General Firm Charges

Web designing is a relatively new field and even web designers themselves are uncertain as to how much they should be charging since experience and abilities tend to range dramatically from person to person.

A good independent contractor, or a member of a web design firm, will ask you questions about your specific needs and your expectations to determine the amount of time and work it will take to complete the project. Then they'll submit a bid or proposal. For best results, have some standard way of collecting information to compare later.

If you're using an independent contractor, the full cost of the project will probably be determined by the designer's hourly rate and the number of hours per day the designer plans to work on it over a specific time period.

Some designers will be willing to negotiate a flat fee for the entire project. If you agree upon a flat fee, the designer will also have to agree upon a completion date. In either case, the hourly rate for Web design work is usually between $50 and $100. You might find someone who charges less than $50 per hour, but that is typically someone that is less experienced or just starting out in the field.

For the experienced designer, one with several successful web designs in their portfolio and/or one who is capable of developing back-end functions of the site, expect their fee to be about $100/hour, or possibly more.

The fees above obviously vary from independent contractors to utilizing a design firm for your project.