Helping web design companies build their brand reputation and client engagement

The two common options to develop websites are freelancers and contracting the work out to web agencies. So how do you make the decision?

The single biggest advantage of hiring a freelance website designer is the cost. The freelancer, working independently, is not saddled with the overheads of a web agency, and in a highly competitive field, would more likely pass on the resultant cost savings to the customer.Many talented freelance website designers, new to the profession, and eager to develop a valuable client-base, would develop the website at a considerably lower cost than what web agencies or even experienced freelancers would charge.With freelancers, the company is always at a strong bargaining point. In fact, freelancers may be considered as de-facto staff of the company, assigned on project work. The company has the best of both worlds, enjoying both the flexibility to dictate things and paying for results rather than for the time spent.

A freelance website designer, however, has serious limitations, as well. The freelancer is a single individual, with no or few associates, and as such, would have limited time to offer. The resources on hand including the software would also be limited.

Most freelancers have their niche in certain areas. In areas where they are weak, they rely on fellow freelancers. Or, such weakness becomes apparent in the end product. For instance, a freelancer may be very good in providing innovative designs, but may be weak in content. Very often, the company would have to make improvements over and above the freelancers finished work. Developing a website requires both creative and technical expertise. The freelancer would in most cases be proficient in either, but rarely in both.

A web agency, being an organisation, is more likely to have a wide talent pool to deliver a complete package, not lacking in any areas. For instance, the agency would have multiple designers with varying background, and experience who pool in their creative expertise, to offer much wider range of ideas for the design and functionality of your project. On the execution front, the web agency can adopt the iterative approach, or entrusting portions of the work to different designers, and then joining it all together, to get the work done faster. The agency would more likely have a broader range of resources, including software, and licences, as well.

On the other hand, the advantages of hiring a freelancer, such as costs and flexibility, translate as disadvantages of website development using a web agency.

For all the advantages and security that web agencies provide, at the end of the day, they may simply sub-contract the work to a freelancer, and take a cut as the middlemen. That’s something to certainly watch out for.
Whether it is better to hire a freelancer, or a web agency, ultimately depends on the nature of the Website. For simplistic and straightforward website designs, a freelancer may be a good option. For more complex projects, and where a long-term relationship with the developer may be beneficial, a web agency may be a better bet.

As a rule-of-thumb, it is better to entrust large and complex ecommerce websites, CRM portals, and other content management websites, with web agencies, and it is more effective to hire freelancers for simpler projects.

www.whichwebdesigncompany.com

When can you launch my website? Why haven’t you met my deadline? Clients are naturally concerned with the outcome. They know they want a website, they approach an agency to do it for them and they want to know when it’s going to be launched on the Internet. Unfortunately, the question of the launch date, can cause many problems between clients and web design agencies.

Having a website designed and developed is a two way process. Even for the most basic website, the client needs to put in as much work and effort as the agency who puts it all together and makes it work. At least they need to if they want to get what they expect from their website. A website is not a product you can just buy off the shelf. Once this concept is understood, both clients and companies can work together to deliver. And so we can conclude that at the heart of making this process work well is communication.

From a web design agency’s perspective, managing multiple projects and a large team can be tricky. Be sure not to take on more work than you can handle. It’s always best to let new clients know you’re busy and have to start their project a bit later – they are more likely to appreciate the fact you are able to manage your workload and it looks good to say that you are busy so chances are they will be happy to wait so that they can work with you.

• Create a detailed specification of project and speak to the lead designer and lead developer to find out accurate timeframes for the work, considering other projects. Be clear and give estimate dates, explain the reasoning.

• Split the project into phases and ask the client for feedback at each phase to ensure you are on the right path, listen to what they want and what their expectations are, some clients will trust your advice and decisions more than others.

• During the project, make sure you show the client the work you have done and report on progress – if the scope changes at all, notify them of the effect on the estimated deadline and costs.

• Don’t make excuses – explain exactly when you will be working on the project, what you have achieved during the time, where the problems are and how long they may take to resolve. Be honest and open, even when you are late or delayed.

• Surprise your client and deliver earlier (by giving yourself extra days on the deadline).

As a client, the first step is ensuring you select a company who can communicate well with you and who has an understanding of what you want from your website. Stay away if a company is not asking you questions, has not provided you with a specification or scope of work showing exactly what they are going to deliver. This includes information about the number of pages, what will be on each page, how the back end (content management system) will work and what you will be able to do on it.

• Don’t expect an exact launch date from the day the work on your website starts. It’s difficult to predict how long work will take, but make sure you’re given estimation for work and a timeframes on different phases (e.g. for  branding and home page design, further page designs, development work, testing).

• Be prepared to get involved – you will need to provide feedback on designs, and provide content and images as appropriate. If you decide you want something to be changed or added from what was originally discussed, talk to the company and assess the impact this will have on the cost and timescale of the project.

• Respect the fact that it’s difficult for you to know how long different parts of your project will take. One simple change may look very easy to change, but actually when it comes to the coding of it it’s pretty complicated and may takes hours rather than 5 minutes.

• Give feedback at each stage. A conversation with your company may be the best form of communication at this stage to ensure they understand you and you understand them.

I had two separate clients approach me last week with horror stories related to their web design companies.

Client one wanted an ecommerce website

They did all the right things. They visited the company’s offices. Had a meeting with a member of their team and came away feeling confident the company knew what they wanted. Read positive reviews and recommendations. The company offered them a package, stating unlimited design revisions, no further on costs, approximately £2000.

They received some designs which the client was happy with, even though they were delayed slightly and had asked for some revisions. The web design company have then stated that for design changes for example image size revision, different coloured backgrounds and so on, there would be additional costs. The client feels that many things she is asking for has an ‘additional cost’ associated with it.

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By Guest Blogger, Brad Bagherian

In order to be competitive in an age of technology where the whole world is watching and companies’ target customers expect personalized attention, retailers need to be able to utilize the effects of web analytics.  Analytics is better known as a marketing strategy retailers use to conduct operational research, statistics and data analysis, as well as a tool for collecting information that helps to create business strategies.  Not only is the use of web analytics a clear path to marketing success, but it also creates a situation that the customer feels comfortable using and will be inclined to return to after a successful experience.

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Developing brand reputation has become a key part of marketing strategies. Clients simply have too much choice and will often use a perceived reputation of a company in their selection process as their main criteria.

A company’s reputation has a direct link to their trustworthiness. Once a buyer, customer or client has developed trust in another party, they are more likely to interact, connect or make a purchase. No surprise then that reputation is becoming an ever increasing influencing factor for any business and why Reviews Websites started to make an appearance.

Yelp, Angie’s List, FreeIndex for business services, but also Amazon, Ebay, Stack Overflow, LinkedIn … the list goes on. Everyone and every business is now able to develop their reputation online as more and more users, customers, clients are using these services to write their personal thoughts about their experiences with a particular product or service; for a market of users who are hungry for opinions. This rapidly expanding network is growing at an exponential rate!

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