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ritarun
Posts: 676
From: Upstate New York USA
Status: offline
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What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/17/2002 7:24:00
What do folks generally include as part of an on-going maintenance of a website?
Separate contract? (if so can someone share a sample?)
What reports do you give client? (if any)
How often do you change graphics? (for freshness)
How do you define " minor changes" ?
Do you charge by the hour for updates/changes?
Do you charge monthly?
How do you distinguish between what I have summarized as:
Totally dependent (client relies on web designer for everything)
Little dependent (client monitor own' s site' s activity)
Somewhat independent (client monitors own site and makes minor changes)
Totally independent (client does all maintenance and changes after paying for design work)
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erinatkins
Posts: 3072
From: Mechanicsville VA USA
Status: offline
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RE: What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/17/2002 9:25:44
I think each site is different because each client has different needs.
I have one client where they send me text files & all I do is add. I charge when I get 10 of them. I consider this easy to add.
I have another client where I charge by hour because it takes forever to add info.
You need to find out what is expected & figure out how long it will take to do what they want. Add a little buffer.
Client should say when graphics should change & if you should create or if they will send.
I have 1 client that sends me new graphics that are web ready & all I do is add it. I do not charge much to add this.
If a client wants us to create - it costs more & I allow for time.
I hope this helps some.
Erin
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All Hail Great Spooky - Master of the Outfront Forums. He can make you or break you.
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ritarun
Posts: 676
From: Upstate New York USA
Status: offline
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RE: What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/18/2002 8:08:37
Erin-- Thanks for your comments.
Just struggling with version five of the " Last Final Edit" from one of my clients. I have a feeling that this will be the norm for this client and that I need to develop a way to handle all the change requests. [:j]
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erinatkins
Posts: 3072
From: Mechanicsville VA USA
Status: offline
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RE: What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/18/2002 9:33:14
Version 5 ? He should be charged!!!
Is he supplying text or are you creating text. If he supplies & changes - charge him.
If this is normal for him I would have an hourly charge.
I have 1 client who keeps changing things all the time & when I gave an hourly charge he started to get a little better about changes.
_____________________________
All Hail Great Spooky - Master of the Outfront Forums. He can make you or break you.
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ritarun
Posts: 676
From: Upstate New York USA
Status: offline
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RE: What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/18/2002 14:44:55
He' s supplying all the copy to me via e-mail. I make the changes on the site and send him an e-mail that it' s done. He replies and says he' s happy and it' s just the way it wants it.
In a couple of days, he wants to change it again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
The first and second time I did not mind doing any changes because it really improved the grammar and the readability of the text. Now it seems like it is adding more and more work on my part.
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garyb
Posts: 208
From: North Clarendon Vermont USA
Status: offline
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RE: What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/18/2002 16:09:52
I always make sure that it is understood that after 30 days from completion, changes are considered new work and are billed at our hourly rate. Usually this either scares them from making lots of changes or moves them to a maintenance contract. As was said, each contract is different based upon the perceived needs of the client.
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Helene
Posts: 213
Joined: 9/17/2002
From: a small island in Canada eh?
Status: offline
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RE: What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/19/2002 9:36:49
quote:
He' s supplying all the copy to me via e-mail. I make the changes on the site and send him an e-mail that it' s done. He replies and says he' s happy and it' s just the way it wants it.
In a couple of days, he wants to change it again. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.
My time is always valuable so I charge by the hour for all work I do. For design time, for the time it takes me to make the repeated changes, and for the time it takes when they call me up to discuss these changes. I never " work to quote." (You may not mind all those changes when you start billing for them.) On the other hand, I do have one client who never stops with the changes. She is my most difficult client because all her instructions come via email and she is not a good communicator. Her emails are LOOOOONG. Sometimes I spend 20 minutes re-reading the email to make sure I understand what she wants. I bill for this time too. I gave up on her a couple of years ago and passed her on to another webmaster who needed the work ( ) but he gave up on her too and now she' s back with me again. I just bill for every minute of my time with her. She' s starting to get the message now, I think.
Also, on your question of:
quote:
Somewhat independent (client monitors own site and makes minor changes)
Totally independent (client does all maintenance and changes after paying for design work)
I call this co-authoring. Only once did I co-author a site with a client, and that was a fellow I trusted quite well. Otherwise, if/when the client makes changes themselves they will inevitably run into problems. (Otherwise, they wouldn' t have needed to hire you in the first place, right?) Then, you either end up teaching them how to get out of the bag, or you clean up their mess for them. Personally, I don' t do the ' teach' thing. Also, if you have to clean up the problems they generate from lack of knowledge, you' ll end up billing them quite a bit.... perhaps more than they think it' s worth.
IF EVER a client of mine wants to make their own changes I say this: " I don' t co-author sites. Therefore, I will ask the web host to remove my permission to access your site." If you leave yourself up there as a permitted author, they may try to blame you for something that comes up. I absolve myself fully if they want to start getting in under the hood.
That' s just how I do it. Just to let you know, there' s more than one way to skin that cat.
ciao -
< Message edited by helene -- 12/19/2002 9:41:06 AM >
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Helene M.
websitemanagement.ca
Personal Site:
Best of Salt Spring Online
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traveler98
Posts: 362
From: Dallas Tx USA
Status: offline
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RE: What do you include for maintenance of a site? - 12/31/2002 0:59:07
I usually give them 30 days after " official" publish date to make tweaks corrections etc.
After that, I tell that customer that changes are $ 50.00 per hour no matter if the change takes 10 minutes or 55 minutes. I also offer them a set monthly maintenance fee, usually $ 300.00 per month, regardless of number of hours spent.
I bill twice a month for hourly people, and once on contract customers. I also write into contract that if payment is not received within 5 business days I have the right to suspend their site on the web. I also tell the customers my preferred payment method is credit card so I don' t have to worry about " lost in mail" or bounced check problems.
< Message edited by traveler98 -- 12/31/2002 1:00:22 AM >
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