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Are you setting up your online business? Or maybe you have run your business stationary but lately you decided it is time to appear on the Internet? If you have answered “Yes” to either of those questions then you will need a website!
Most entrepreneurs do not have the skills to design their own website, nor the budget to build an in-house team with a web designer, user interface designer, project manager and other necessary people. What can you do in that situation? Outsource the web design!
A good website is the foundation of business success
The website that is well-designed should not only present a product or service, but also be aesthetic and pleasant to use. Nowadays, the market in virtually every industry has a lot of vendors, which enables people using the Internet to choose between numerous offers. A well-prepared website is one of the factors that influences the potential client’s choice.
People no longer want to use websites that have a long loading time, present an offer unattractively, are difficult to use or, even worse, can be dangerous to computer systems. Therefore, when outsourcing web design, you must constantly cooperate with your vendor because you know your customers best – which is especially important when it comes to their needs and frustrations!
What should you start with to outsource website design?
Web design outsourcing means handing over some business processes related to graphic design to an external partner. At the very beginning, before you even start discussions to outsource website design, you need to answer a few questions that will help you create a brief. Such a document will be sent to various outsourcing companies that will prepare an offer for you.
What type of website do you need? What is the project’s ultimate goal?
There are many kinds of websites, not only online stores. Some of them function as a portfolio, business card, or presentation of the offer. For example, restaurants often decide to create a website just to make it easier to find information about a place, such as address, opening hours or menu.
What target audience do you want to reach?
If, for example, you open an e-commerce store with accessories and children’s clothes, the entire design of the website must match the company’s profile, e.g., through pastel colors, warm messages speaking to moms, etc. On the other hand, the website of a music store for heavy metal fans or an online drugstore with Korean cosmetics will have a completely different look and feel.
What distinguishes you from the competition?
It is important to know your strengths, as it helps to show them effectively on your website and attract customers as a result.
What budget have you allocated for a web project?
Depending on how much money you can spend on web design, you will be able to choose not only an outsourcing company, but also the ultimate look and features of your website.
What are the frustrations, needs and expectations of your customers as well as people potentially interested in your business?
Having this knowledge, it will be much easier for you to explain your ideas to the outsourcing agency.
Answering these questions serves, of course, only as an introduction to how the brief will ultimately look like, but it is all you need to start writing down initial guidelines and sending inquiries to web design agencies.
How to outsource web design work effectively?
Once you have chosen a company or freelancer to create the project for you, it is time to work out the details. How to outsource web design work? Most importantly, you need to remember that the website is not only about the visual layer. Of course, you will choose colors, placement, font, photos, etc., but each element of the website comes with technical solutions.
As mentioned above, design is just one part of building the website. You also need to think about the implementation. Do you have the necessary budget to outsource web development projects? It is worth finding an outsourcing company that will be responsible for both web design and development.
Are you considering web development outsourcing, but you have a limited budget? In the IT industry, the increasingly popular outsourcing model is cooperation with an offshore company from a different time zone. Many companies decide to work with offshore developers from the most cost effective regions, such as, for example, Eastern Europe. Offshore is an affiliate model that is of great interest to the outsourcing market and has many advantages. It is suitable for well-organized people who are able to accept possible inconveniences, such as language barriers or time zone differences.
What to do if you do not have a big budget and there is no web developer in your company structure who would be responsible for ongoing web development activities, monitoring how your website functions and fixing any errors? In such a situation, you should focus on simple solutions, such as a proven and tested content management system that will not cause any problems.
Now, let’s focus on the potential issues on visual examples. If you have a jewelry store and you want each product to be shown in 3D, preferably on a model, bear in mind that it will be costly and demanding to implement. It is not only about web design and development. In this case, the entire website needs to have a more efficient back-end system (e.g., server) that will support such large files without affecting the website’s speed and overall functioning.
What is more, nowadays, it is extremely important that a website does not only have a desktop version, but also a great mobile view. Traffic from smartphones and tablets accounts for more than half of the market. If a website is not mobile-friendly, it is at risk of having an outdated website design that fails to meet the needs and preferences of modern users, which can result in a significant loss of traffic and potential customers. If you want to achieve your sales or image goals, you need to have a responsive website that will work efficiently both on the desktop and other devices. That is why custom design should include both desktop and mobile versions.
How much does it cost to outsource web design and what determines the price?
How much does it cost to outsource web design? It all depends on the vendor to whom you outsource the work to, the complexity of the website and the maintenance service after the launch.
Please note that price is not the only factor that should get your attention. If something is cheap, it does not automatically mean that it is wrong. However, most often low cost goes hand in hand with lower quality of services. Professional web design agencies are sought-after and therefore, can set higher prices.
But keep in mind that an expensive service is not necessarily a good one either. Instead of focusing on the price, you should consider the vendor’s experience, portfolio, recommendations and opinions of previous clients.
An agreement – the most important point of outsourcing web design
When discussing how to outsource web design, you should not forget about another very important step, namely drawing up a detailed contract. What should such a document between the client and the outsourcing partner contain?
- Full details of both parties
- An elaborate description of the website design service
Make sure that the outsourcing company provides a comprehensive overview of the project, with a precisely described project’s scope, specifying the activities and the extent of the work - The final cost for the execution of specific design projects
Never agree to outsource project and sign documents without specific total price
- Specified deadlines for the completion of the web projectCreating a professional web design takes time, but still, the process should not last forever. The contract therefore needs to specify the exact dates for the start of work as well as delivery of the final form of the web projects. It is also worth including how much time the client has to provide the necessary materials for the outsourced project. This is a point that not only secures the outsourced company, but also makes the client more motivated to work reliably with the agency partner.
- Information on possible iterations
The outsourcing company you will work with must determine the type and number of corrections to the web project free of charge, as well as those that are possible for an additional fee.
- Signatures of both parties
Outsourcing web design pros and cons
What are the advantages of outsourcing web design? Certainly, the biggest benefit is the knowledge that you will receive a finished product that will work efficiently as it is created by IT professionals. Additionally, you save time that you can put into other activities at the company.
Preparing a website on your own requires not only many hours of trying various solutions on the computer, but also many months of study before getting to actual work. So you need to consider if you have time for that. Alternatively, you can build your own team consisting of web designers, web developers and project managers. However, it involves a long recruitment process and high costs. Outsourcing website development consumes considerably fewer resources than when the whole project is being done in house.
Additionally, your outsourcing partner will help you solve various project management problems that may arise. Web design and development agencies know the market very well, so they are able to advise you on which solutions work and which you should avoid. Their experience in project management, web design and quality control is invaluable! Most outsourcing companies dealing with website development have a dedicated team to support clients.
On the downside, the decision on web design outsourcing makes many entrepreneurs worry that they will lose control of the web development processes. However, this problem can go away if you sign a properly prepared contract and choose an agency partner who will professionally commit to the project. You will not fully control the development process, which can actually be an advantage for you, but thanks to a well-structured document, you will receive a constant update from the web design team as to the activities performed and in the end you will get the product you want.
That means that the only disadvantage is the allocation of the budget for web design and development. By creating the website yourself, you save money that you would need to pay the contractors if you outsourced web design. However, remember that a do-it-yourself solution is not cost-free. Most probably, you will have to invest in courses or training that allow you to explore the topic, or start a hiring process to build an in house team. The costs may turn out to be higher than outsourcing web development services.
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Are you looking for a vendor who will create a custom website design for you? Contact us and our web design team will surely help you!
