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WordPress

paul white
paul white
13,958 Points
Posted by paul white
paul white
13,958 Points

Freelance Pricing

Hi all,

Honestly I'm just hoping for a bit of advice from someone who might have done freelance (or not) Wordpress development before.

I've been approached to do a simple redesign of an existing Wordpress site – just to modernize and give it a bit more "pizazz" if you will. So basically we are talking about pushing around some html/PHP and some new CSS, not a very involved project, BUT the company does want this completed in a weeks time.

So my question is, as I don't do Wordpress development often (at least not for others), what's a fair price for this sort of work? I don't even know where to start or what sort of price this sort of market expects. I'm leaning towards $200 for the whole project. Am I lowballing myself?

If it's any sort of point-of-reference, the company's current site is running on the Twenty-Twelve standard Wordpress Theme. So I think any changes will be quite an improvement.

Any thoughts?

Thanks!

-Paul

4 Answers

James Gill
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 Points

Paul,

I'm a WordPress guy. There's no good answer for this (very) common question. Fixed rate quotes are often dangerous, especially if you're new to the game or haven't done that kind of project before--you end up doing work for free.

So, my advice, based on some experience and what you've written: charge around $30-$50/hour, but if you must give a fixed bid, get the project requirements in writing first, then base your quote on that. In other words, ask questions and get a scope of work ("change x, update y, add z", etc.), then write it down, get the client to agree that's what they're expecting, then go away and return with an estimate. Based that estimate on the hourly rate and estimated time it'll take you. For example, if that list of requirements looks like about 20 hours of work, 20 hours x $40 = $800. It's typical to get half up front, and half upon completion.

Hope that helps as a starting point. Also, if there's a local WordPress group/meetup in your area, try pinging them with the "typical local rate" question.

lettereyemedia
lettereyemedia
5,725 Points
lettereyemedia
lettereyemedia
5,725 Points

Hey Paul

I do a large amount of freelance work, specifically with Wordpress. The cost will really depend on what the client expects, how many revisions, how many elements are being redesigned, etc. I think $200 is a little low for the amount of hours you are probably going to put in. My guess is you will spend at least 10 hours @ lets say, $50/hr (average Wordpress work rate, but could be higher since you are doing design as well), so at the very least $500 and more likely creeping up to $1k.

Again this depends on your experience, your talent (especially at design), etc. I am not sure what your hourly rate is, but this is a good way to calculate what you need to charge:

http://blog.teamtreehouse.com/calculate-hourly-freelance-rates-web-design-development-work

You also might want to stipulate an estimate of hours and an hourly rate. Clearly state to the client that any hours over the estimated amount will be billed at the agreed hourly rate. This will protect you from feature-creeping clients that want more work than was originally agreed upon. Also, I would encourage you to keep a clock of your hours so the client can see in detail waht you did and when in case there is any questioning by them. I use Toggl for this and it works well.

The fact they want it in a short time frame is also reason to ask for a "rush" tax, or a higher hourly rate.

Best of luck to you!

James Gill
PLUS
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 Points
James Gill
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 Points

Paul,

If it's of any use, I created a calculator that does what that Treehouse blog post describes, here: http://thinkhuman.github.io/whatsmyrate/

paul white
paul white
13,958 Points
paul white
paul white
13,958 Points

This is fantastic! Thanks James!

James Gill
James Gill
Courses Plus Student 34,936 Points

Glad you liked it. I'hoping to improve it. Neil Tortorella's article provided the inspiration.