Comments on: Estimating the time it takes to build a website http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/ Real world talk about web design, programming and the business of web design. Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:25:16 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.3 hourly 1 By: Ian Loew http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/comment-page-1/#comment-154874 Ian Loew Sun, 11 May 2008 02:28:33 +0000 http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/#comment-154874 When developing a basic, static site I like to breakdown the process into several steps; allowing the client to pay as I go. Phase 1 is home page design which is composed in Photoshop. It allows me to easily manipulate elements (logos, fonts, text size, colors, etc.) across the page. Price is determined by 2 factors, size of business (small, medium or large) and number of initial home page examples. Thus I might budget only 6 hours for two to three designs for a small company, and/or thirty hours for four to five home page examples for a corporation. Don't forget to also factor in meetings which again in relative to the size of the company. Once a home page design has been "finalized" then on to Phase 2, secondary pages, again composed in Photoshop but only 1 option to choose from. I usually budget one to three hours per page. A contact page might only take an hour but a press page might take three. The final phase 3 is html coding. I take the total number of hours dedicated to design and divide it by 2. Hope this helps some people out there. When developing a basic, static site I like to breakdown the process into several steps; allowing the client to pay as I go. Phase 1 is home page design which is composed in Photoshop. It allows me to easily manipulate elements (logos, fonts, text size, colors, etc.) across the page. Price is determined by 2 factors, size of business (small, medium or large) and number of initial home page examples. Thus I might budget only 6 hours for two to three designs for a small company, and/or thirty hours for four to five home page examples for a corporation. Don’t forget to also factor in meetings which again in relative to the size of the company. Once a home page design has been “finalized” then on to Phase 2, secondary pages, again composed in Photoshop but only 1 option to choose from. I usually budget one to three hours per page. A contact page might only take an hour but a press page might take three. The final phase 3 is html coding. I take the total number of hours dedicated to design and divide it by 2. Hope this helps some people out there.

]]> By: Venkat http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/comment-page-1/#comment-154543 Venkat Fri, 09 May 2008 11:55:14 +0000 http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/#comment-154543 This article is very useful to prepare a web design quote. I totally agree with "The best budgets had to be multiplied by 2.4 to get a truly accurate assessment." Some of our Clients will ask so many revisions, that time we can't expect dollars for extra work. The agreement must be very clear with client before start the work. Very good one Stefan!! This article is very useful to prepare a web design quote. I totally agree with “The best budgets had to be multiplied by 2.4 to get a truly accurate assessment.”

Some of our Clients will ask so many revisions, that time we can’t expect dollars for extra work. The agreement must be very clear with client before start the work.

Very good one Stefan!!

]]> By: Orin Walker - wdu.net http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/comment-page-1/#comment-154089 Orin Walker - wdu.net Wed, 07 May 2008 14:41:25 +0000 http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/#comment-154089 It's very important to set the client's expectations up front. If you allow too much feature-creep and/or things that are completely out of scope to come into play, a project can quickly spin out of control. I have found it useful to use a written contract and a design document. My estimate also breaks the project down into chunks. With these expectations set, most clients are reasonable, and additional work can be done under another project. I agree that project estimation can be harder on bigger project but breaking it down into segments makes it a little bit easier. Good post Stefan! It’s very important to set the client’s expectations up front. If you allow too much feature-creep and/or things that are completely out of scope to come into play, a project can quickly spin out of control. I have found it useful to use a written contract and a design document. My estimate also breaks the project down into chunks. With these expectations set, most clients are reasonable, and additional work can be done under another project.

I agree that project estimation can be harder on bigger project but breaking it down into segments makes it a little bit easier.

Good post Stefan!

]]> By: Influence by Design, Christian Magill http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/comment-page-1/#comment-153905 Influence by Design, Christian Magill Tue, 06 May 2008 23:22:05 +0000 http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/#comment-153905 When designing a website, there are plenty of applications available to track time spent. The one I prefer is called Fanurio. Clear communication with your client is essential to managing time. When designing a website, there are plenty of applications available to track time spent. The one I prefer is called Fanurio. Clear communication with your client is essential to managing time.

]]> By: Small Business Web Design http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/comment-page-1/#comment-153608 Small Business Web Design Tue, 06 May 2008 02:51:10 +0000 http://www.killersites.com/blog/2008/estimating-the-time-it-takes-to-build-a-website/#comment-153608 Thank you for your good post. I like what you wrote on "Controlling the time by controlling your clients", this can be very helpful for every design comapany. Most of the time we found out that client is slow and picky. Sometime we feel like the job is endless and make us want to give up. Thank you for your good post. I like what you wrote on “Controlling the time by controlling your clients”, this can be very helpful for every design comapany. Most of the time we found out that client is slow and picky. Sometime we feel like the job is endless and make us want to give up.

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