Ethical Resources For Ethical Small Business Owners
Saturday May 19th 2012

I’m creating a website for a business for someone else. How do I charge her for the hosting?

I’m doing this project for free. I’m thinking it’s gonna be a basic client side website. Nothing fancy. But I’ve never done anything by myself before. I have some questions:

1) What kind of hosting should I get?
2) Any recommendations? I’ve been using godaddy.
3) Do I ask her for the credit card info so that I can register the domain name and hosting and put it on her account?
4) What’s the cost estimate I should give her?
4) How do I get started?

Thanks!

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4 Responses to “I’m creating a website for a business for someone else. How do I charge her for the hosting?”

  1. Brian says:

    There are many web hosting providers and you might become confused to choose which one. It is very important that you choose a good web host. Good doesn’t mean expensive. Good means reliable with great support. When you choose a web host, make sure they have excellent support. If you have a problem with your web site you want help now, not in a day or two.

    It can be confusing when choosing a web hosting company because they all look pretty much the same and they seem like they know what they are doing. However, I recommend reading reviews from reliable websites so that you may compare and become more familiar with the hosting companies before making a decision. This website has helped me a lot with my hosting decisions for a while now http://www.top15hosting.com

    You can ask her for the credit card information, or if your able to pay with PayPal then she can give you her Email and password. The price will depend on the web hosting company you choose. The way you handle the payment, depends on how much she will trust you with her billing information. Another option you may have is showing her how to purchase the web hosting herself. Then she can give you the username and password so you have access to create the website.

  2. Jeff says:

    Well, you have a few options for hosting… GoDaddy is good, but if your looking for cheap then you can go to FiveAceHosting… those are my two reccomendations… You can charge her by PayPal… kind of like how you would pay a landlord every month… just make your her pay you the cost of the hosting that is charged, and if your looking to make a profit i would say a 10%-25% extra, but that depends on how reliable your service is and how good you are at all the required tasks… To get started you should get a website creation tool like adobe dreamweaver… Then start making the site from scratch… If you have questions about how to use dreamweaver or what ever program you choose you can just look up tutorial videos on youtube for the thing you want to do.

  3. cristianods says:

    The best approach is to let the business to deal with their own hosting. Always tell them what is needed, what kind of technology needed, space, etc, and show them some options and let them choose and pay the one they like the most. After is done just ask them for the email with the account details so you can create databases, ftp files to site, etc.

    Good Luck.

  4. Colanth says:

    1) The kind needed for the site. Without more details we can’t tell you what that is.

    2) So have I – for years. No complaints.

    3) She can buy her own hosting and domain name. Just tell her what she needs (or which of their choices she needs, if one of them is just about what she needs.) I let my clients buy their own whenever they want – so they know that I’m not charging them a dime for hosting or domain name. Nor am I responsible for either one.

    4) For the hosting and domain name? Depends on what she needs. Just give her the prices on the site, or give her a link to GoDaddy and let her see for herself.

    For your work? If you’re just starting out, $25/hour would be reasonable. Or a few hundred dollars a page. (Once you know how fast you produce, you can give your clients the option, but the price will be about the same either way.) When you’ve gotten experienced, you can charge $100/hour or more, but it’ll still be a few hundred per simple page.

    5) Talk it over with her, reach an agreement, write up a contract and have her sign it. Then start designing. (I allow up to one hour of free consultation.) I don’t create even a note until I have a signed contract, specifying exactly what the client will get, what the client won’t get, what I’ll get paid, what I’m responsible for and what I’m not responsible for. Too many people, especially in this business climate, back out just before signing the contract, and I don’t want to do a lot of free work that ends up getting deleted.

    BTW, a "basic client side web site" is a static page – it just sits there. It’s like a display ad in the phone book, or a billboard. If she wants the user to be able to do anything you’re going to need server-side code too.

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