How much you think they will pay vs. how busy you are and how in need of money. If you're busy, keep raising the price until you're not so busy. If you need work, lower the price until you get it. It all depends on your portfolio and the kind of clients you can land.
Do you have a portfolio? Do you code in valid CSS/HTML? What are your graphic design skills? How long will it take you? How large is the project? Will you also be incorporating content into the design or just making the layout? All these need to be considered.
As a buyer I would never pay by the hour. Its much better to define the whole project and come to an agreement on the price, a bit like paying for written articles.
How much is your time worth? Don't under sell yourself, you can offer services by the hour or a price for the whole project. We offer those two choices and if you pick by the hour we estimate the amount of hours and guarantee it within 2 hours of the estimate. There is no point in doing all the hard work for a website and not making any money on it.
I know, but my clients seem to be so cheap... Themost I've charged for a site was $1000 lol. I complete the basic sites in 2 hours anyways.. it's pretty decent for me.
VERY cheap. A basic template design (1 page) plus valid coding should be no less than $200. However, a very good (unique) design can run $4000+ easily. I think thats about how much crazyegg.com cost, but I cant remember where I read that.
Where is the best place to find some good clients? I work for a good amount, and always leave my clients more than happy, but it is difficult to find some.
Do you have a website? If not, get a website up with a solid portfolio. Also, place a link in your clients website or in a comment in the code. Gain a reputation for providing quality designs. Try some PPC advertising and maybe even getting a few clients on elance or getafreelancer. Good luck.
For us local advertising and word of mouth has worked the best for web design. Even if we didn't get the client we have had many good leads from people recommending us.
When I was doing web design in the last 90's and early 00's, word of mouth was what got me about 75% of my clients.
I wish! Sadfuly I deal with a lot of poor artists, musicians and students. I don't even advertise the site, it's word of mouth.. but.. again, it's because of my low prices. I'm not doing it for a living (I'm a full-time University student) so it's pretty decent. Better than working at McDonalds lol.
Charge a competitive even a lower price on your first DP related job, create an exemplary site, and then use that site as an example of what you can do for others here at DP. Raise your rates accordingly thereafter.