I inherited a couple of sites that were already launched and I think I can dig up some developer invoices from a wine country-based developer…
However, I need to whip up a cost/benefits analysis (to potentially justify headcount) and I am wondering what an average fee is for web design/development for a wine brand on vin65.
I realize this is a little like asking the vague question “how much does a website cost” and I can probably come up with ballpark numbers, but any advice you have is appreciated.
If you’ve already got basic assets (logos, brand colors, etc) I would budget about $10,000 minimum to have a reputable design company put something together.
Why guess, though?Contact a few designers from the Vin65 list and get a ballpark estimate from them. I’m sure any one of them would be happy to throw a few figures out for you.
As a Vin65-certified designer myself, I’d say that rmcguire’s ballpark is probably pretty good. I’ll add that you could probably reduce that price if all you want to do is port the sites you inherited over to Vin65 without any design changes. Then you would only need a developer to do the porting and can bypass most of the design process and fees. Also, if you could use one of Vin65’s templates, then you might be able to get by with having a designer just do some minor customizations for you. I do these all the time and it usually ranges from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on the level of customization.
Thanks for the intel folks, I guess we got a bargain.
A related question: if you put a winery client on a maintenance plan (post-launch), what would be the yearly costs, roughly?
I’m reluctant to query designers without actual intent, my application is to bring the role in-house; I’m dong it myself now but don’t know how to construct my costs-benefits doc.
Thanks again, I really appreciate and respect your time.
The maintenance plans I offer are based on a client purchasing a block of hours that is good for a specified period of time. For example, if a client prepays for 24 hours of time, I give them a 20% discount off my normal hourly rate. That block of time is good for a year, so they can distribute it as they see fit. This gives my clients flexibility since there always seems to be more work needed around club shipments and many of the site improvements always seem to happen in the winter when other activities around the winery are slow.
Note that hourly rates can vary widely depending on local markets - I’ve seen everything from $100/hr to over $200/hr.
