The 14 Point Web Design Checklist
Posted on February 25, 2007 by
Adie 
Web Development 
90 Comments
A lot of people have been asking me lately how I price my website design services. A lot of people think there’s a formula to use (time + experience - overhead = rate) but that’s too restrictive. Others raise their rates little by little until they start to see a drop in client interest and then slowly level it out to find the optimal price for their particular service(s). I’ve got something much easier. It’s an all-inclusive checklist, and it’s the only reference you’ll ever need to price your web design services.
1) Start with a base value of $30 - Here’s an example of a $30 design.
2) Add $10 if it’s for a clan - Making clan templates is the first step to going pro.
3) Add $20 if it’s for a blog - Blogs are in.
4) Add $30 if it’s for a forum - Forums are inner.
5) Add $50 if it’s for an eCommerce site - eCommerce sites are innest.
6) Add $10 for every random vector you include - You can steal them from deviantArt if you can’t make your own.
7) Add $5 for every gradient in the design - Gradients are cool now.
8) Add $5 for everytime you use outer glow - Check out Windows Vista for outer glows in action!
9) Add $5 for everytime you use drop shadow - Check out Windows Vista for drop shadows in action!
10) Add $15 if they need a custom logo - You can use this totally not made for Adsense site to learn more about making custom logos.
11) Add $5 if they need a mascot - Just Google image search pandas or something and charge them for it.
12) Add $25 if they need it coded - Then hire a teenager to do it for you.
13) Add $1,000 to make it “Web 2.0″ - Just add a lot of white space and use pink as the main color.
14) Add $5,000 if the client asks you what “Photoshop” is - The ignorant pay more.
There you go. Just roll down this checklist everytime you have a new client contact you about a job.
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ROFFLES for breakfast lunch and dinner
I definitely support comments such as these.
Jesus Christ was a vegetarian +1 truth
I must be a shmuck, but what are ROFFLES???
ROFL = rolling on the floor lauging. Roffles are like waffles except they are not waffles, I guess.
Ah, I new the ROFL…had never heard ROFFLES…thanks mate!
Pefect list here. The ignorant must pay more.
Ain’t it the truth?
Ain’t what the truth :?
Make the ignorant pay.
Well, at the same time, this could be amo for the ignorant since they now have a reference point as to what they may be charged. They all of a sudden see a $5000 charge…they may suspect they are being placed in the ignorant, NOOB category (probably for good reason).
Damn, I knew I paid to much :)
I thought you were serious after reading the first couple lines, but once I realized it was a joke it really had me laughing to myself.
Great read!
Good one guys! Great guest-posting on each other’s blogs. Enjoyed it.
Shine on,
Aaron Cook
:D glad you liked it Aaron.
Hmm.. nice read.
What’s photoshop?
It’s something we use to create web pages. It’s extremely expensive and takes years to master. I’m not going to bore you with all the techno mumbo-jumbo, but you should know using a tool as powerful as this isn’t cheap which is why I have to charge at least $5,000 per project. Of course I take VISA.
Years to Master, haha, I guess it does.
LOL! nice. I know more then enough people who can say that and make people fight to give them more money
LAUGHING MY ASS OFF!!!!!
Only because I know how technical Photoshop can be and only the most specialized tech savvy individual can manipulate its functions…aka $$$
;)
I love the politically incorrect article!
At first I thought this was maybe in some foreign currency that is worth a LOT more…
Customizing a CMS system alone will cost at least $500 (if you do a good job for a picky client it’s minimum 10 hours of work).
I’m glad it’s a joke haha.
Nice =))))))))))))
Yes, ignorants pay more!!! YEahh!!!
Thanks for the list. Hope someday I too can start one service.
[...] read more | digg story Posted by Zie on February 26th, 2007 Filed in Tech [...]
Dugg. Good stuff.
I really hope that anyone reading this post and follows point #6 will give the $10 to which deviantArt user you stole their work to make your profit.
And for #12, if you the reader are the teenage programmer, make sure to charge whomever charged you more than what they are charging their clients! Don’t get ripped!
Support the artist! Don’t steal!
Wait, you will do a website for that cheap? Holy crap…
The cheapest I would make a website for is $1000…
Point #6: Please see http://help.deviantart.com/94/ for information on how what you are suggesting is against copyright laws and any money you make from said website can be lost in a lawsuit.
On an *unrelated* note, can I see some examples of your completed work?
That’s the beauty of LLC’s, all the liability falls back on the corp and none on you personally.
Really cool guide. Will share it with my designers.
This is great, I will have to change my whole business plan… :D
dude you are undercharging. really!
LOL, very interesting, never seen a list quite like this for web design.
Jeśli zastanawiasz się ile wziąć kasy za http://www...
JeÅ›li masz problem z wycenÄ… usÅ‚ugi zbudowania strony internetowej, bÄ…dź serwisu, portalu itp musisz poznać 14 kroków prawidÅ‚owej wyceny. Z lekkim przymróżeniem oka ;)…
dugg it, some of the points might sound funny but they also have a practical vector :)!
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I was hoping for something useful here…funny nonetheless
We have just launched “web 2.0″ property called Zimoz.com . It lets you create postcards . You can tell your life stories on postcards and send this postcards to friends.
Any idea how much we should pay our designer based on this checklist .
