"How long does it take to create a website?" Clients ask it. Managers ask it. Bosses ask it. The truth is this varies. Several factors come into play when creating a website.
First is the experience of the designers and developers involved with the project. Someone just starting off in their career is going to be slower. As they go on, they should start to notice patterns that clients have and start developing shortcuts and templates to help the process go faster. Employees may feel pressure not to learn these things if a project is based on an hourly cost. Productivity will go down, and they are less likely to improve due dates for clients if they are worried about working enough hours for the business to stay in business. During the first meeting, involve both designer and developer and establish a reasonable launch date. After that, charge a flat fee for the services provided.
The second is how prepared the client is. The more the client has content, photos, host information, and what they want and doesn't want in their website, the faster creating a website will be. Some web companies/designers have surveys they send to the client before they start. Others ask questions related to these demands in the first initial meeting. This is why charging by the hour is undesirable. Suppose the web designer/company has to develop content and photos (via stock or own photography). In that case, it may take a long time depending on how easy or difficult researching for the product or service. A marketing company may offer content righters at a separate cost if the client struggles to develop exciting wording for their business.
Lastly is communication throughout the entire project. Both parties must be responsive if they want the project to be completed on time. Include preferred methods of contact or suggest project management software such as ClickUp, HighTail, or Basecamp. This is also why you don't want hourly rates. It is hard to determine whether someone will respond right away or need a couple of days to look it over. How do you charge a correction meeting? What if it was one tiny correction? What if you have to change direction? Having a flat rate put less pressure on clients to make quick or irrational corrections because their decision won't be timed. The designer can also focus and truly listen to the client instead of thinking about hours enough to keep the business going.
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