Design, Development and Integration (10 pages). Everyone seems to charge way different prices for the same thing? Feedback would be great!

    • http://devgrow.com/ Monjurul Dolon

      It makes sense to be confused about this, as everyone seems to be charging something different. For me, it depends on the features and the complexity of the work. Like I outlined above though, for me a custom site using WP as the CMS usually starts around $1000, again depending on feature set.

  • Jas

    Good article and really if you’re a web dev business and your only competitive advantage is price then you wont be in business for long because as you say someone from bolivia will learn how to install wordpress and do you out of a job. of course its not that straightforward because youre forgetting that in most cases businesses would rather work with someone local, someone that speaks the same language and most importantly someone they can trust.

    higher price in some weird way actually works better because the client assumes (rightly or wrongly) that they will get a better result. and because they never find out about that ukranian teenager willing to do it for a fraction (because they cant market themselves in english) then theyll be none the wiser

    i would say let the market determine the price and that web devs (and the social media/hosting buddies) be honest about costs – we all know the technology has scaled to make it more affordable and tools are making something that previously took 2 weeks now takes ten minutes.

    if youre greedy then you deserve to get undercut and lose your business!

    • http://devgrow.com/ Monjurul Dolon

      I agree with your points about locality and the other barriers that stand between you and the client – the less there are, the more likely you are to get them.

      As for pricing, it’s not about being greedy but rather charging what is fair for you and for your client. My fear is rather that clients will, over time, have have a diminishing sense of value for the work I spend a lot of time and care producing because others who claim to do the same thing do it poorly and for less. They get the false impression that these increasingly popular part-time, hobbyist developers that produce rather unprofessional work are actually the norm, which (in my opinion), hurts the community.

      • Jas

        Forgive me if it sounded like i was saying you were greedy, i mean there are some in the industry who i feel are fleecing clients unfairly.

        maybe the key is some good ol fashioned marketing – educating clients about the value theyre actually getting, maybe just some jigging the wording around of your invoices or quotes but if the client doesnt see the difference between a $300 site and a $1500 site then maybe its our fault for not educating them properly

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