How to Price Your Web Design Services

So you’ve decided to set up a web design service or agency, congratulations! That makes us colleagues and so it is our duty to welcome you to the wonderful world of designing websites for a living. This is a great gig that affords you a ton of flexibility and creativity, so we’re pretty sure you’re going to love it!

But this isn’t all just a lark. Unfortunately, in order for this to be a worthwhile endeavor you also need to have an actual business plan and then you need to execute such a business plan. That means you need to think about things like overheads, profits, marketing, and more.

And as a new WordPress web developer, you need to think about how you’re going to price your design service too. This can actually be one of the most difficult decisions you’ll make, so let’s take a look at how you can make the decision.

What’s a Good Price for Web Design?

A good place to start might be by looking at the market and the lay of the land. What is considered a good price for web design? What do other design agencies charge? And what is the best strategy for your pricing in terms of maximizing revenue and profits?

Actually, there is no real consistency in this regard which already doesn’t help massively. Some website design companies charge very little indeed – offering to build websites for $100 or less – while others will charge thousands of dollars for something quite basic.

This means that you can charge $2,000 per website and get away with it. But the difference is all about who your market is and the level of service you want to offer.

If you’re going to be charging thousands of dollars, then that means you’re going to be going B2B. Individuals and entrepreneurs are very unlikely to be willing to pay this kind of money for their website design but companies will simply write it off as an expense.

Making websites for companies though, means that you’ll be expected to provide a certain level of professionalism and sheen and you’ll probably have to make something a lot more custom. This also means you need to be able to demonstrate that ability, which will often mean having a portfolio of similar work.

A Good Strategy

If you’re a brand new business or individual selling website design, then coming in at a high price point and targeting larger organizations is going to be difficult. This will involve charging a premium without that all important experience or portfolio. You won’t have the connections and you may not have the team or resources.

One way around this then is to simply start small and build up. If you advertise on sites like UpWork, Elance or even Warrior Forum, then you can market your business toward online entrepreneurs and marketers. They’ll likely only be able to pay relatively little for your work but the plan is to then build up a repertoire of clients, get into some kind of flow and eventually start going after the bigger fish once you have the head start. It also means you have a fall back if you go a while without getting business and it means that you can reinvest some of your money into marketing – which you’ll need if you’re going to get those big corporate clients.

Then you can start to charge a lot more and create a higher standard of website. If you’re a small team, then you might consider outsourcing some of your work to overseas agencies. This way, you can lean on the expertise of companies (like ColorWhistle!) and that way create websites with all of the more advanced features that a bigger company might expect. What’s more though, is that you will also be able to scale up your business. That’s because outsourcing allows you to get the same work for a lower price, meaning that you can pass it on and keep the difference. Using agencies like ColorWhistle, you can take on a lot more high-end clients this way and thereby keep increasing your revenue.

Some More Considerations

At the end of the day though, the main requirement when pricing is that your value and quality reflect the asking price. If it does, then you should have no problem charging whatever you see fit.

And other than that, it’s a matter of working out your overheads, thinking about the kind of work you want to be doing and looking at how much money you intend to pour into marketing. Always have a game plan – think not only about where you want your price to be now but how you can reinvest that money to start charging and earning more in future.

Finally, consider using different price points, packages and structures in order to attract a wider range of buyers within your target demographic!