What is a fair asking price for website maintenance?


-1

I was recently asked by a friend how much it would cost to maintain a site. I am NOT an expert web designer - http://mountpleasantmaple.com is the site I built. The whole project is a learning experience, but I would like to make money at the same time. What is a fair price to ask for the service of maintaining his website? If you are a web designer, would you mind including a link to your portfolio?

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asked Feb 26 '13 at 00:29
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Nick
102 points
  • How about trade for syrup? That's what I would do. But since you're friends I would imagine you're getting the syrup anyway. It depends on how much work it takes to maintain the site - what are the expectations, how much time is involved, etc. – Tim J 11 years ago
  • I'd kind of prefer money since I'm trying to buy a vehicle. The work will probably mainly in some redesigning, working with the shopping cart system (mostly changing prices), adding pictures, and anything else that comes up. – Nick 11 years ago
  • You probably want to figure out how to enable them to update minor things like picture, editing prices or adding items for sale. – Tim J 11 years ago
  • He said that he does not want to be bothered with it at all. – Nick 11 years ago
  • I would just charge hourly. And give good estimates for how long things will take. – Tim J 11 years ago

6 Answers


2

You have a few options that I would recommend:

  • Make a plan of everything you need to do, calculate how much you would charge someone you didn't know for it, and take ~30% off of that. Personally, I would charge more for graphic design and code creation than I would for changing things around (css, text, prices, etc.). For example, I would charge $100-$500 for redesign (basic CSS vs image design and JS), $10/hr on text changes, $50/hr on coding (php, etc. - although this doesn't seem necessary with what you are doing).
  • Just charge a flat fee of, say, $10-$20/hr.
  • Do it for free, with royalties (15% of online income). This way you get experience and a portfolio example, and can have long-term income from it.
answered Feb 26 '13 at 04:02
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Mbuc91
121 points

2

Just checked the site, no offensive but your skill is still far from making serious money by developing sites.

If you are serious at development for living you still need learning. One friend client can't make you rich. Don't charge your friend for that site. Also don't work on maintenance of that site, no matter free or charging, unless your friend needs some functions badly. Save time on learning more.

Add to answer new question in comment The design/technology/business sense shown in the site is not mature yet for showcasing and charging in my opinion.

Every designer/developer has some free works at beginning, either for friends, non-profit, or for himself.

It's a good opportunity your friend has a real business site for your playing around at the beginning. If you could make it nice, the site could be part of your portfolio to gain more business. But charging for your work in learning stage seems not professional.

answered Feb 26 '13 at 04:18
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Billy Chan
1,179 points
  • I completely understand that it has much need for improvement. One of my later sites was openexpressions.sourceforge.net I want to help him because I feel that it is my responsibility. – Nick 11 years ago
  • Yes I totally understand that's for responsibility and friendship. Just suggest not to charge otherwise the relationship will change and you may feel obliged. – Billy Chan 11 years ago
  • Could you clarify that? We're not really close friends if that's what you're meaning. Sort of trying to remain with a client / designer mentality as far as business is concerned. – Nick 11 years ago

1

Charge by the hour.

This method would suit your situation quite well; since you are new to the industry (both by profession and technical).

Most of the time you will be unsure how long to fulfill a client's request. Going by an hourly rate allows you to bridge the communication gap between developer (you), and client (them).

answered Feb 26 '13 at 03:03
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Marc Costello
11 points
  • What would be a decent hourly rate? – Nick 11 years ago
  • how much did you charge for the website? and how long did it take you to build? – Marc Costello 11 years ago
  • Nothing. I did it for a learning experience. It took me one weekend to make the design. Much longer to work out details with him. – Nick 11 years ago
  • Ahh I understand. That is a tough position to be in, you can't really charge him a lot of money for any maintenance because you built the site free of charge! How much time do you believe this client will take of yours? – Marc Costello 11 years ago
  • It's hard to tell. He said he wants me to be fairly reimbursed for my services, so he's willing to pay a price that is reasonable and fair... – Nick 11 years ago
  • It sounds like you both went into this venture with the impression that it will have little to no cost. It would be unfair to charge him any sort of professional rate. Web development is a creative and custom process. There is no real way anybody else can put a value on your work. People will pay what they think it is worth. If you are looking for a ball park figure i would suggest checking out your local web design companies – Marc Costello 11 years ago
  • $60 to $80 per hour is all I found. – Nick 11 years ago
  • review http://css-tricks.com/how-much-should-you-charge-for-a-website/ - there are no hard and fast rate rules. If you are writing sales content / conversion text, rates are much higher. You are starting out - the job shouldn't be an exercise on what is your highest revenue opportunity, it should be about creating a reference base. The current site needs significantly more work / polish to become that. – Jim Galley 11 years ago
  • I plan on renovating their website eventually. This article was very helpful, thanks very much! – Nick 11 years ago
  • $60 to $80 is high - very high - especially for someone who is just making a wordpress template and who just started learning how to make websites/hasn't done one before. – Tim J 11 years ago

1

I did review the content and site you mentioned and I would offer a flat fee given that it will not change much and that you will give it a major upgrade.

Our company offers a similar service to SMEs we charge around $49-$99 / month service fee depending on what kind of information needs to be updated. That includes updating software, adding new apps, maintaining the platform, as well as setting up and maintaining the content about the business.

Before worrying about what is a good asking price, ask yourself if this is going to be a core business for you, or just for some friends and price accordingly.

answered Mar 1 '13 at 02:26
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Adonis
56 points

0

Tough to make a general assumption - each owner has different needs depending on their online presence. Content / ecommerce / fufillment tasks (and the time they take) vary widely.

Also - there is the cost difference between local and offshore support - complete with the overhead associated with keeping the communication paths clear.

answered Feb 26 '13 at 02:06
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Jim Galley
9,952 points
  • I live right down the road from him. – Nick 11 years ago

0

Ask him whether he would like to use your service on a monthly basis. If Yes, you both should come to a price where, you can help him increase his business and in return he pay you for that.

Anyways, I checked the design. You should charge him according to his giving potential. A fair charge for what you did would be based on pages, and dedication. I take 3 hours to built a website but still, charge a client around $400-$500.

answered Feb 26 '13 at 04:04
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Anilkumble789
3 points
  • Would you have a portfolio I could look at to get an idea? – Nick 11 years ago

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