• Wed, Aug 1, 2012

    Anyone who has ever wanted to have a website designed has probably struggled with the debate between working with a website design agency vs. a freelance web designer. Usually, the debate goes a little something like this: You think that if you hire a freelancer, the cost will probably be a lot more reasonable. But will a web designer working independently have access to the same resources as an agency does? So then you think that maybe an agency will offer higher quality service in the end, which might be worth the extra cost. But now you have to consider that an agency might also have a lot more projects going on at once, and won’t be able to give you the personal attention that a freelancer might. But then again, freelancers are pretty busy too, aren’t they? Will they have even less attention to give you? At this point, you usually have to stop to regain your sanity, and vow to come back to the decision later. What might help you decide which is the better choice for you is learning a little bit about how each of these scenarios work, and which one might be better for your personal needs.

    Let’s start with a website design agency. Often times, since an agency has many designers, copywriters, and creative experts, they can offer a broader range of skills and services. An agency employs experts with different backgrounds and experience, and this can add variety to the work done by that agency. For instance, a freelancer has only their own skill set and experience to rely on. They don’t have the resources of a large firm. In an agency setting, people with backgrounds in marketing, communications, copywriting, and computer technology can add extra depth to the final product. Agencies will likely be pricier, but they can usually work more effectively on large-scale, time-consuming projects than freelancers can, and can put stricter guidelines in place for what they will and will not do on a project.

    In contrast, a freelance website designer might have a more difficult time setting these strict guidelines and having clients adhere to them. Unlike a website design agency, sometimes clients will think that a freelancer is at their beck and call 24 hours a day, but they shouldn’t be. They have a lot of projects to balance too, and they are the only one working on them. However, just because there isn’t a team of experts at work doesn’t mean that the creativity is going to be stifled.  In this environment, the designer has free reign to be as creative as they’d like without having to answer to others who might restrict what they can do. It isn’t always beneficial to have multiple people working on a project, as it’s hard to balance many different opinions and still get things done. A freelance web designer likely has a niche, or several, that they are an expert in, and can offer very high-quality work in those areas. They may not have the resources of an agency, but the prices they offer usually make up for that fact and are quite a bit more reasonable.

    Ultimately, the choice is yours, and you have a few variables to consider. There really is no right or wrong answer when it comes to the overall quality of the finished product. In many cases, freelance design work is just as impressive as work done by a website design agency, and vice-versa. The trick is outlining what you need, what services are important to you, and what working style you prefer. But knowing the ins and outs of each type of web design is a good start, and should help you make your way down the path of creating a shiny new website without having to lose your mind along the way.

    Posted by myadmin @ 10:53 am for Web Design |

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