I want to know what I should charge for making some rather large adjustments to an already existing website. What I'll be doing is: - Changing the aesthetic look of the site (colors, fonts, images, etc.) - Creating several pages in PHP with the existing layout. - Modifying current PHP pages and adding more functions. - Modifying MySQL database structure and adding update/add functions for the DB. - Doing a complete rework of the site's layout. - Add admin forms that allow for file uploads (voice and video uploads). The client is expecting to pay per feature changed, IE: Changing navigation links, $5. Adding a page with the same layout, $20, etc. I just want to know how much I should charge. It's a fairly complex upgrade/modification that will be done and there will be several changes made. It won't be paid by an hourly measure. Any suggestions?
I wouldn't judge it like this. I would try to estimate in chunks (in phases) and charge by that. First Phase: build comps and create new workflow and Scope (Design Phase) Second Phase: Development of the pages and functionality. Third Phase: Apply skins and graphics. Fourth Phase: Final Testing, Beta Testing, Rollout Now these phases might be small, but it's a start on where to setup costs per phase.
Well see the thing is, I'm just modifying a currently existing website. So it would mainly be a matter of adjusting. After looking at it, it wouldn't really be a massive reconstruction but more of an alteration of what's already there. As far as skinning goes, I would be changing position of things, adding some content, and changing colors. The most in-depth parts would be the PHP and MySQL alterations and modifications. It would kind of be a bit different then being able to charge through phases, but maybe I'm not understanding it clearly.
What I meant was, separate out your tasks, get everything you need to do on paper. Then, guestimate how long each task will take, accumulate them, and add another X hours for testing and rollout. Then give yourself a reasonable Price Per Hour and accumulate the total. Then when they request a bill or estimate, you can literally send them the doc you made, with the estimated times per task.
What would be a reasonable Price Per Hour charge for something like this? I guess that's my main question.
It depends a lot on your location, and the scope of the work. I'd imagine you could ask a lot more as a North-American programmer of an internationally known site, then you'd ask as someone from India doing a local site...