One of the most popular blog posts I’ve written discusses how much to pay for a website, which focuses on the client side of web design and development. Lately, though, I’ve noticed a lot of search traffic for things like how much to charge for a website and what should i charge for web design, so I figured it was time to address that end of the spectrum as well.
One of the first things you should know about rates for design and development is that they vary wildly. There is no magic formula, and no one will mail you a suggested rate list if you decide to go into business building websites for other people. That said, there are a few ways to determine what kind of rates are fair based on the client’s needs, your skills, and a number of other factors.
What to Charge for a Website – Questions to Ask Yourself
1. What can I actually do?
There is a huge difference between installing a premade WordPress theme and designing and/or developing a completely custom website. DO NOT exaggerate your skill set when pricing a project for a client – it’s crappy, dishonest, and it won’t earn you any loyal fans down the road when something inevitably goes wrong.
Don’t mistake me; there are plenty of people who will gladly pay someone to set up a hosting account, install WordPress, and slap a $25 theme on it. But if that’s what you do, don’t call yourself a designer or developer because you’re not. (Sorry, but it’s true.) Instead, offer WordPress setup services and realize that you can’t charge thousands of dollars for a service that requires 15 minutes and the ability to read and use Google.
2. What would I expect to pay someone else for the same quality I provide?
Personally, it’s hard for me to imagine paying someone else to build a website since I can do it myself. But when I really think about my own level of knowledge and skill, what value I can and cannot provide to clients, and what problems I can help them solve, that gives me an idea of the range I should be in when I determine my rates.
3. What are other people charging?
The best way to gain a reference point for pricing is to look at the work of other designers, devs, WordPress setup people, or however you define yourself. If possible, try to look at their work in terms of the skill required, rather than thinking, I don’t like the way this site looks and assuming the person does poor work.
I absolutely cringe when I think about what I was charging even a couple of years ago, and I’m sure one day I’ll cringe at the rates I charge right now. But the only way I know what’s fair is by comparing my work to that of other people in my niche. Joining a mastermind group gave me a place to bounce pricing ideas off other people and it has been incredibly valuable.
4. What are my clients willing to pay?
This is a biggie. Once you’ve been building websites for awhile, you’ll begin to see patterns in the type of clients who hire you. In my case, when I did client work, I got a lot of people from the same niche because of word of mouth.
The problem? The niche was personal finance, where people are (obviously) concerned about saving money and getting the best deal on everything. I had many great clients who valued my work, but I had just as many who were obsessed with getting a discount or asking for features outside the scope of their projects.
I realized pretty quickly that I would never be able to raise rates while I was working with clients in the personal finance niche. Eventually I made the tough decision to price myself out of that group completely. And you know what happened? Some other people in that niche began offering cheap theme customizations, filling the gap and taking the clients I no longer wanted. I found new clients who were willing to pay what I was charging. The world didn’t end.
Should you charge by the hour or by the project?
Plenty of people have written articles about whether you should do hourly work or price on a per-project basis. I won’t go into a lot of detail repeating what others have already said, but here’s my philosophy on that.
In most cases, hourly work is unfair. Why should I make less money for having the experience to do things quickly? I can knock out a development project in two days, but does that mean my work is worth less than that of someone who takes a month to do the same work? In most cases, I prefer pricing by the project, taking into account not only the time it takes but the knowledge and skills I bring to the job.
I do have an hourly rate for certain things, like training. In those cases I am literally trading one hour of my time for dollars, and I’m okay with that. But that doesn’t mean all my work needs to be hourly.
For more thoughts on pricing, check out these resources from some awesome people:
Double Your Freelancing Rate (Brennan Dunn)
The Great Freelance Debate: Hourly vs. Fixed Rates (BidSketch)
Why You Should Never Charge Hourly (Freelance Folder)
Are you charging too much for your services?
Rates are such an interesting thing. After adjusting my own pricing many times over the years, here are some signs that you might be charging too much:
- Your proposals are consistently rejected. Rejection isn’t always a bad thing – you can’t and shouldn’t say yes to everyone. But if you are sending out tons of proposals and people keep saying no, your pricing may be too high for the type of work you’re doing.
