One of the important aspects that your web design company has to consider to a great extent is to know just how much they will charge for services. If you are part of a web design company, this problem is most likely not part of your coverage and you will have to rely on others to do the quoting for you. However, if you are doing freelance web design, you will have to think about just how much you will charge for each project. To give you an idea of how much your work is worth, there are a few things you need to consider. Here are some factors you need to think about before you quote a price:

1. Web design factor #1: The nature of the project. Before you start evaluating any web design project, you will need to determine the nature of the project - how much effort it will entail and just how extensive it is going to be. To help you know this, here are some guide questions:

I. How many web pages do you need to make?
II. Will they require you to create images or designs from scratch as part of the project?
III. Does the client have ready made content for the site or do you have to do everything yourself?
IV. Will the client require multimedia, Flash, scripting or programming?

Depending on how much work load you expect and what the answers are to these questions, feel free to raise or lower your price.

2. Web design factor #2: The deadline. Practically, you have to know how much time you have to finish the project. The more urgently they require you to finish, the more you charge. However, make sure that you agree with a schedule that is possible for you to meet.

3. Web design factor #3: Your experience. The more experience you have in web designing, the more right you have to charge higher. This is true for a web design company as well. The better the image of the web design company, the higher they generally charge for their expert service. However, make sure that your price is relative and reasonable. If you, for example, have seven years of experience in HTML yet very little on Flash, and your client wants Flash, do not rely on your seven years of HTML experience to raise your price.

4. Web design factor #4: The long-term maintenance required. If you or your web design company provides site maintenance on top of the site design, you should charge accordingly for maintenance coverage. If the client wants you or your web design company to cover maintenance of the site, it is better to get a separate contract for this aspect of the work.

5. Web design factor #5: The present going rate. Knowing the going rate can be a little difficult. For starters, you can ask other designers in your area. You can also check out the salary and pricing of web design companies in your area relative to their experience and level of service. Benchmark from there to determine how much you deserve.

6. Web design factor #6: Your target earning. Of course, you should also consider just how much you want to make out of the project. You might, for example, have a project that you want to do not for the salary, but because it is fun. There are also some design work that might be uncomfortable for you and you need to work extra hard to complete it, such that you want to earn more for the additional effort.

Rules of Thumb

Here are some rules that you need to follow in accepting and pricing your projects. Keeping this in mind will spare you and your web design company from a lot of headaches:

1. Never accept a project which you do not have enough resources to complete. If a client requires Perl due in a weeks time and you have no idea how to do Perl, do not assume that you will find yourself a Perl programmer in time to do the project or that you can learn it in a matter of days. This is simply impossible!

2. Come up with a clear and specific contract. You do not want to end up providing more service than you initially expected.

3. Always be honest. Your clients expect your integrity; if you tell them that you can meet the deadline, and then meet it. If you cant, inform them about the situations as soon as possible.

A web design company usually quotes their prices based on the same factors. Of course, they usually give you a set salary with bonuses, benefits and additional pay for excellent job done.