3 Tips to Ensure Success with Digital Presence Outsourcing
When you’re looking for a web design company, here are three helpful tips.
- Ensure sure that the company or individual has a good reputation and is known for producing high-quality work.
- Ensure they’re able to meet your specific needs and requirements. Take the time to discuss your requirements up front and you have a clear understanding of expectations.
- Verify that they’re able to provide the level of customer service you expect. Communicate your expectations and get the level of support requested in writing.
To find the right web design company, start by doing a search online. Once you’ve narrowed down your choices, take the time to read reviews and testimonials from past clients. This will give you a good idea of what to expect from each company. Once you’ve found a few companies, contact them and ask for quotes. Be sure to ask about their experience, what services they offer, and what their rates are.
There are four primary different types of web design companies that offer web design services:
Freelance Web Designers
Freelance web designers are individuals who contract their services to build websites.
A web design freelancer will bill hourly until the project is complete and bill extra hours for any changes or additions that a client requests outside of the original project’s scope.
Advantages:
- Freelancers often don’t have overhead for an office or staff, this typically makes them the most affordable solution.
- Freelancers tend to focus on completing a project quickly, while they’re working on your project ensure you time set aside to communicate with them daily..
- Freelancers web designers often don’t adhere to office hours and tend to be available after business hours.
Disadvantages:
- Freelancers time is money and their focus is on completing the project, but not necessarily customer service. When working with a freelancer, ensure you review the terms and conditions for delivery and revisions.
- Web design freelancers have no support team to assist with completing projects. Ensure you are managing the project and your freelancer is meeting the deadlines.
- Ensure that your project has a narrow scope when choosing to work with a web design freelancer. Freelancers typically specialize in a niche and cannot fulfill all of your digital presence management needs like a full-service agency can.
- Website support and maintenance requires adherence to schedules and monitoring vulnerabilities. Ensure you have a team in place to support your website after a freelancer hands it over.
Web Design Agencies
A web design agency is a company that offers web design and web development services focusing specifically on your website. They usually have a team of designers and copywriters who will collaborate on to complete your website project.
Typically a web design agency will bill a flat fee to complete your project. You can expect to have a very thorough scope of work and clear expectations communicated.
Advantages:
- Web Development Firms usually have a team of experts who can offer a wide range of services.
- Having a team in place offers more reliability and accountability than individual freelancers.
- Web Development Firms usually have more experience than freelancers
- Web Development Agencies will typically include graphic design and copywriting to complete your website.
- Since a web design agency has multiple staff members, they tend to be more reliable than digital freelancers
Disadvantages:
- With quality comes a price, web design firms can be more expensive than freelancers as you’re typically paying for a team.
- Web design agencies are usually managing multiple projects and need to adhere to a strict schedule to meet deadlines. Any changes you request will be added to the schedule.
- Web development firms may not offer as much personal attention as freelancers.
Full-Service Digital Agency
A full-service digital agency offers a comprehensive set of services that include web design, web development and digital marketing. They usually have a team of experts who can help with all aspects of your online presence.
Services typically offered by a full-service digital agency include brand strategy, digital marketing; including search engine optimization, paid search management, and content marketing services.
A full-service agency will manage your brands identity to promote a complete digital presence and deliver regular reporting on key metrics to ensure your quarterly goals are being met.
Full-Service Digital Agencies tend to require a monthly retainer to provide ongoing support.
Advantages:
- Web agencies can offer a wide range of services
- Web agencies usually have a team of experts who can offer a wide range of services
- Web agencies are often more reliable and accountable than freelancers
- Web design services typically require no management and provide you with peace of mind knowing your brand is being fully managed by professionals.
Disadvantages:
- Web agencies can be more expensive than freelancers and specialty firms, as they offer a holistic approach to your entire digital presence.
- Full-service Digital Web Agencies without dedicated account executives may not offer as much personal attention as freelancers
Web Development Firm
What’s the difference between web design companies and web development firms?
Web development typically refers to the custom development of web applications and web-related services and is more akin to software development. It can also be used to refer to web development as a whole web programming and web server configuration. These services are often referred to as web developers.
Web development firms are typically an order of magnitude more expensive than web design agencies and only offer custom web development services when existing solutions do not fit their need. Web development firms take longer to get websites done, but they offer a more comprehensive service for custom solutions.
Typical projects offered by a development company will refer to their projects like web development, and mobile app development. In addition to contracting these services, you will typically have an internal team that maintains the application once it has been handed over.