You know that coding isn’t something you have to do to offer website design services. But a big hesitation you have about working with a developer on your custom design projects is the cost. Development takes a lot of time and if you’re looking to team up with a skilled developer, it’s no small price tag.
But I’ve got a few things for you to consider:
Think about all the time and headaches you’re saving yourself by not having to deal with the coding and tech setup. No more late nights searching Google for the code snippet you need. No more modifying your design when you couldn’t figure out how to make it look just right. No more extended deadlines because your client isn’t happy with the responsiveness. And no more tech support popping up each week after your projects are complete. All you have to worry about is branding, design, and giving your client a great experience.
In addition to making the projects more enjoyable for yourself, you’re going to end up with a happier client. Working with a developer means that you have someone specialized in all the tricky tech parts. Your client will have a well-coded website that looks great on all devices and performs well. And remember, happy clients will get you increased referrals, better testimonials, and portfolio projects that will bring in new clients willing to pay more for those results. Who doesn’t want that?
Is it really that expensive?
While the development of a fully custom website can seem expensive, it’s important to keep a few things in mind. First, remember, this is a custom website. Your client will be proud to know that no one else has anything similar, like they would with Squarespace or a premade WordPress theme. If you weren’t previously offering fully custom website designs, a custom site has much more value to your client as it can be fully customized to their business’s goals and style.
Also, if you were doing your own custom development before, you may choose to reduce your own rates since you’re no longer doing the development portion until you feel comfortable boosting them back up. And if you weren’t compensating yourself fairly before (let’s be honest, you weren’t) your prices will get the increase they need, leading clients to see more value in your work.
How to work a developer’s pricing into your design packages
When you decide to work with a developer, the best way to go about it is to include their pricing right in with your packages. You can always include just the design prices, but you may find that your client doesn’t understand the difference between design and development or why development costs so much extra.
To get started, talk to your developer about a general package you’d like to include on your website. For example, your package may include:
- Custom header and navigation
- Blog and single post design
- Custom homepage
- Contact page with form
- 3 additonal internal pages (ex: Services, About, Resources)
- Newsletter integration
- Social media integration
You’d then take that package and bring it to your developer to get their quote and timeline.
In addition to a quote and timeline, they’ll likely have a few other items for you to include in the package listing. For example, I always add:
- Basic SEO
- Complete mobile responsiveness
- 2-weeks of post-development tech support
- Access to my WordPress training library
- SEO training guide
- Launch guide
- Installation + setup of premium security and backup plugins
- 1-month maintenance package
From there you can add your prices and timelines together to come up with the total cost and project length and add your developer’s list of items to your original package.
Doing it this way will help your potential clients to see exactly what they’re getting without having to worry about what it means when you say development isn’t included.
Are you ready to ditch the tech and focus on design?
See? It’s not so bad to work your developer into your custom design packages.
To learn more about working with a developer, unlock the ultimate checklist to go from hours of code to development-free design projects. Click the button below to get started!
10 Steps To Go From Hours Of Code To Development-Free Design
