Are UK web designers too expensive...?
- Thread starter Baz Watkins
- Start date
I wouldn't say so, being a Web Designer myself. I am not the most expensive but then again I am not the cheapest but I can guarantee I will provide a great service 
I think it really depends on people's expectations.
I wouldn't say that UK Web Designers are too expensive, it really depends what you want and if you want it to work. Getting a website online is easy, having a website that actually works is a bit harder.
I think it really depends on people's expectations.
I wouldn't say that UK Web Designers are too expensive, it really depends what you want and if you want it to work. Getting a website online is easy, having a website that actually works is a bit harder.
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Preemo
At first, I thought so. But with the outgoings a lot of them have, and the quality service most provide, it's all worth it's costs.
Websites are more important than some may think.
Websites are more important than some may think.
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In the UK design companies prices really vary - from really cheap to very expensive.
For example I recently designed a site for a client - a 7 page static brochure style website with no extra functionality needed - they had prices from a couple of design companies at around £4000!
Needless to say my prices were a lot more realistic so I got the job!
I think you get what you pay for usually and everyone is different in their needs ie some people just want a basic web site and would be happy with a template site - others want something unique to their business.
As a UK business I always outsource any overflow of work to other UK businesses.
For example I recently designed a site for a client - a 7 page static brochure style website with no extra functionality needed - they had prices from a couple of design companies at around £4000!
Needless to say my prices were a lot more realistic so I got the job!
I think you get what you pay for usually and everyone is different in their needs ie some people just want a basic web site and would be happy with a template site - others want something unique to their business.
As a UK business I always outsource any overflow of work to other UK businesses.
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I dont think they overcharge, but i know i can get the work done a lot cheaper by using people abroad - obviously their outgoings are less than over here.
For things such as PSD designs, i wouldnt hesitate about giving the work to foreigners. The same with PSD to HTML/CSS, i know its not technical enough to go wrong and cause too many problems.
For more in depth php work then i would be inclined to work with UK based people. As you have more chance of being able to get it sorted in face to face meetings than you have on msn messenger or skype or something similar.
For things such as PSD designs, i wouldnt hesitate about giving the work to foreigners. The same with PSD to HTML/CSS, i know its not technical enough to go wrong and cause too many problems.
For more in depth php work then i would be inclined to work with UK based people. As you have more chance of being able to get it sorted in face to face meetings than you have on msn messenger or skype or something similar.
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Hi Baz
For that job it was £800 - bespoke HTML/CSS with simple CMS built in for every page.
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No problem at all!
I do a lot of corporate design work which are priced much higher so I tend to do the simple brochure style websites for smaller companies/individuals at a reasonable cost .... however there is always someone coming along and setting themselves up as a "web designer" and doing it for stupid money ie £200... however results speak for themselves!
Find your target market, offer a quality professional service and you will never be short of work.
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MancunianCreative
A typical job for us is normally shy of a grand. Some jobs have gone over that but they required it. Estate agents websites with databases and searches and all the adds ons that requires tend be end up being pretty dear and unfortunately not so used with the power of rightmove
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Gavin Harris
Hands up web developers who have had a call come in from a potential customer who needs a site rebuilt because they one that was built overseas didn't work in the way they were expecting...
One of the key benefits of using a local company is that you can meet with them. That is essential when it comes to discussing requirements with less tech-savy people who know they need a website, but don't understand any of the technical terms and require a "hand holding" process. That's harder to achieve using an overseas provider (or even one at the other end of the country sometimes). Nothing beats an "in person" meeting. That is worth paying for alone.
One of the key benefits of using a local company is that you can meet with them. That is essential when it comes to discussing requirements with less tech-savy people who know they need a website, but don't understand any of the technical terms and require a "hand holding" process. That's harder to achieve using an overseas provider (or even one at the other end of the country sometimes). Nothing beats an "in person" meeting. That is worth paying for alone.
