Question for Web Developers
 

I've been asked to make a website for a friends mom who is a real estate agent. What are the going rates for a basic web site involving design and upkeep of the site?

depends on how many pages and how much coding, but i'd say charge atleast $30/hr.

ask for a lot.. u look like u need some food

:lmfao: hahaha

lol

honestly it depends on what kind of work. For example, I'd charge less for the same number of pages if I were writing static HTML vs dynamic pages using ASP/PHP/et cetera. Also if I had to take pics/make logo(s)/buttons/etc I'd also charge for that. You could do it as an hourly charge or break it down further, up to you really. As for upkeep, what would be involved? Posting new homes on it? In this case look into a dynamic site using a real lang. and a SQL database on the backend (MSSQL, MySQL, et cetera). Or would it just be updates of phone number, address, etc every once in a great while. You might want to consider a monthly service fee for upkeep/maint. or just a charge-as-you-go plan..

I would have to update the homes on it alot. I'd be making it in dreamweaver. Any suggestions?

If you are updating homes you could do it in two ways:

1. static HTML (pain in the ass to maintain but involves nothing special, server wise or code wise)
2. a dynamic site. Using PHP and MySQL (*nix) or ASP and MSSQL (m$) you could create a dynamic listing of the homes, even search them based on ZIP code, city, etc and provide an "administrative" user interface for her to enter the home's information, upload pics, etc. Then you'd create a page ot view the home using an ID number in the querystring (see the URL of this site where it lists the thread id, etc) which you could then use to retrieve the data from the database and display in a webpage. HTML is then used for formatting (which is what it's designed for anyways).

Obviously #2 is far more complex. However, in the end, #2 provides a much nicer solution and removes you from having to deal with the updates. Obviously you would have to charge a lot more upfront for #2 and you may have to learn SQL and ASP/PHP.

#1 might be the better solution if your skill set isn't up to #2 (I'm not trying to be rude, but learning new stuff on a project where you are getting paid is probably not the best way). The biggest problem with #1 is updating it. It WILL get tedious after awhile.

:werd: if you had to update more than once a month, i would go with a dynamic solution (php/mysql is my fav).

I would make sure to have them sign a contract for how much it's going to cost and what is going to be done. You don't want to get raped on your work :)

you should charge an initial fee for designing the entire site, graphics, html, etc. then negotiate and sign a contract for maintaining the site in the future. depending on how much work it'll be, you can probably charge for site maintenance monthly or quarterly, and it should be a little less than the initial design rate