Setting Your Web Design Rates

Web design rates are one of the first things you need to determine if you're going to be a freelance web designer. If you charge too little, you won't be earning enough to support yourself. If you charge too much, you'll drive away potential clients. Setting appropriate web design rates is comparable to walking a tightrope.

You can begin thinking about your web design rates by visiting the sites of other designers. Some designers may have some general pricing listed on their sites; others will only do quotes. Another place to visit is a site like Elance.com where graphic designers actively bid on web design projects. Take into consideration that some of the bids will be from web designers in other countries who can afford to charge very little – don't use those as the basis for your web design rates.

Once you get a general idea of what others are charging, you can go to a site like Salary.com which will tell you what other web designers are earning in your area. At the site, you'll see four different salary levels. The level which would be appropriate for you depends on your web design experience. If you're just out of school or have less than two years experience, you should base your web design rates on the lowest salary levels.

After you determine what your salary should be, divide that by the number of hours you will work in a year. You should assume at least 8 to 10 hours five days a week, but make sure to figure in holidays or vacation time when you don't plan on working. The result of your math will give you a basic idea of how much you should charge as a minimum. Remember to try charging a little more than the minimum to test the waters. If you start off charging the minimum, you have no where to go but down.