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I’m from the UK and have been professionally developing sites using wordpress for 2 and a half years. I am wanting to go solo as a freelancer and I plan to make a stable income from hosting the built websites. I want to target smaller communities and businesses initially and gradually work my way up.
How much do you guys charge for hosting and for a site build typically? I was thinking £300 – £600 for the site build and £15p/m for hosting.
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Nothing under 850 ever. You need to view what you’re doing as a commitment. They will call you incessantly, ask for “minor changes, and cause you hell. I mean this in the kindest way possible, you are basically becoming the embodiment of their business which in the digital age is a 24/7 thing. Because these people will motherf*ck you with support, revisions, questions etc….
That said I wouldn’t worry about charging too much because everyone who does this eventually ends up with a client that makes them understand they aren’t charging enough and you begin to understand that line.
You may actually be better off not trying to start so small and go higher valued. It’ll be the same “no thanks” worse case and best case you’ll realize that people who invest more are generally easier to work with.
So that bridge of 300-600 vs 1200-2500 for instance? Is details, communication, and presentation. You would be disgusted to know what some people are charging behind the scenes, they just happen to be in the right place at the right time. You are good enough to get a big sale.
Best of luck!
I'[m currently in the same boat as you. Although i’ve already realised i’m charging way too little. The most expensive site i’ve done so far is £600 and i charge £20p/m for general maintenance and upkeep. I include the installation and basic config of an SEO plugin but that in itself is a full time gig and i know companies who are paying £10k a year just for SEO, updates, etc. and even that seems low at times.
The issue i have made for myself is by doing the work cheaply, the customers will consistently call for updates an revisions and when you sit down and work out what you’ve put into a week and you realise you’re working for less than minimum wage it’s a big wake up call.
I’m now at the point where i’m about to risk all the small customers who don’t want to spend money in favour of those who value the time and effort. I have a friend who doesn’t strike a key for less than £1500 a month and he has clients in the double figure range paying this on retainer.
My issue is that i will just do it; i’m far too quick to offer help without understanding the size of the issue then i resent it when i am still awake at 3am tweaking things while the client is sound asleep knowing their £20 a month might as well be breakage. One site i built generates £30k a month from sales and makes an honest 40% margin. Sigh…