- You aren’t sending out proposals because no one is asking for quotes. If you list any kind of pricing on your website and get no inquiries, either you’re charging too much or you aren’t getting any traffic to your site. Or a combination of both.
- Your clients aren’t happy with your work. Some clients will be unhappy no matter what you do, but if you get a lot of complaints about what people got for the price they paid, you may need to lower your pricing and/or improve your skills.
Are you charging too little for your services?
Here are a few signs it might be time to raise your rates:
- You’re booked more than two months into the future. When your services are so in demand that people are lining up to give you money, that’s a sure sign you aren’t charging enough. Try a 25% rate increase and I bet no one even notices.
- You charge way less than others who do the same type of work. Charging less can be a good thing in that you always have work to do. But why should you be the one taking on the discount projects when you’re capable of making more?
- You have more work than you can reasonably complete. I’m the world’s worst about scheduling a million projects on top of each other or overbooking myself. But I’ve also realized that, if I’m doing that, it’s because I’m not bringing in enough money. Time to raise rates and make sure I’m covering my time.
Okay, all that info is great. But what should I be charging?
I can’t tell you a dollar amount to charge because I don’t know who you are, what you do, and how well you do it. As I said before, the best way to figure out pricing is to see what people with a similar skill set are charging.
Web Savvy Marketing had a great article last month about selecting the right Genesis developer and what you can expect to charge at each level. Even if you aren’t a developer or don’t work with Genesis, that article gives a good range of hourly rates according to the type of skills a person may possess.
While there is no one-size-fits-all rate for web work, knowing what you’re worth and being able to explain that to your clients is absolutely essential if you want your freelance business to succeed. Don’t be afraid to adjust your pricing if you need to – the good thing about working for yourself is being able to flip switches until you find a system that works.
How do you determine your own rates for the services you provide? Ever run into a situation that made you realize you were charging too much or too little?
Stefanie A. Newton says
Hi, Andrea! This is a bit off-topic, but you mention being in a mastermind group. I see so many people mentioning these lately, that I’m curious about how you go about becoming a member of one. Would you have any advice about that? Thanks!
Andrea Whitmer says
Hi Stefanie,
Calling it a “mastermind group” makes it seem a lot more formal than it really is. In my case, I randomly contacted a designer on Twitter and asked if I could pick her brain about a client issue. We became friends, and each of us added a couple of other people to a group conversation on Skype until we had a decent-sized group going.
Since you’re using Genesis (yay!), you could likely find a group by tweeting with the #genesiswp hashtag or posting in the Genesis groups on Facebook and G+. There are always people looking to connect with others, and hopefully you could get a variety of skill levels in the group so everyone can learn from each other. Hope that helps!
Stefanie A. Newton says
Thanks, Andrea. I may have to wait to get a little braver for that. 😉
Andrea Whitmer says
At least join the FB and G+ groups (if you use those platforms) – you don’t have to post anything, but you can read until you get more comfortable. 🙂
Stefanie A. Newton says
I’ve joined them. Thanks, Andrea.
sanjay says
Is there a member for a non-genesis group? Btw, are there bigger / wider Clients on Genesis framework? I would really like to jump on Genesis bandwagon, but wondering if there are Clients in that area?
Andrea Whitmer says
Hi Sanjay,
Most of the designers/developers I know who use Genesis are overbooked – there is definitely no shortage of clients. I have to turn down work quite often because I have more inquiries than time available. While using Genesis is no guarantee that you’ll get more clients, I think you would definitely see an increase in the number of referrals you get once you’re involved with the Genesis community. Hope that helps!
Summer says
According to the Web Savvy article, I am close to being a Customizing Fixer Unicorn, but my hybridy unicornness falls into the coder/admin/troubleshooter variety, since I am very good at site & server troubleshooting, know or can figure out code, but am still learning design.
Does that make me that cool unicorn with wings that was in Fantasia? lol
Either way, I am pretty sure I don’t charge enough for my services, and I’m working on that, too.
