The web design business process is what happens between the web designer and the client they are serving.
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The following article targets two groups of people:
- Web designers who want to get into the business of web design.
- People who are looking to higher a web designer and want to get a better idea of the process - at a high level.
When first approached by someone looking to get a web site built, the first thing you need to do is figure some details about the website. Things like:
- Features/functionality; do they need e-commerce, a blog, password protected pages etc.
- Scale: how big will the website be? How many pages?
- Purpose of the site: will it be a branding site? Will they need to be found by the search engines or will the site be more about serving an established client base?
These basic questions can have a big impact on how you build the site, the budget and the skills you will need as a web designer/consultant to complete the job.
To make my life easier, I’ve put together a quick to fill out web design quote form for clients - it saves a lot of time.
It is important that you keep forms like this as short as possible. Long forms usually means you will asking questions that many clients will simply not have the answer too … this can be very frustrating for people. And you don’t want to start asking nerd-details like: ‘Do you need PHP?’
… I can guarantee that most clients will not know PHP from CSS!
Side note:
That reminds me of something; don’t try to sell your web design skills or a website based on CSS or some other nerd centric topic. Most clients will not care, because they will have no idea what you are talking about!
Instead, keep it high level: if you want to stress that you are using CSS, just say that you build websites using modern methods that help keep cost low.
Back to the discussion …
Once we have the above information, this is how we typically proceed:
- We would get more details from the client regarding what exactly they want for their site.
- We would then present the client with a few layouts for them to choose from. This is where website templates come in really handy.
- Once we’ve got the basic layout, style and color scheme the client likes, we put together the website using images and text that the client wants to use.
When do web designers get paid?
The best way to handle payment, so it is fair to both the client and the web designer, is to have the payment broken down in two or three stages:
- Two payments: 50% up front and 50% on completion of the job.
- Three payments: 33% up front, 33% on the delivery of the first draft and the final payment when the job is complete.
It is important that the client sign-off when the web site is complete. This will avoid arguments down the road.
Conclusion:
This has been just an outline of the process of building a website from the business perspective. Yet, it should give you a good foundation to work with, either as a client or a web designer/consultant.
Thanks for reading,
Stefan Mischook
www.killersites.com
This is a tremendously helpful article to me: a budding web designer in the process of creating her business site. I have relied on Stefan’s work for education and guidance throughout this process, and continue to be struck, not only by his competence, but by his generosity in sharing his knowledge with others.
Good article with some helpful points. It makes sense that the average business client would have no clue what CSS or PHP was!!
Getting half the money up front is a good idea, as the chief complaint I’ve heard from freelancers is problems they have getting paid (or not getting paid, as the case may be). At least with a deposit it’s not a total loss. In my twenty-three years running a wedding photography business, I had two clients with ridiculous complaints not pay the balance for my always professional work. But I had that 50% deposit, which at least covered my expenses.
You know how it feels like, being new to something and you get someone pouring out his/her experience in this manner - i mean; its encouraging…
Thanks alot for sharing your knowledge.
hi,
this is sandeep kakani, i have read your article and it is really helpfull for the people who are starting new web designing business. I really thank you for the Info, could you provide a info which help for a ong term business.
Nice little article, I use a similar method for my own businesss but we tend to use the 33% approach more often than not - it tends to keep the clients happy that you will stick around sometime down the line.
Nice frame of reference. I also will look at your site design worksheet. Thanxs!
Good article. One thing I would add as well to your “figure some things about the site” (and what we do for our web design clients in Greenville, SC) should include the business results. i.e.: What do you want your site to do? What should your web site do for your business?
If the site doesn’t accomplish a business goal (if it’s for a business of course), then what’s its purpose?
It’s always wise to cover the initial part of our work with a deposit. And it’s only fair, you don’t want to get down the road of completing the site and then the client not being in the position to pay for it.
Good advice for the billing of any design service. As someone who has been a graphic designer of print media for over 20 years, I’m still struggling as to how best to bill for web site design and development.
I’m always amazed that a client will spend thousands of dollars for brand design or a logo mark, but when it comes to the web site, they expect it to come in at a fraction of the cost that it takes to do it. Part of this may be because I’m designing and building, which means I’m charging a similar rate for both. I like to work this way since I tend to continue to design as I build.
Is it possible to get a reasonable fee for this, or is development best left to an entry level developer once design is resolved? Any thoughts?
Thanks.