What’s the standard rate of pay for a decent web developer doing a 40-50 page website, design and all?
I’m decent, I have my own studio and this job requires some database coding (password protection/possible online store). I generally work for people I know well and hence it’s tough for me to ask for money from them. If you don’t know the going rate, roughly what would you pay for a job like this? (in US $)
It depends entirely on your reputation, and what your motivation is. First off, there isn’t decent consistent money in designing small web sites for starter type companies, that don’t have an IT department. You can make decent side-money doing that, but only if they approach you. Web site costs for small projects like yours are based on how long it would take an expert to do them. Then you determine what your time is worth, and do the math. If a 50 page site takes an expert 25 hours (OK time for a simple on-line store), and you require $100-$200 an hour, then $2500-$5000 is a fair price. The problem is that most small companies don’t want to pay that, so they find someone to do it for less, and their site ends up looking like some high-school kid did it. Your best bet is to get into cooperate intranet development for big businesses: develop a niche market, where you are the expert, then you can ask for whatever you want.
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