Designers, do you charge by the hour or a flat rate?

I'm quite new to web design, but a few people have approached me about building sites for them. (I use Squarespace then customize the CSS.) They want me not only to design the site, but to copywrite the content and (in one instance) take photos of their business.

I have no idea what to charge for this kind of work. I know there are freelancers around the work willing to do this kind of work at very low costs, but on the other end of the spectrum, sites can costs thousands.

Advice from more experienced designers would be most appreciated.

 

All the designers I worked with all charged hourly.

 

What was the range of rates charged? Did they create content as well as design? Were they freelance or with a firm?
Thanks in advance!

 

Im still learning web development, and one of the things discussed, is that you need to do a work breakdown structure as part of seeing just what the client wants.

Do an estimate for the time involved for each stage that you have listed in the work breakdown structure, and this gives you how much you should estimate for end price for the client, you can estimate high, and then tell the client that it will be $xxx or less.
The workbreakdown structure also helps to highlight anything that you cant do, (so that you can work out costs to hire someone to do that, such as content writers)

part of the workbreakdown structure should include ongoing work/maintenance which would be things such as basic updates, hosting, handling of the domain name. So what you should also inform them what you can do for them monthly for a small monthly fee. (and what you can do for them for a higher monthly fee, such as SEO, or weekly site updates, etc etc)

Please note that Im not speaking from experience, its just my 5cents worth.

 

Entirely depends, we pay our designers hourly for small tasks and larger projects we get a fixed rate fee.

Hope this helps!

 

Flat rate is easier for small jobs, hourly for more complex jobs.

 

I'm a developer, not a designer, but I charge by the hour. I bill by what the client wants. IOW, if the client wants a flat price for the job, I calculate the number of hours it will take, calculate the price and give it to him.

 

as i am a designer i charge per page

 

I usually charge a flat rate. That way, I can do it on my own time, but also make sure they're satisfied.