Andrea Whitmer says
I think the term “unicorn” has to be the coolest idea ever – I mean, who would want to be a plain designer or dev when you can be a fairy tale creature? 😀
Rates are tough… I adjust mine all the time, and every time I raise them, I’m sickened by the number of projects I did at the lower rate. I’ve learned that it’s a good idea to jump when you’re already booked out for at least 2-3 months. That way you have time to lower prices if you don’t get any inquiries at the new rate (which, for the record, has never happened to me, even when I doubled prices last year).
Wendy K says
I cannot find any feed back on a question I have. This looks like a good blog to get answers. My question is what if a client asks for some sort of guarantee when building them a new website and online store? I’m also handling the SEO, social media, online directories, etc. as a consultant/sole proprietor, I’ve NEVER had a client complain about the results/outcome, but I’ve never been asked for a written guarantee!
Andrea Whitmer says
Oooh, that’s a loaded question if I ever heard one! What type of guarantee is the client looking for? A promise of higher traffic? Higher sales?
Linda Sherman says
Great article Andrea. Nice find on the WebSavvy categories. How smart of them.
I think you also adjust your prices with your confidence. We are all constantly getting better at what we do. This is partially a product of the wonderful WordPress community.
I am fortunate to have in-house (as in married to) a wonderful designer (also architect, photographer, videographer, urban designer) who created the first design course using computers at Pratt Institute and taught at their graduate school for 17 years before I married him and whisked him out of New York. Did you see my G+ yesterday? I loved his flag with stars and hibiscus July 4th graphic. As in the customization specialist description, I also offer optimization and social media set up and training. We’re at the high end of that category for project rates because we should be at this point (with a constant flow of referral work) but I get chided from time to time for my hourly rate being too low. While we’ve raised the project rate over the years, I’ve never touched the hourly rate. You have given me food for thought.
Were you at the StudioPress GenesisConnect party at WordCamp San Francisco August 12, 2011 at the Parc55 Hotel? Will you be at WordCamp SF in October? I’ll be there with husband, Ray Gordon.
As I commented on your G+, brava for your brilliant niche and new website.
Andrea Whitmer says
My hourly rate (which I rarely use) is about 3x what it was a year ago, mostly because of clients telling me I needed to raise it. If people are telling you you’re not charging enough, I say LISTEN to them! 😀
Unfortunately I have never been to SF but I’m hoping to get there someday. I hear that the SF WordCamps are the best out there; so far I haven’t been able to justify the enormous cost. I’ll probably have to stick to the east coast for at least a few more years – my business is still a baby even though I’ve been doing this for a long time.
Linda Sherman says
How to reduce costs of attending WordCamp SF.
The conference itself is cheap, it is just travel costs.
– Look for cheap flights.
– Consider getting a roommate. Make sure they don’t snore. Get both of your names on the room validated for check-in in case one of you is delayed.
– They feed you lunch. For breakfast get the oatmeal at the facility. Dinners – there are reasonable options.
Think of all the designers who need your services that you’ll meet!
Of course, WCNYC is good. So is their meetup. I travel to NYC and and Southern California twice a year to speak at conferences (branding/social media/women). I make sure to plan dates around WordPress meetups in those two areas.
I do have an advantage over you probably. I came into this game after 20 years of corporate executive and expat earnings. I have investments. If I had to live off of my income building websites, things would be different.
That said, I think your niche and your expertise is going to serve you well. Don’t forget to update your social profile bios to your new mission. I know our own stuff always comes last. Cobblers children have no shoes syndrome.
Joe says
I want my 5 minutes back. 🙂
I read all of that and you didn’t even offer up one single dollar amount or range of dollar amounts?
Oof.
Andrea Whitmer says
I plan to do some other articles down the road on this topic, but it’s hard to give dollar amounts when people are doing different types of work. For example, someone who installs Genesis and a premade child theme and puts a logo on it would charge a vastly different rate from someone who builds a custom child. Both of those people would charge a different amount than someone who installs a ThemeForest (shudder) template.