I’m not sure but selfl-promotion in comments costs $10k per reference. I’ll send you an invoice.
Auh, sux to be you Rajesh!! :P
This pretty kool, neat and funny :)
Has anyone chkd out India’s first Web 2.0 Hyper Aggregated Portal - Indy Chai (Beta)
http://www.IndyChai.com
You’ve almost done inspired me to make a “Make your website Web 2.0″ checklist. I can’t tell you how many times I get that question.
Ohhhh OHHHHHH this is funny… ha…. wait umm… ha…..
I’ll file this under “L” for “f*cking Lame”
Hi, your greatly helpful e 14 Point Web List has been featured on http://www.TodaysTen.com. Check out other Top 10 List there too! Very Funny post post form Matt!
Seriously thinking about forwarding this to the boss…
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This is soo fucking gay…
Hah. Nice w/ the Web 2.0: “use lots of white space and pink”
Well, I just wasted 1 minute of my life.
Too bad stealing images can land you in Jail! Hope nobody takes this advice or this checklist too seriously!
I hope they do! Thin out the dummy population a bit.
White space and pink, wouldn’t that be a mix of a professional and a woman????? = Professional Woman
[...] I saw this today and chuckled at it. It actually has more truth than what you would think. I personally find the example of a $30 template amusing  [...]
Dont forget to add the PIA fee.
I heard of a mortgage guy that added a PIA fee into the closing costs on a home loan. He got fired. But left with Colbert balls.
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ROTFLMAO!!!
That was great!
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I understand this post was in good fun. However, I worry that people may read this and take it seriously.
First off, there’s no such thing as a $30 dollar web design. Google, even their main page includes a lot of scripting. Unless you’re not going to charge for similar scripting (which takes skill incidentally), you’re going to charge more than $30 for the site.
The only people that care about Clan sites are people who are members of clans. The first step to going pro is not by focusing on Clan sites, but rather, building the largest informational site that you can without infringing on someone else’s copyright.
Blogs are stupid, and provide no value to your customer unless they have a business need for a blog.
Forums are rarely customized in the real world. PHPbb is the defacto freeware software to do that, and it comes included in Cpanel, so it’s a moot point to even mention it.
There’s no such thing as a $50 dollar e-com site… unless you’re doing data entry for free.
Stealing is wrong, and can get you into legal trouble. We live in an age where there can be harsher penalties for copyright infringement than murder in some countries. Seriously, it’s not a good idea.
If you need gradients use them. Charging on a per gradient basis makes you look like an amateur, and it will show in your invoices.
Gradients, glows, and snazzy eye candy are nice, but remember, the internet is about CONTENT. Don’t use special effects unless you need to, or if you need to enhance your presentation in a way that would enhance the content. For the love of god, don’t charge for every special effect. It’s petty, and ultimately pointless. I’ll break down pricing in a minute.
If you’re charging $15 for a custom logo it’s far too low. Unless you’re producing sub standard work… $85 is about the low end of the going rate. Realistically, you can charge between $85 and $210 based on the amount of work that went into it. If it’s just a type setting, you don’t have to charge anything.
If you use Google to find your creative, beyond simple icons, you’re shooting your client in the head, and yourself in the balls. It will come back to bite you, and you don’t want to be there when it does.
If you’re going to be a “web designer” you must also be a coder. This should be covered under your hourly rate as it is skilled labor. If you don’t know this, you shouldn’t be doing it.
Dear god… pink? Not unless you’re doing porno.
And if you charge $5000 when your client asks what photoshop is, you’ll have all the joy and comfort of never getting paid for your work.
Look, it’s this kind of behavior that gives us all a bad name. As far as rates… well it all depends who you’re working for and what your costs are. If you’re working for small businesses, you can keep your costs low and make a profit by using pieces or templates that can be re-used. In this case, you’re looking at charging per job at an average between $300-500.
If you’re working for a big client you need more overhead, maybe some extra people working on the project. This can be done from your home, but you will at some point need the control that comes with running a real IT services operation. In that case, expect to charge $60 an hour for simple web stuff html/javascript/basic .net. Different technologies have different costs, and different price tags.
If you’re working directly for the client, depending on the technologies involved, it could range from anywhere between $30 and $50 an hour. Really depends on the client, the budget for the project, and your individual needs as a developer. Expect to spend more time and invariably make more when the client involves any sort of formal project methodology.
Not because you’re being dishonest like our friend who wrote this article, but simply because process usually means more work… not less.
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I can’t believe someone took this obvious over the top humorous post seriously and got upset!
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hi…now it’s very easy to make web design checklist.I think these are really effective, thanks to share your ideas.
A refreshing article: I enjoyed it. Thanks! :)
Respiro
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Doesn’t party poker cheat
Looks like there is always a dilemma:
- your money for work
- clinets interested to pay you the money and get the work done
I wish that the 2nd side never had a drop :)))
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It’s interesting but i think it’s quite low the prices
and i don’t like the word “steal” because a designer-photographer have worked for this and the artwork is copyrighted. I think the best was
“14) Add $5,000 if the client asks you what “Photoshop” is - The ignorant pay more”
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[...] read more | digg story [...]
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Too much figures to calculate, don’t you think? ;)
My price depends on a project complexity.
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