How to Charge $10k for Website Design
If you’re struggling to charge more for your work and sell more projects, you might be neglecting your client experience. I’ll help you review what it’s like for your clients to work with you, so you can decide what to improve in order to charge $10,000 USD (or more!) for a single website.
What not to focus on
When I first started my web design business, I invested time and money on online education that I did not need.
I bought so many courses and trainings to learn things that did not help me charge more or sell more.
Things like…
How to create vector graphics and patterns
How to create a lead magnet and start an email list
How to build an Instagram content strategy
If you’ve been spending time learning things like this, you’re clearly not alone. This is the same mistake that I see many other web designers make, before they work through my signature course, Fast Track.
They’re in that phase of business where they can make good, high-quality websites but are not getting paid enough. And they feel like the hard work they’re putting into their businesses isn’t being reflected in their bank accounts (or PayPal accounts, or Stripe accounts).
And things don’t change for them until they realize that what they need to focus on isn’t creating vector graphics or lead magnets or Instagram content — it’s creating a 5-star client experience.
What to focus on
There are 5 key items that you must include in your client experience if you want to sell $10k websites.
Project plan and discussion
Brand questionnaire or interview
Project brief signoff
Website presentation
Testimonial and referral request
Let’s go through them one by one.
1) Project plan and discussion
A project plan is a list of tasks with information about WHAT needs to be done, WHO needs to do it, and WHEN it needs to be done by.
You probably have an internal list of things that you do to sell and deliver a web design project. Maybe it’s written down (which I recommend) or maybe it’s just stored in your brain. That internal project plan is just for you, no one else needs to see it. It helps you ensure you don’t forget and accidentally skip any important steps.
But what you also need is a client-facing project plan, which is for you and the client to share. It’s going to be much simpler than your internal plan, because it will only include tasks that are relevant for the client.
You want to make sure that you go through this client-facing project plan together with your client. I like doing this during the kickoff call, which officially marks the start of a project. This is when you ask them if the deadlines you’ve proposed work for them, or if they need to make any adjustments. I also like letting my clients know that while I’m committed to delivering the project on time, we can be flexible — if life happens and we to move dates around, I am happy to make that happen.
Template for creating a client-facing project plan (included in my course, Fast Track)
The goal of the project plan and discussion is to get on the same page about who needs to do what by when to launch the website successfully.
Set clear expectations
The project plan helps you set clear expectations about what is required for you to complete this project. You’re getting rid of uncertainties.
This helps the client feel reassured, it makes them feel like you’ve got everything under control. It makes them feel like they’re in good hands, which they are because they’re working with you.
Communicate that you care about making their life easier
The discussion part is especially important because you’re communicating that you care able making sure that this plan also works with your client’s life and business. All of this helps build trust between you and your client.
Prevent project delays
The project plan and discussion also help prevent project delays. On the client’s side, they’ve signed off on the timeline, so they’re more likely to stick to it. If there are delays, the project plan will make it much easier for you to have those conversations about getting back on track, because there’s a schedule you’ve both committed to.
On your side, the project plan helps you make sure you have the right amount of time in your calendar to do everything you need to do to deliver this project.
With a project plan, you are much more likely to complete your project on time.
2) Brand questionnaire or interview
The brand questionnaire and interview are both ways to get to know your client and their business.
I like using both: I send the client a written brand questionnaire that they complete before the start of our project. Then, during our kickoff call, I conduct a brand interview.
The goal is simply to get to know your client’s business really well.
Position yourself as a trusted advisor
The brand questionnaire and interview are important because they give your client a chance to get clear on their business essentials. This includes critical details about their customers, business model, marketing strategy, etc. that they may not have thought of.
Maybe they've never thought about these details. Or maybe their business has changed a lot, and they haven’t paused recently to consider how these details have changed.
Asking them smart questions about what they sell, who they sell it to, and how they sell it positions you as a trusted advisor in your client’s mind. You’re not just another contractor, you’re a strategic partner.
Get client buy-in
The brand questionnaire and interview also help you get client buy-in.
Once your client has worked through the brand questionnaire or brand interview, or both — they feel more invested in the project. They’ve taken the time and energy to share these important details with you.
That means when you need their input later in the project, they’re likely to want to be more helpful.
Also, you’re setting yourself up for success early on in the project, because your client can already see how this new website project is going to be different from their other experiences working with other designers and service providers.
From the client’s perspective, it is a huge risk to choose someone to create their website. They don’t really know what they’ll get at the end of the process.
So it makes a huge difference if you can reassure them that you know what you’re doing — and this will happen naturally through this brand questionnaire and interview process.
Your client will see that you’re going to create a website that takes all of these important details about their business into consideration.
3) Project brief signoff
A project brief is a document that outlines your project objectives, scope, and other requirements. I create the project brief after the kickoff call, and I do nothing else for the project until the client signs off on it.
The goal here is to confirm that you and the client are on the same page before you start doing any design work.
If you don’t use project briefs in your business right now, please let this be the one thing you change after you read this article.
I have a $37 USD workbook in my shop that will show you how to prepare one, and it also includes real examples of project briefs from my own business. It’s called the Clear Website Project Brief Workbook.
The Clear Website Project Brief Workbook is available in my shop.
