Outsourcing is one of those words that carries an unfortunate stigma with it.
Many businesses blanch at the idea of outsourcing services, preferring to keep their business in-house to increase transparency and save costs. But does keeping your work within your own firm actually guarantee these benefits? Outsourcing can provide web design solutions that are cost-effective and of a far higher quality than can be found in-house.
1. It’s Their Specialty
It stands to reason that you can’t beat the quality offered by outsourced web design firms. When web design is what you do all day, every day, you become accustomed to the subtleties and practices that set exceptional design apart from the ordinary.
Dedicated design firms will be familiar with the best practices of the industry and will likely be up to date on the cutting edge design trends that industry leaders require. These may include optimization of your site for mobile use (an essential aspect of any web design these days), responsive interfaces, and creative layouts of menus and links to guide the user experience.
2. Design and Development
Quality design boutiques will have direct communication between web designers and developers to ensure nothing gets lost in translation during the design process. This is an essential part of web development, as poorly reconciled back-end and front-facing design can create a mess of inoperability and user errors that make navigating your page a headache.
Designers who work closely with developers can coordinate their efforts to ensure that consistency is maintained across the entire platform. This ensures that any customized plugins and scripts that your page may use will be integrated naturally in the UI that you show your visitors.
3. Better Workforce Management
While outsourcing detractors might argue that the costs of third-party services are too expensive to be justifiable, outsourcing can actually be the most cost effective option.
Take two small businesses. The first needs a website, and decides to “save money” and hire an in-house employee to do the job. This developer learns the basics of your platform, gets an idea of your business model, and crafts a passable design interface.
Oh, it’s not exactly what you wanted, but you tell yourself concessions have to be made given that you’ve already invested your allotted resources and your in-house employee has done the best they can. After you implement your adequate design, you’re left wondering two things: is this good enough? And, what the heck do we do with our employee now? Their job is done, but you now have a rather unnecessary employee on staff taking up company resources.
Compare this scenario with that of our second business. Instead of a new hire, they opt to bring in an outsourced web design firm. Yes, they’re likely paying a higher base rate for the services, but the process of outsourced web design saves money on administrative fees related to hiring, training, and integrating a new employee into your business.
The firm works with the business owner to discuss the goals of the design interface and deliver a proposed timetable for completion. Once the product has been delivered, the business owner reviews it with the web design firm to ensure all of their needs were met. After, the business is left with a professionally-made design that is guaranteed to work and stay competitive in the marketplace—no concessions needed.
This is the true value of outsourcing: the assurance of quality, effective communication, and creativity that is impossible for any single employee to match.