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£250,000 is cheap for a website.
... if it nets you £250,000 p.a. profit.
Exactly.
If the choice is going to WebDesignerA and paying £200 for a design that converts your content at 1%, or going to WebDesignerB and paying £2,000 for a design that converts your content at 2%, then WebDesignerB is better for any site with net sales of more than £1,800 p.a..
Steve
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bdw
Yes, we get this regularly and not just websites built from overseas.
Our typical charge for small brochureware websites (including design, consultancy and onsite SEO) is about £400 to £800. We get lots of work and repeat work at this price and lots of testimonials.
But then we also offer a guarantee. Our clients pay 50% up front then no more until they are totally satisfied with the end product. We must be doing something right.
.
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Weeble
In the current economic climate I would say they probably are for a small business start-up. I need a basic no bells or whistles CMS website for a business I'm starting up. I received quotes from £400 to £1000 which I can't really afford so I put the job on People per Hour at £200 and have got 25 bids of which half a dozen look good with good reviews. I'm not suggesting this is the best route for everyone but for a start-up on a limited budget it's an option.
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bdw
Many of my clients are starting a business that is going to be more or less totally dependent on their website. In other words I am building their business for them. People need to be realistic. A business is surely worth more than a couple of hundred quid?
Here's the truth at my level.
To be honest I would probably struggle to survive if I depended on the income I get from web design alone. I am fortunate enough to have a couple of other revenue streams that keep me comfortable. At this level and in the current climate I am doing OK if I can get a couple of brochureware sites a month. My earnings from this are barely above subsistence and for the hours I do much less than the minimum wage. So I do not think that the average (legal) UK web designer is living in the past price and service level wise. Web designers have to eat too you know.
Consider the fact that sites like this do not require their members to pay taxes like I do and that those doing the work do not have to be in a legal business. This is what those of us who are legal are up against.
.
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Tommo
Quite happy to add Poppy Designs to my talented list and apologise for the lack of PC 
- the designs looks simple (read; effective) on the surface, but you can see the talent that goes into it, ultimately you get the same "postives" as the crap designer brigade but in this case you get a very good looking site
- the designs looks simple (read; effective) on the surface, but you can see the talent that goes into it, ultimately you get the same "postives" as the crap designer brigade but in this case you get a very good looking site
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Weeble
bdw
Not sure how to use the quote function. We're all trying to make a living in a difficult economic climate. In an ideal world I agree I would like to spend several hundred pounds on a nice website. But my circumstances are such that my budget is limited and I don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on a website in case the business doesn't work out. If it does I would be happy to spend more.
The thing about PPH is that they're mostly freelancers working from home so have lower overheads.
Not sure how to use the quote function. We're all trying to make a living in a difficult economic climate. In an ideal world I agree I would like to spend several hundred pounds on a nice website. But my circumstances are such that my budget is limited and I don't want to spend hundreds of pounds on a website in case the business doesn't work out. If it does I would be happy to spend more.
The thing about PPH is that they're mostly freelancers working from home so have lower overheads.
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Then you have to think they are usually doing it on the side of their main job to earn a little bit of cash and are 90% of the time not as experienced / skilled who somebody who does it properly.
So many people will be out doing a job totally unrelated and come home and install Wordpress for somebody and then become a "Web Designer".
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- Original Poster
- #28
I have had loads of fun with applying for jobs on PPH, I bid what they want, then someone comes in and does it cheaper. PPH is one of the reasons why I asked this question originally, as they along with Elance have unknowingly driven the price down, and in many business owners eyes, the price they see on sites like PPH they assume to be the same in the real world.
They are then shocked when you quote £600 for a small Joomla site, and even more so when you break down what they get for that price. I think there is a disconnect between what a designer charges and what a punter thinks its worth, and in many cases no amount of re-education will get the two together.
