Why hire a freelance web designer?

Seeing as I’ve launched my own freelance web design site I guess I’d better set about explaining exactly why you might hire the services of a freelancer as opposed to an agency, or anyone else for that matter!

If you’ve already made the decision to invest in your website, whether it be a new build or just a refresh of an existing design the next stage in the process is to select a partner to work on the project with.

Web design is a competitive industry and you will no doubt have a plethora of options to choose from ranging from ‘a friend of a friend’ who knows a bit about the internet right up to professional agencies who employ teams of specialists to focus on each part of the project. Accordingly the associated costs and expense is likely to range from just a few hundred pounds into the eye watering five figure blue chip budget.

I’ll take a quick look at some of the alternatives available to you and weigh up the pro’s and cons before giving my own opinion on why a freelance designer could be your best option.

The purpose of this article is not to knock any of the alternatives available to you, or to say that X is necessarily better than Y, merely to explore some of your options and see if hiring a freelancer might be right for you.

The friend of a friend

Many people have a friend or associate that has at least some web design experience, perhaps a college project, or just a dabble in their spare time. As a low cost alternative it may be tempting to involve them in your own project, after all what harm can it do if it doesn’t cost much? The answer, which may come as a surprise to some people, is actually quite a lot!

Don’t forget that the internet is your global shop window and your website represents your business just as any other marketing medium does (e.g. a printed brochure or a TV ad). So what if your email is mis-configured and enquiries go unanswered, what if your website doesn’t work properly on certain browsers or what if your site is hacked and used to spread viruses . . . . the answer is obviously that your business will suffer.

Don’t get me wrong, if a trusted friend can refer somebody they know to be competent this can work very well, but using someone that is cheap because you have a loose association can often end in disaster.

By way of example I recently found that one of my client’s sites had been cloned. A complete copy of the site had been used under a different name. I approached the site owner who explained he had paid a student to design the site and had no idea it had been copied. As a result the duplicate site had to be taken offline and the owner, who probably thought he’d managed to get a website at a bargain price, ended up with nothing.

Pros

• Cheap

Cons

• Risky
• Difficult to relay negative feedback to somebody you know
• Inappropriate – you are likely to get the solution that they know how to provide as opposed to the best solution for you
• Opportunity cost – the site may not cost much initially, but you may miss out on a great deal of business that a professional site would attract. In addition you may need to pay for a re-design sooner than you think.

Small web design company

A small web design company is in many respects ideal for small to medium sized web projects, if they are able to boast enough experience and an impressive portfolio.

However smaller companies are unlikely to afford the expense of employing senior designers to work on smaller low value projects. There is likely to be less commercial and creative input and less understanding of how your website fits into the overall landscape of your business.

The end result is likely to be satisfactory; a usable, aesthetically pleasing website that doesn’t break the bank, but does it reach it’s full potential – or have other opportunities been missed that would have provided a better solution for your business?

Pros

• Affordable
• Professional

Cons

• Can be inexperienced
• Design focussed – nor commercial or business input
• No frills

Professional agency

Undoubtably large professional agencies produce some of the most technically and visually impressive work on the internet. With teams of specialists they are able to break down the process of web design, dividing projects up into their component parts and employing experts to oversee their own field of specialism. A sizable professional agency is, by enlarge, the ideal choice for big complex web projects.

However with large and complicated requirements come large fees and the typical agency is likely to be far beyond the budget of many small businesses. Even if your budget can stretch to meet agency fees, if you have a small or medium sized requirement you are likely to be a small (low value) fish in a big (high value) pond of customers – is your project really going to get the attention it deserves?

Pros

• Excellent work

Cons

• Expensive

Freelancer

A competent professional freelancer should be able to deliver some of benefits from each of the aforementioned options.

They should have the approachability, flexibility and ease of working relationship as a ‘friend of a friend’. They should have the professionalism of a small design company and if they are good at what they do they should be able to deliver technically and visually excellent work associated with professional agencies.

These, at least, are the principles by which I try to work and in the competitive market place in which I operate I hope that the combination of these skills and the flexibility I can offer are enough to deliver a considerable competitive advantage.

Pros

• Flexibility
• Cost
• Professionalism

Cons

• Not suitable for larger jobs
• Can be tied to an individual