Summary
This article anaylzes 89 responses to website maintenance requests posted on Craig’s List in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles. The data is broken down into categories with price summaries and recommendations on questions to ask before hiring a particular provider type. Full disclosure: I run a website maintenance company.
Introduction
Craig’s List is one place to post your need for a web designer/developer. You’ll get a lot of responses, and that can be challenging to wade through. My goal here is to help you decipher them in a way that will help you understand who is responding and whether or not they’re a good fit for your needs.
Before you start your search: You should create a reasonably accurate post describing your website in terms of current number of pages and content and the desired number of pages and content. If you don’t want a completely new design, say so and visa versa. Likewise, if you know any technical limitations, you should post those as well. (Here’s an example of a bad website maintenance RFQ and what was needed to fix it.)
What the typical small business needs in a web developer:
- Most small businesses need a decent looking website with current information and some capability for interaction (even a contact form is fine, but a blog is better).
- You should be able to get in touch with your website maintenance service provider on your schedule, not theirs, and by whatever means works best for you, not them.
- Updates should be done promptly, and you should be able to predict, with reasonable accuracy, what sort of schedule your updates will be done on.
- You should be able to count on your website maintenance provider being around this time next year because you will always need updates done.
- Costs should be in line with the industry as a whole and within your budget.
The Data
About the data: My data is taken from the responses to three bogus ads for website update work. One ad each in Chicago, New York and Los Angeles.
Total Responses: 89 meaningful responses, 1 berating me for wanting a traditional web 1.0 website instead of it’s sexier 2.0 sister. I broke these down into the following categories: Pure freelancers, freelancers employed full time but looking for side jobs, domestic companies and offshore providers. I left the stress monkey out of the results.
Pure freelancers.
- Total Responses: 54 (~61%)
- Hourly rate: $20-$80 (avg: ~$38 - based on 15 responses - 27% of respondents)
- Fixed price ranges: $500 - $2,000 (typical difference between low and high range was $500)
Questions to ask about freelancers:
- How does their hourly rate translate into actual work? Developers are completely inconsistent when it comes to productivity. One developer working eight hours might only accomplish one thing, while another developer might do dozens. Get an idea of what you should expect per hour in terms of output. (Here’s an example of what you should look for.)
- Do they have their own domain name? Do they use it? In our sample: 52% yes, 48% no. If you’re using your website for anything related to business, you want a freelancer who understands everything that means. Freelancers who haven’t bothered with this basic step are probably out of synch with your needs.
- Did they includes samples of their work with a clear description of their role in the sample? If not, skip them. Watch out for freelancers who implement Flash templates designed by other people. If you’re goal is have a template, you should pay much less than the average per project quote we received.
- How long have they been freelancing? Are they just doing it between real jobs or have they been at it for several years? Freelancers who are just doing it between jobs will very likely not be around the next time you need help so you’ll have to go through this process all over again.
Employed freelancers looking for side jobs.
- Total Responses: 2 (~2%)
- Hourly rate: None quoted.
- Fixed price ranges: None quoted.
Questions to ask about employed freelancers looking for side jobs:
- How much time will they be able to devote to your job? Putting together a website can be time consuming and complex. Can they do it? When will they have it done by?
- Will they be around for maintenance and updates? Will you be able to interact with them during your business hours or are they restricted to nights and weekends?
Domestic companies.
- Total Responses: 23 (~26%)
- Hourly rate: $35-95 (avg ~ $64 - based on 5 responses - 22% of respondents)
- Fixed price ranges: $600 - $2,500 (typical different between low and high range was $500)
Questions to ask about domestic companies:
- Are they using employees or contractors? Companies using employees have more direct control over production and are likely better able to predict time frames and provide additional support when you need it. Companies using contractors are acting as middlemen between you and their freelancers and probably just marking up the price.
- Are they website specialists or doing it on the side? One respondent noted that he was a computer company and a couple of his techs were familiar enough with websites to put something together. Is that who you want handling your updates? More importantly: will they have time to handle your updates the next time you need them?
- Do they usually do custom sites or template implementations? The more they sell you on price, the more likely they are to be using templates. While templates can be a good way to go, you need to go into them with your eyes open. (Earlier post on the website template industry.)
- Did the response answer all of your questions or does it require you to click here and there? If you have to click here and there to get to what you want, they’re probably not in step with modern website design which suggests that fewer clicks are better than more.
Completely shameless plug: our website maintenance prices are usually about $50/hour, about 20% less than the average price for companies like us.
Offshore companies.
- Total Responses: 10 (~11%)
- Hourly rate: $18 (only 1 response)
- Fixed price ranges: None reported.
Questions to ask about offshore companies:
- Do they speak the language you want to conduct business in? If you have a hard time reading their email or communicating with a sales rep, your results will likely be substantially less than stellar.
- Do they offer all kinds of trained engineers with background in .NET, Java, etc.? If so, and you don’t have a website that you already know needs that, they’re not a provider for you.
- Do you have the time to manage the offshore relationship? Offshore relationships can require a significantly greater effort to manage than on shore relationships. The time, culture and language differences require effort to get through.