How to price custom website design and website templates
Coming up with prices for your custom website design or website templates when you're first starting out is tough.
When I first started freelancing, I was offering custom website design. Truthfully, it started as a whole lot of friends-and-family type work, and my website design "business" was more of a side hustle. I had a steady income coming in from my corporate job, and I was more focused on building my portfolio and earning a bit of extra cash than I was on structuring my web design packages and coming up with actual prices. So, safe to say, I didn't know much about this topic.
Flash forward a few months and my side hustle was quickly becoming my full time gig! This was super exciting, and I could see the end of my corporate job in sight.
But I had one major problem: what am I supposed to charge for this stuff now? Gone were the days of being able to just pull figures out of the air. I needed to get serious about my web design services, my templates, what was included in them, and how much to actually charge!
Now, after 5+ years of experience in pricing different web design and graphic design services, website templates, and now even our website template course, I'm pretty confident coming up with prices!
This post is all of the key questions I consider when pricing things, and these will help you come up with prices for your design services or products,
Make sure you read all the way to the end to learn my holy grail of coming up with a price calculation that's based on simple math!
What model of pricing will you choose?
When it comes to pricing your web design services, there are two main models I would recommend: hourly rate and project-based pricing. These models have their own pros and cons, so it's important to choose the one that aligns best with your business goals and the nature of your work.
Website design services pricing models:
Hourly rate:
This is a straightforward pricing model where you charge your clients based on the number of hours you work on their project. This works best for projects that you foresee may go on for a long time. However, it can be difficult to estimate how long a project will take, so you'll need to be confident in your ability to estimate your hours accurately OR have a client that doesn't have a set budget in mind and is happy to pay for as long as it takes.
Project-based pricing:
In this model, you charge your clients a flat fee for the entire project, rather than by the hour. This works best for projects with well-defined scope and deliverables, as you can estimate the total cost of the project and present a fixed price to your clients. This type of pricing provides more certainty for your clients and can help you better manage your time and resources.
You can use a combination of these two, also! For example, you could use Project-based pricing if you have very well defined project deliverables. If the client asks for more along the way that isn't within the scope of the original project, you can add these on for an hourly rate!
Subscription or retainer based pricing:
Having your clients on a retainer or subscription pricing is an alternative pricing model for web design services, where clients pay a recurring fee for access to your services. This type of pricing can be beneficial for you and the client, as it provides a steady and predictable income, and a convenient and likely cost-effective solution for the client.
This is something that might be a bit further down the track in your web design business, but it’s great to offer this sort of pricing to clients you’ve already worked with on a single project so you can continue working with them long term.
Website Design Products or Templates pricing models:
If you are selling products like website templates or website plugins, you'll likely go for a fixed price. For example, buy 1 template for $200. You could also look into subscription based pricing model for your website design products, this is more advanced, but depending on what you're offering it could be really beneficial for your clients!
One important note about pricing your products is that it's critical to set up terms and conditions about what is included with either your fixed or subscription price. Being product based, it's easy to use products over and over again, or even resell them. Make sure to outline in your terms and conditions exactly the customer gets for that price, for example, does 1 purchase include 1 use of the template, or unlimited use?
What is everyone else charging?
When it comes to pricing your web design services, it can be tempting to look at what other designers in your market are charging and be influenced to adjust your prices. While it's good to have a general understanding of the market rates, it's important to not solely base your prices on what others are charging.
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
Look at competitors with a similar audience: When comparing prices, focus on designers who have a similar target audience and are offering similar services to yours. If the services are very different, or the target audience is very different, comparing prices may not be very helpful.
Charge based on the value you provide: If you're offering more services or a higher level of expertise than your competitors, it makes sense to charge more. On the other hard, if you're offering less, it's okay to charge less!
Reputation matters: As you continue to grow your business and reputation, the market rates become less relevant, as you'll be seen as an expert in your industry and can charge higher prices.
So it's good to have an understanding of the market rates, but don't let it be the only factor in determining your prices! Don't get too hung up on them. Use it as a factor to consider along with everything else on this page.
What value are you offering?
When it comes to pricing your web design services and templates, the value you offer plays a big role. Here's what you should consider when determining the value of your products:
What's included in your web design services or templates can greatly impact the price you charge. Consider factors like the number of pages, the length of each page, and any extra resources or training that you provide. It's pretty clear that a 20 page website project is likely going to cost more than a 3 page website!
If you're selling website templates, the same principles apply. Basic templates with fewer pages and resources will generally be priced lower, while more complex templates with more pages, resources, and tutorials will have more value, therefore you can charge more!
The value of your products is all about the level of service and resources you're providing. Make sure to consider these factors when coming up with your prices!
Who is your target audience, or ideal customer?
When pricing your web design services, it's important to consider your target audience and what they're looking for. A few things to keep in mind:
Budget
Think about how much money your target audience or ideal customer has to spend. If you're targeting small businesses, they may have a lower budget, while larger corporations may be able to pay more. Don't price yourself out of the market that you want to be in.
If you discover that the target audience that you want to work with just won't pay the prices that you want or need to charge (see the price calculation at the end of this post) then you might have to reconsider your audience.
Competitors
Like we talked about before, have a look at what similar web design services are being offered for to get an idea of what your target audience is willing to pay. If your services are more advanced or customized, you may be able to charge more! (And make sure you're looking at other businesses that have the same audience as you, otherwise this point isn't useful!)
Do the math!
How using a simple equation can help you figure out exactly what you need to be charging for your web design services!
