Karen in Atlanta asks:
How much will THAT cost?

What a great question! …and what a difficult one it can be to answer.

It usually comes from a budget-conscious mindset. There are a finite number of dollars to work with, and of course, you want to get the best value for your dollar. I do the exact same thing when I get my car worked on or when I bring a programmer on to a project.

(Yes, I said “when I bring a programmer on to a project”… I am a firm believer in letting experts do what they do best, and I’d rather right someone a check and get something done quickly and correctly than try to figure out every single thing myself).

Different web designers have different ways of pricing out their jobs. Some price it out by each part that’s needed. They will prepare full scopes of work in complete detail and some have a price list. One day, I’ll get that organized… I know a couple companies that work that way and it works really well for them. I also know of several folks who tried to make it work that way, and it didn’t work out so well.

Others just know… they estimate how long it’s going to take to do a job and price it accordingly.

I’m usually one of the latter unless I bring a programmer on board. I look at several things, including how well-organized and well-prepared the client is. The more organized the client, the less guesswork and back-and-forth I have to do, and the easier the project is to complete (hint, hint).

Chuck’s website will be finished in the afternoon after my meetings. Chuck knew exactly what he wanted, and had even sketched it out for me. There was zero question in my mind what he wanted his website to look like. Luckily, I come from the marketing side of things, so getting the look down was a piece of cake.

All of his information was already typed out so I could cut, paste and format the text. I did have to do some document re-creation for some forms and there was some programming involved. The site was built, we identified some adjustments to make, and this project was less than two weeks from start to finish.

Jane, on the other hand, started off looking very organized, but kept trying to grow the site after we agreed on terms. Little-by-little, piece-by-piece, she started adding things… a page here, a picture there… We’re in the fourth month of her project and she is still adding things. Her site will end up costing her over twice as much as it should have.

Now, to give a practical answer to your question…

Most web designers I know would rather you go to them and say “I have X number of dollars available for this project. What can we do?” as opposed to trying to price the pieces together yourself. Most of the time, this will work in your favor (translated: giving you a little extra here and a little extra there). Sometimes, if you are working with an unscrupulous designer, they will try to deliver a really poorly done website. Make sure to go through the details of the scope of work so that there is a clear understanding on both sides of what does and does not get done.