They are then shocked when you quote £600 for a small Joomla site, and even more so when you break down what they get for that price. I think there is a disconnect between what a designer charges and what a punter thinks its worth, and in many cases no amount of re-education will get the two together.
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I once did a job for somebody on PPH. I charged £75 which was my going rate, as he had awarded the job to me he then seemed to think I was some sort of personal slave.
Safe to say I haven't used PPH again.
Safe to say I haven't used PPH again.
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I think there is a huge difference between the various products people are wanting here.
Person 'a' has a start up business, zero cash to invest, and is risk averse. They cannot, will not, and possibly ought not, pay £600 for a website.
Person 'b' has an established business, a clear marketing strategy, and would like a well designed, well built, well supported website to support that. They would like to interact with the company that builds it, perhaps. £600 would be extremely good value in that circumstance.
In many businesses, you end up competing with people who are not paying tax, have no premises, have low expectations of their own earnings, or even are subsidised by benefit. That is true of website building, accountants, architects and many more. And a big section of the buying public just want cheap.
Each of us must choose whether to chase cheap - which can be done - or to concentrate on the premium sector of our market.
Person 'a' has a start up business, zero cash to invest, and is risk averse. They cannot, will not, and possibly ought not, pay £600 for a website.
Person 'b' has an established business, a clear marketing strategy, and would like a well designed, well built, well supported website to support that. They would like to interact with the company that builds it, perhaps. £600 would be extremely good value in that circumstance.
In many businesses, you end up competing with people who are not paying tax, have no premises, have low expectations of their own earnings, or even are subsidised by benefit. That is true of website building, accountants, architects and many more. And a big section of the buying public just want cheap.
Each of us must choose whether to chase cheap - which can be done - or to concentrate on the premium sector of our market.
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I have found many larger companies charge what they think they can get away with charging rather than how long it will take. Last week I had a customer who wanted a simple wordpress website and the lowest quote they got was £600. When I told them Wordpress can be setup with template of your choice in 1 hour they couldn't believe it. This applies to SEO work as well.
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MancunianCreative
The difference between setting up a wordpress template and creating a custom template, designed from scratch with an array of custom plugins and tutorial on how to use it cannot be done in an hour can it?
It's the same as with a lot of things. You can have cheap or you can have quality. Rarely can ya have both.
It's the same as with a lot of things. You can have cheap or you can have quality. Rarely can ya have both.
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bdw
Yes, and the problem is that the majority of the public haven't got a clue what is involved because they don't know what they don't know.
In fact some of the guys doing £100 websites haven't got a clue what's involved ... whether or not their work looks OK. There's more to having a business website than sticking up some cheap Wordpress template.
We provide advice and consultancy, design, graphics, images, SEO, submission to the search engines (I know this is not a big deal but we do it properly), analytics if required and ongoing advice about website promotion. We have been around for ten years and we regularly spend half an hour on the phone mentoring current clients without charging them.
That's the difference!
,
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QFT!Yes, and the problem is that the majority of the public haven't got a clue what is involved because they don't know what they don't know.
In fact some of the guys doing £100 websites haven't got a clue what's involved ... whether or not their work looks OK. There's more to having a business website than sticking up some cheap Wordpress template.
We provide advice and consultancy, design, graphics, images, SEO, submission to the search engines (I know this is not a big deal but we do it properly), analytics if required and ongoing advice about website promotion. We have been around for ten years and we regularly spend half an hour on the phone mentoring current clients without charging them.
That's the difference!
,
People who aren't in a particular industry (any industry) won't understand its pricing. I can't understand how BMW justify their prices but there you go. I accept it, however.
Haters gonna hate.
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What about the customers? If they don't know why they should pay more, whose fault is that?
Because they've positioned their cars accordingly.
If web designers can't position themselves as better than the cheap option, that's not the customers' problem.
Steve
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As I often say, "price is an opinion".
Steve
PS I may have stolen that from someone, but I don't know who.
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