The good news is that I offer a money-back guarantee on all my content, so you can get a refund 😀
Mark says
Its ridiculous how you chastise wordpress templates LOL. I would really love to know how it takes you 15 minutes install and customise teach me, wise one.
Andrea Whitmer says
Themes from Themeforest tend to be bloated, poorly coded, and poorly supported. I’m not opposed to themes in general, but theirs in particular aren’t always a great choice. All I was saying is that a 15-minute install is different from a custom website that takes months to develop, and that the pricing would be different as a result. That’s pretty logical if you ask me.
Mark says
I derive you might have had a poor experience with these themes in the past but for you to write an entire post bashing them is pretty rude to some of the developers out here. Yeah I get its your blog and all that, but you even “shudder” at templates, whats that about?
Look, websites can be used with templates because of the numerous benefits, #1 being time saving or even the fact that its less stressful. Ive had clients who didn’t know how to setup a template and to add custom css which they couldn’t do themselves so I was hired to do it.
So please 🙂 templates are fine, I think you make it sound like some even practice to implement them and even work with code, isn’t that developing? x
Andrea Whitmer says
I feel like maybe you missed the point of the post. I bashed ThemeForest in a single sentence – that’s not the main idea here. Nor did I bash all themes or templates. The rates someone charges depend on a number of factors, such as whether they use a premade theme or build a custom solution. A blog is usually cheaper than an ecommerce website, you know what I mean? There’s nothing wrong with using a theme, but you can’t charge someone $20k to install a theme with zero customizations – that’s the point I was making. It’s difficult to provide specific rate information because it depends on the complexity of the project, the tools and skills required, and what value the completed site will bring to the client.
LL says
As someone who has used website templates in the past to assist family and friends get a web presence, I was a little put-off when reading your article. Although I respect the experience and talent of great designers and developers (I am a creative director in a marketing agency and work with designers daily) I do think there is room in the world for respecting sites like Square Space and Weebly for small business owners. Also, there is a certain amount of design talent required for making a template look good, it is not as easy as drag and drop and you are done. The interfaces and template designs in the do-it-yourself market are getting easier to use and better looking by the day and I think it’s a great option for people seeking a virtual business card, branding opportunity or small shop. There are many people in business today that would like some web presence but just aren’t going to play top dollar for high end development or design work. I personally find some of the templates (even themeforest ones) to be attractive and a very practical solution for many small businesses.
Andrea Whitmer says
Hi LL,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I don’t think using a template is a horrible thing by any means, but I do think there’s a difference between using one and creating something custom, and I don’t feel people can justify charging thousands of dollars to install one. That was the point I was trying to make.
There are so many DIY options out there, and I think it’s great for businesses who can’t afford to hire someone or just don’t want to. But when they do hire someone and pay a lot of money, I feel they expect and deserve more than they would do on their own.
G. Harry says
I completely agree with this comment, as I pride myself on being a web designer who uses the WordPress platform and the themes available. I am pretty good in CSS and HTML code, and have many satisfied customers who have had many specific requests. I truly believe it is a skill to make use of the template given…change things around, mix it up, and create a website that they could never do in their own. My premise when building is for the site to be aesthetically pleasing to the eye, while ensuring functionality is on point. WordPress itself is a beast where the wrong plugin can drastically affect functionality. So all these things considered, I think that what I charge, which is between $45-60/hr (which I seldom use as a pricing model) is completely fair. And even though I only charge thousands for e-commerce sites, I am in the high hundreds for basic, static sites. I would love to hear both of your opinions. Thank you.
Andrea Whitmer says
I think you could raise your rates, to be honest, but your current pricing doesn’t seem unreasonable to me at all. It sounds like you’re very comfortable in the level of service you provide for your clients and happy with your rate, so that’s never a bad thing! As long as you’re not struggling to make ends meet and you’re okay with the work you do, I’d say you’re in a great place. 🙂
Heather says
All that and not one $ figure? Truly lacking in useful information. It is NOT hard to give some specific examples. I want my five minutes back too. Back to Google to find some real answers.
