I’m trying to see if I’m charging people correctly. I’m working hard (really hard…), putting out good stuff, getting more customers but keep getting - “You are way cheaper than…”
My current rate is $50/hour. The ‘typical site’ I mention below would be around 40-50 hours - just for development.
I’ve worked with a lot of CMS’s and I was wondering how long it takes other developers to develop a site with their CMS’s/frameworks or choice. I’m not talking about ‘how fast’ you can do it, but typically how long it takes. Also, don’t count design time. Let’s say you have the finished design (Photoshop documents) and you’re starting from there.
The ‘typical site’:
-Approximately 10 pages
-Contact Page
-Photo Gallery (perhaps an addon customized with CSS)
-Video Gallery (perhaps an addon customized with CSS)
-Perhaps a simple custom block or two / custom package.
-Featured content homepage scroller
-Facebook/Twitter/LinkedIn links / sharing buttons (ie like the Facebook like button)
Maybe it can be broken down into the following sections:
For simple sites, like the one you described, I would really recommend using Drupal or WP to stay competitive.
When it comes to more serious business sites that require enterprise solutions, a framework such as yii/symfony/zend/cake.
Also, the current market trend is not for a flate rate/hour, but rather a total project cost estimation, so it really depends on each individual project.
Like alluded to by the last two posters, there’s no point creating sites like that in Yii (if that’s what you’re doing). It’s dead simple to create everything you mentioned in a CMS like Drupal, and would take me no more than a day. Having said that, I charge around 2k for that sort of work, which appears to be roughly around what you’re paying.
However, if I was a client spending that kind of money, I’d rather purchase a website that leverages the power of a CMS like Drupal rather than something custom (again though, this is for simple content driven sites like you mentioned).
It depends on how much effort you have put or is required and how much efficient ways you have used to build it. It may take long time if lengthy methods are used. It may take less time if quick smart tricks are used. Today we have a long list of good CMSs available these days.