The biggest problem with basing your pricing solely on what other people are charging is that you can’t see what’s going on behind the scenes. What bills are they paying? How much of that money is going in their pocket? What are their weekly expenses? Because you can’t see any of this, for all you know, charging the same as someone else could have you struggling to make ends meet.
I see a lot of talk around the internet about how you should "charge what you're worth!" And while whoever says this has great intentions, I think that your price should be more math based, with some product value and strategy sprinkled in (see the points above). Let's leave our self-worth out of business 🙂
Everyone’s circumstances are different, everyone has different outgoings, so you need to price yourself according to your circumstances.
That’s why you need to run the numbers, decide on your yearly salary, set your prices and then book clients (in that order!).
What do you want/NEED to make in 1 year?
Tally up ALL of your outgoings:
Expenses: Rent, bills, mortgage, bills, food, more bills
Leisure: How much extra money you will need for leisure (parties, dinners, travel, massages… everything you're going to spend!)
Savings: How much do you want to be able to save?
It might be easier to calculate these weekly or monthly, but add them all up to a years-worth estimate.
The total of all of these is your yearly income goal. This is the money that you want to end up in your bank account (after you've paid all of your biz taxes!)
For example, let's say our yearly income goal is $40,000.
Add tax!
It’s important to remember to add tax, otherwise your yearly projections will be way off. Depending on what your tax rate is, add it to the total cost of your projects or hourly rate.
If our yearly income goal is $40,000, and the tax rate is 25%, then we'll actually need to make around $53,500 to hit the $40,000 goal ($53,500 minus 25% is $40,125)
Now, we'll say our total yearly income goal is $53,500.
Hourly based pricing:
How many hours do you want to work on paid client work?
Calculate how many billable hours you can manage for the year.
Are you planning to take a holiday this year? Make sure you calculate things like this in!
Figure out as accurately as you can how many hours you plan to work for this year. Once you have your yearly income goal, and you know how many billable hours you want to work during the year, divide your yearly income goal by the amount of hours.
For example:
Total yearly income goal is $53,500
Hours I want to work on billed client work is 1040 this year (20 hours per week x 52 weeks)
$53,500 ÷ 1040 hours = $51 per hour
This gives you a great starting point for what you need to be making per hour. Now, you just need to focus on securing enough clients to meet your weekly/yearly billable hours!
Project based pricing:
How long will each of your projects take?
If you haven't figure this out yet, this is essential. If you have web design service packages that use packaged based pricing, make sure that you are specific to your clients about exactly what they get from the package, how many revisions they get or how many website pages you are creating, etc.
If this is clear, then you can calculate roughly how long a project will take, and how many projects you’re willing to fit in during the year.
For example, let's say each of your custom web design packages takes 30 hours to complete. Depending on your lifestyle, you need to figure out how many of those you are willing to take on during the year.
Are you planning to take a holiday this year? Make sure you calculate things like this in!
Let's say that you are willing to take on 1 custom web design project (30 hours) per month (so 12 projects per year).
Once you have your yearly income goal, and you know how may projects you can fit in during the year, divide your yearly income goal by the amount of projects.
For example:
Total yearly income goal is $53,500
Projects I can fit in the year: 12 (1 per month)
$53,500 ÷ 12 projects = $4,459 per project.
You will need to charge $4,459 per project, and secure 12 clients to meet you income goal of $53,500 ($40,000 after tax)
If you're interested in starting your own template shop, make sure to check out our super actionable FREE training teaching you our top tips to set your template shop up for success from the very beginning, including:
Why should become a Squarespace circle member;
How to create live demos of your templates (without having to pay for a plan!); and
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Are you uncomfortable charging that much?
So you've done the calculations and considered all of the other options for coming up with your pricing, and maybe you're feeling a little bit uncomfortable with how much you need to charge to actually make a living.
It's totally normal! Imposter syndrome is a common feeling among new web designers, where they doubt their abilities and feel like they're not good enough to charge full price for their services. This can hold them back from charging what they actually need to charge and ultimately, negatively impact their business.
Here are a few tips for overcoming imposter syndrome when pricing your web design services:
Focus on your skills and expertise: Remind yourself of the skills and knowledge that you bring to the table, and that you are offering valuable services to your clients. Even if you don't think you're super skilled just yet, you are still always more skilled than your client, so you will be brining value to them!
Do that market research: When you research what others in your industry are charging, you'll probably see that so many others are charging similar prices and it might make you feel more at ease with your pricing.
Remember, as you grow and develop your skills, your confidence and pricing will naturally increase. Don't be afraid to start small and adjust your prices as you gain more experience and expertise!
Don't let your feelings of being "unqualified" influence the decision about how much you charge.
In the wise words of Jenna Kutcher, base your pricing on an equation not an emotion.
Pricing your custom web design services and templates can seem daunting, especially when you're just starting out. However, by considering your target audience, competitors, and the value that you offer, and calculating what you actually need to earn, you should be able to confidently come up with pricing for your web design business!
Don't be afraid to charge what your products are worth, and always be open to adjusting your prices as your business grows and evolves (after all, it's your business, you can do what you want!)
Interested in launching your own Template Shop? Check out our FREE training module all about why selling Squarespace templates can be SO beneficial for your business. Not only that, we’ll run you through the four keys elements of running a successful Template Shop to get you started with some really strong foundations, minus all the mistakes we made when starting out!👇
Want more web designer tips? Check out the posts below👇
Where you can sell Squarespace Templates to reach more customers
Best Chrome extensions for Squarespace website designers
4 ways to make more money as a Web Designer
How to create a Live Demo Squarespace Template (and what to do when the trial expires!)
How to send Squarespace Templates to customers after they purchase
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