Andrea Whitmer says
The great news is, we offer refunds! That’s right, every penny you spent to read this article will be sent right back to you. Oh, wait…
Henry Sanchez says
lol… my time was well spent! Once again another great article Andrea 🙂
Andrea Whitmer says
A positive comment? Whoa, haven’t seen one of those in awhile! I award you one internet.
Henry Sanchez says
Ah! Thank You Andrea! This will come in handy 🙂 I wanted to add that most times I would ask a client what their budget is and from there I would gauge my rate while offering something that can meet their needs.
Ali says
This was great. I actually feel like I got a little more information from the comments than the article and I got (in my opinion) quality content from the article to begin with, so thank you!
I am brand new to the web designing industry (so I guess I fall under the category of “knows how to install a theme and simply make it work” category unfortunately–but learning more every day!). Because I’m only just starting out what is your opinion for pricing in this area? I understand that my knowledge is barely passing the bar for what I can do that others can’t, but its still more (and I can learn as I go for anything knew that comes up!).
Thanks for your time. 🙂
Andrea Whitmer says
Hi Ali,
Thanks for stopping by! I think you can definitely charge at least $500 for a WP/theme install and basic setup. That is, assuming you know what you’re doing, of course! 😉
No matter how little you think you know, keep in mind that there are people out there who (1) wouldn’t even know where to begin, (2) have no desire to learn, and (3) just want a website. There will always be people out there who have more knowledge and a wider range of skills, but don’t discount what you do know! There is a lot of value in being able to set up the basics for a website quickly and save other people the time and effort.
Ali says
Thanks so much for the quick reply, this actually helped a lot and even boosted my confidence in myself! It also motivated me to keep learning and continue to grow my skills.
You’re great!
Siraj Mahmood says
Thank you for such a informative article, which give me a exact idea about web building service and their prices. According to my perception, $2000 is a fair price for first time. 🙂
Andrea Whitmer says
You’re very welcome! I think that’s probably a good price depending on the level of customization you’re providing. I wish I had priced projects anywhere close to $2000 when I first started! The lower you start out, the harder it is to raise your rates later.
Ketan says
Hi Andrea,
Thanks for the article. I haven’t reached upto a level to call myself a web developer. Though I have tweaked few wordpress themes and made some web pages using plain html, css and JS. One of my friend asked me to revamp their website and make it look more visually appealing. This will be my first freelance project and I need to know how much should I be charging for it. I don’t want to lose this project nor want to do it for free. Please help.
Andrea Whitmer says
Are you going to be using WordPress for the project? If so, assuming you’re going to be tweaking an existing theme, I’d say you should be somewhere in the $500-800 range. Normally I’d vote for more than that, but since it’s a friend AND your first project, it will probably benefit you to stay on the lower end for this one.
One word of advice – even though you’re working with a friend, I would still have a contract in place and provide dates/timelines. I’ve learned the hard way that friends aren’t always as respectful of your business as you’d expect them to be!
Ketan says
I don’t know if I will be using wordpress. Will probably decide after knowing what exactly they want. I will be sticking to $500 to be on the safer side. Thanks for your advice, I hadn’t given a thought about contract thing, will surely make that a point. 😉
A bit off topic question but still I will give it a try. I haven’t moved a static website to wordpress before, anything you would like to share?
Andrea Whitmer says
Just be prepared for a lot of manual copy and paste – there really isn’t a good way to import static content into WP. Crossing fingers that it’s not a very large site!
Ketan says
Okay, no problem with data size, copy pasting is a part of web developers life I believe. Thanks again. Looking forward for more such articles on your site. Adios!
C.S. Rhymes says
Very interesting article. Lots to think about. Is there a certain time frame for how often to review your rates? Twice a year? Annually? Cheers.
Andrea Whitmer says
I generally review my rates on an ongoing basis depending on how far in the future I’m scheduling, but I also sit down in late December and look over my goals for the coming year, then make adjustments if needed. The great thing about working for yourself is being able to do whatever works best for you – if you raise your rates and business dries up, you can always drop them back down again. I’ve never had to reverse a rate increase personally; I get fewer inquiries at higher price points, but the ones I do get tend to work out, and I don’t need as many projects since I’m charging more.