I feel so strongly about creating a clear project brief and having your client sign off on it because this can be the difference between a really stressful project where you do a ton of work that you don’t get paid for, and a super pleasant project where the client is happy and respects your time and your work, and looks for more ways to work with you because they love you so much.
Get better feedback and fewer revision requests
The project brief helps you get better feedback and fewer revision requests.
Whenever you create something for your client, whether it’s a logo, or a homepage layout, or the completed website, your client will be able to provide feedback based on your shared objectives, which are laid out in the project brief.
That means their feedback will not be based on spur-of-the-moment feelings or other people’s opinions (which are almost always irrelevant unless they come from your client’s ideal customers). This usually leads to fewer revision requests as well.
Set effective boundaries
The project brief also helps you set effective boundaries.
For example, if and when during the project, your client has new questions about something they want your help with — Instagram templates, or business cards, or additional website pages, etc. — the brief provides clear information about the project scope. This makes it easier for you to have a discussion about whether and how you can help them.
Show that you’re listening
The project brief is also a great way to show your client that you’re listening to what’s important to them for this project.
They can see in the brief that you’ve captured details that are important to them. And they’ll feel even more reassured about the quality of the website that you’ll create for them.
They’ll feel like you’ve really listened to them. Positive psychology and the science of happiness tell us that it’s incredibly important for us to feel heard and understood by the people around us — and for your clients, that includes you.
Highlight your client’s return on investment
Finally, the project brief also makes it possible for you to highlight your client’s return on investment at the end of the project.
Your client is not paying you $10,000 to build a website. They’re paying you for the outcomes that you deliver through that website. A website is an investment and they’re expecting a return on that investment that is worth at least five figures.
The only way to make sure that you deliver those outcomes is by clarifying what they are from the very beginning, with clear objectives.
When you set clear objectives, and then work together with your client to meet them, you’ll both feel a sense of accomplishment and closure at the end of the project.
This is a simple and powerful way to show your client that they’re getting very clear outcomes as a result of investing in working with you.
4) Website presentation
The website presentation is a guided tour of the new website that you’ve created for your client. It can be live, which could mean you presenting over a screenshare during a call, or it can be recorded and you can share the recording with your client.
The goal is to guide the client through the website and help them experience it the way their clients and customers would.
Prevent client overwhelm
The website presentation is important because it helps prevent overwhelm for your clients. When you show them around their new website, they’ll feel like you’ve really made their life easier.
They don’t have to figure out how to navigate through the whole website, make sure all the content is organized the way you agreed it would be or test out all the functions. You’re doing it all for them.
As a bonus, because you’ve lightened their mental load, they’re more likely to share their feedback with you on time.
Get fewer revision requests
The website presentation also helps you get fewer revision requests.
It might seem really obvious to you why certain things are the way they are on the website you’ve created. But that is not true for your client.
When you guide them through the website, they get to learn the rationale behind important design decisions.
This makes them feel good and confident about the value of their new website, and this often means there won’t be much that they want to change.
5) Testimonial and referral request
Delivering an amazing website but failing to ask for a testimonial or for referrals is like climbing a ton of steps trying to get to the next level, but just as you get to the final step, deciding to slide all the way back down and start from zero again.
The only situation where it would make sense to NOT ask for a testimonial or a referral is if this client was a bad fit and you do not want any other client like them.
If you do want more clients like them, the best time to ask for a testimonial and referrals is at the end of the project. This way, your client can reflect on the experience of working with you while it’s still fresh in their mind.
They’re hopefully feeling great about having a new website that they love, about having achieved all the project objectives, and about the future of their business. And, they’ll associate this feeling with you and your brand, because you made all of this possible.
The goal here is to get high-quality client testimonials that you can use to get more clients, and also to get your client to connect you with new clients.
Show social proof
As a web designer, testimonials are the main way you can show social proof in your marketing. You can use them on your services page, in your case studies, on social media, and more.
Potential clients want to know that you’ve successfully helped other people like them. It’s often not enough for you to tell them that working with you is worth the investment — they want to hear from your past clients.
Great testimonials are going to make it so much easier for you to get more clients.
Get new clients
Charging $10k for a website design project means nothing if you’re not getting new clients. And referrals are arguably the easiest way to get new clients.
You don’t need email newsletters, or social media, or cold pitches, to get a referral client. All you need is for a happy client to tell someone they know, who needs a website, to go and work with you because you’re awesome and did an amazing job with their website.
Clients who are ready to invest $10,000 USD on a website will first look to their network to find their web designer. They’re not looking on platforms for freelancers or designers, they’re not looking on social media.
Asking for personal introductions is the most efficient way to get a new client, and there’s no better time to do that than after wrapping up a successful project.
Recap and next steps
To recap, the 5 key elements that you need to include in your client experience if you want to sell $10k websites are:
Project plan and discussion
Brand questionnaire or interview
Project brief signoff
Website presentation
Testimonial and referral request
So now what? I recommend reviewing your client experience and making sure that you’ve got these 5 key elements.
And if you need help improving any of these elements, or your overall process, take a look at my course, Fast Track.
In this course, I share every single step that I take each time I sell and deliver a website design project. I created Fast Track to give you the tools to build a successful website design business while showing up as your whole self.
