Choosing when to use a web design company

30 Jun, 2012

Is your in-house design team competent enough? What if you had a chance to get your website developed via an external web design company? It is very important to know when to rely on outsourcing and when to get the job done in-house. And well, it can be a tough decision so here’s how you do it!

If we were to list down the pros and cons of both the scenarios, we would have a clearer picture of when to use what. Accordingly, here are some realities about using an internal web team:

Cost effective for long-term projects and ongoing maintenance
Can understand organizational objectives and target audience better
Committed to improving the website over time
Able to promote the website internally and ensure it does not become neglected
More responsive due to absence of multiple clients

Now let’s have a look at the facts associated with outsourcing to a web design company:

More cost effective for short projects
Brings a fresh perspective
Has a broader perspective of the whole industry
The quality of work is consistently high
Has more specialized and highly skilled staff

A very logical conclusion from the above information would be that your decision has to be based on the length of the project and the funding available. If you run a website that needs constant development and will evolve on an ongoing basis then go for an in-house team. But keep in mind that supporting an in-house team can be expensive because there are the initial costs of recruitment and equipment, and the ongoing expenses of salary and training.

When you do not have comptent resources in-house, get your word done through web design company - outsourcing is the best due to the benefits and cost savings.

But wait, why choose when you can have both? Hire an external web design company for development work while your ongoing maintenance can be handled by an internal web editor. Also you could get the development done internally and hire external web design agencies for specialist work such as search engine optimization. Hence you’ll be able to enjoy the strengths of both in-house and external.

If you deprive yourself of outsourcing and your competitors do not, you're putting yourself out of business.

Define your project clearly

Whether you choose in-house, outsource or a combination of both, you need to write a brief that describes clearly what your project is about to have a successful web project. Your brief should be based on the following principles:

The length of your brief should reflect the size and complexity of the project
It should reflect the audience towards whom it is aimed
It should clearly list your expectations
It should clearly define the delivery date and time

Benefits

Now you may be tempted to let go of this step so here are a few benefits of writing brief that are sure to change your mind:

Limit scope creep
Improve costing accuracy
Clearly define tasks
Specify delivery dates
Provide context for the developers
Sets expectations
Improve communication

Always allow time for external web design companies to ask questions when issuing an invitation to tender!

In order to take the important decision of when to use a web design company, use the above stated guidelines and try using a hybrid of both in-house and outsource. Don’t forget to write the brief!

Want to setup your business website or ecommerce website? Not satisfied with your current website? 4M is here to help.

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