Linda Kinne says
Hi…I’m probably too late to get an answer to my question, but I’m going to try anyway. I’m 64 and live in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, a vacation spot where the economy for locals is behind the national average. Before moving here, I lived in the Washington metro area, where I spent 25 years as a freelance writer and editor and later co-owned a communications company. I’m an excellent writer and spent most of my career developing marketing materials for clients. I’ve also worked extensively with designers and graphic artists and done a lot of publications and production work.
So here’s the thing … Since moving here, I’ve launched five websites—a blog, two real estate sites, an online store, and a site for a skincare consultant. I’ve used three different content management platforms and experimented with a few others. All work has been done for free, but I consider that the cost of learning. I’ve gained a lot of experience, and everyone has been totally pleased. Now I want to do the same work as a freelancer.
I do far more than just plug in basic info. I develop banners, color schemes, themes, and, occasionally, basic logos. I also research and write copy, find images, and just about everything it takes to have a decent website. In other words, I put the whole thing together and then hand it off and provide technical support.
I would never call myself a website developer (I know better), so I named my business “She Starts Websites.” My question is, what do you think I should charge for doing this work (which also entails some branding)?
Because of the depressed economy—and given what I’ve seen of people’s needs—I’m considering offering basic packages of services for flat fees. But I just don’t know. I work pretty fast and would say I can produce a website, from concept to delivery, in less than 40 hours.
My goal is to serve local small businesses and independent professionals and artists—none of whom will have much money. Local competition seems to be focused on full-scale marketing solutions, but I’m still researching what’s out there.
Can you possibly help me with your insights?
Thanks so much!
p.s. Links to some of my friends’ sites are on my website, which is still in draft mode. So please don’t judge it too harshly yet. 🙂
Andrea Whitmer says
Hi Linda,
Thanks for stopping by! I think the work you’re doing is especially valuable since you’re providing copy – good copywriters are hard (and expensive) to find. I think you’d be smart to price somewhere in the $1k-$2k range considering the fact that you’re providing a complete solution. That’s a great price for the site owners, but should still be enough to be worth it for you (assuming you’re also charging a monthly/annual fee for the ongoing tech support). I hope that helps!
Linda Kinne says
Thanks so much for getting back to me, Andrea. Your input is truly helpful. I now know the $1200-$1400 rate I was considering isn’t excessive. I just wish it were easier to write my own website! Now THAT’S pressure! Best wishes to you.
Linda
Melody says
Linda, this is exactly what was on my mind! I have just been asked to put together my third website, blog, email newsletter package for a small business in my small town.
I already work full time in an unrelated business, but I am handy is with putting something together in terms of branding and just getting it off the ground and looking good. My time is valuable, but I’m still not sure what to charge for a package like this. I am by no means a professional with anything web related. Just someone who is handy at making things work.
Andrea Whitmer says
Don’t be afraid to charge what you’re worth! Businesses in particular need to understand that a website is an investment. Send them to this post and this one. 😉
Astarie Dennis says
I know this is an older article, but I just want to thank you for sharing not only the article, but also your answers to comments. I have learned a lot. I do have a question. I plan to use WordPress.org as a starting point and customize for my clients (I am also a small business owner and know what it’s like to need a site and not be able to afford the big stuff) I don’t want to call myself something that I’m not. What in your opinion on a good title? Thank you!
Andrea Whitmer says
Hi Astarie,
I think I would advertise it as “WordPress setup services” and avoid a title other than Owner or something similar. There is a great example of that here: https://outstandingsetup.com/ – they basically install Genesis and a theme, get everything set up, and provide ongoing hosting and support. Lots of small businesses are looking for that kind of service and don’t expect someone to be an expert designer or developer. You could always bring in a graphic designer or dev if the site needed advanced functionality, but most of the time a basic brochure site doesn’t need much beyond setup and ongoing maintenance. If you aren’t offering monthly/annual maintenance contracts to keep plugins updated, themes updated, etc. I’d definitely recommend incorporating that as it can be a great source of regular income. I hope that helps!
