Answering a Major Question Asked of Web Designers

One of the questions most asked of Web Designers by potential clients, and the general public, is Why do we charge what we do for our services?  The simple, and cocky, answer would be because we’re worth it.

Fact is there is a lot more that goes into figuring out what to charge.  The going rate for a good Web Designer can be anywhere on average from $40-$65 per hour.  out of that hourly rate, a Web Designer has to cover the costs of many things, including

Computers: Your Designs have to be able to look right on everything, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Linux, you name it, if your customers use it they expect your Website to display on it, and while there are ways to do basic design testing with simulators, not every design will display correctly on those simulations as they will in the actual product.  That means that a Web Designer needs to be able to deploy Your design throughout the design process on all types of Modern and Legacy platforms.

Software: Web Designers edit images, we format video and audio files for quick access over a number of different bandwidth delivery processes.  A suite of programs, like Adobe Creative Suite, costs around $1500 to purchase a copy of. and to keep up with Technology can tend to require upgrades on a routine basis.

Internet: We’re Web Designers, the Internet is what we do, that means that most likely we tend to communicate via Email, deliver mock-ups of your projects via attachments, and need that upload pipe to get your site to your Web Server so that your site can go live on time.

Office Supplies / Office Rental: Lets face it, every business needs a place to work out of, and like other businesses, Web Designers need to be able to keep their Client Files organized and up to date.  There are invoices to go out, Business Cards to print out, and the ever important task of making sure that the information for “Frank’s Hot Dog Shop” does not get coded into “Freddy’s Dog Kennel’s” Website, which means things like File Folders and USB Drives are very important to the day to day operation of a successful Business.

Promotional: How did you first come to discover your Web Designer? Chances are it was through an Advertisement, be it Online, Print, Television or Radio, Advertising costs funds for us Web Designers, After all that's how we extend the bridge to our potential Clients

Transportation: You like the idea of meeting face to face with those you are working with, so do Designers, but that means getting to a mutually agreed upon location for said meeting, that could be Your office or the corner Coffee Shop.  No matter the location, your designer needs to be able to get from their point A to your point B.  That means We’re looking at gas if we Drive (and upkeep on our car) or Public Transportation, and those costs have to also be factored into operating budgets.

Wages / Benefits: Once everything else listed above is taken care of , We Designers kind of like to still be able to eat, and to know that if we are sick, we can go see a Doctor.  That means Wages so we can look after things like this, and so you have a Designer that can actually do the job you need.

There is many a set of reasons why Us Designers tend to take a mentality much like the one depicted in the below image, and I hope this Blog Entry explains some of them