Anonymous says
Andrea
This is a great article for anyone in the business.
I’ve been working with Genesis since it began. Creating hundreds of sites for myself, and a handful for clients.
I have never title myself as a designer nor developer. I consider myself as a mockup / tester and cleaner. Many clients of mine are the copy and paste from WordPad and Microsoft Word (sic). One click installs and passwords identical to a name or phone number.
I dread when I see added code. I dread other themes outside of the Genesis frameworks. I dread the above forementioned competitor themes.
1. I’m seriously wanting to go live and show my talent. But I don’t feel right that most of my work is from my own mocking around. There is real no value to the personalized child theme I have created to the outside world. But if you knew Genesis, then you would know the effort it took to get the results.
Q. How would you go about to show skills if there are no real clients. Or if past clients closed their business. Images do not prove much, not dose archive.org. Is it appropriate to showcase test sites on your own server as demos of your work?
Q2. How do you handle projects that may not go as planned. If you are asked to do just one thing and you do exactly that, but the final project doesn’t go as planned from other people’s work. Do you take your losses, and walk away quietly. Or do you take pride in what you did, and show your work? This situation can make or break anyone in this industry.
Thanks
Andrea Whitmer says
If you need a portfolio and don’t have one, I think your best bet is to find a couple friends/relatives who need a website and offer to build it at a reduced rate. That’s what I had to do when I switched to WP from static HTML – I didn’t have any examples of WP sites, so I had to bite the bullet and do some really cheap work. Personally, I’d advise against demo sites UNLESS you remove the company info, logo, etc. and make it a generic example. Otherwise people may wonder why none of these projects are live, or why that particular business changed the website after the fact.
If I’m working on a project where the theme was built by someone else, I always ask for a login so I can take a look at the existing code before I give a quote. My contracts also have a section about the possibility of issues with code written by another developer. It’s rare for me to take on that kind of work because there is so much potential for things to go badly. I don’t display a portfolio anywhere, which is intentional; if a designer is interested in a partnership, I prefer to share links with that person individually so I can explain any of the things that weren’t my fault or strange choices the client might have made. 🙂
Emily K. says
Again, you are so helpful. I was just thinking about displaying a portfolio of my work – but I was also worried about putting on display something that also included someone else’s (the client’s) design choices, whether or not I thought they looked good.
I guess this is a related question – so, you do not personally have a website for your profile/freelance work? I was thinking about paying for a domain name/hosting site for my work, but I suppose that is not necessary…? I guess a better question is… how do you get clients? What is your publicity strategy without displaying a portfolio?
Andrea Whitmer says
When I did design work, I did have a portfolio on the site. Now, though, I’m only doing development and designers are typically my clients – they create a mockup and I code it into a functional site – so I send links to them privately upon request. Many of the projects I do are white-labeled, meaning the actual client doesn’t know a third party is doing the coding, so I can’t really display or list them publicly.
I work with 4-5 designers regularly, so my business is a little different in that I’m not actively looking for work – I rotate through projects for those designers throughout the year.
Emily K. says
Ah – I’m a great bother. Sorry, I have so many questions!
Where do you put your “I’m Emily K and I developed this site” exactly? Nowhere? Somewhere? Footer? Navbar? Hmm. I was thinking about navbar, under “About Us” as “Web Developer.” Good/bad idea?
Please, fill me with your knowledge!
Andrea Whitmer says
Footer links are common, though I don’t personally use them (I have in the past). I think you’d have some protest from clients about putting a link in their nav.
Emily K. says
Thanks, I was thinking the same thing – my internship name placement was easy because I actually worked with them in addition to web developing. Non-profit and businesses will take a little more thinking. I’ll get to work on some footer options, then. I’m not too worried about actually getting work through the display, I really just want some confirmation on the site so that people I send the link know I had to have worked on the site (proof).
Thanks again and again for all y our helpful advice!
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