Hiring a freelance web designer can be an affordable option for small businesses or individuals who don’t have a big budget. This post takes a look at when a freelance designer is your best option and covers the following:
- you want value for money
- you want to ensure high quality work
- you prefer to work with someone one to one
- you want out of hours support
- you have a limited budget
Value for money
Hiring the services of the average freelancer will be at least 60% cheaper than the average web design agency.
That’s not to say you should never consider hiring a design agency; just bare in mind they have very high overheads and have to price their work accordingly.
Agencies seldom take on projects for less than £10,000, even if that project is a 5 page brochure site that should cost less than £2,000.
You get top billing
From the freelancer’s perspective, a new client promises a good chance of producing more new clients down the line – in the form of referrals.
Of course referrals only come from customers that are highly satisfied with a job well done, so it’s in any designer s interest to do great work.
By doing great work for you; a freelance designer can anticipate getting more new clients. That’s a win-win situation.
You get to work with a highly motivated designer who’s hoping for a referral from you and it’s a great incentive for the designer to produce something special for you.
One to one communication
Freelances have a responsibility to two parties; the person that hires them and themselves.
Both parties need to agree on a communication schedule and the method(s) of communication but that’s just a matter of detail.
A real benefit of working with a freelancer is that you have a direct one-to-one communication channel directly to the person that is completely responsible for producing the end product.
No being passed from pillar to post to someone who doesn’t you from Adam, not not only saves you time but also cuts down on your contributions to the swear box.
Successful web projects are strongly dependent on having both parties being able to have a one-to-one discussion without going through loop holes.
Out of Hours Support
Freelancers limit their number of clients they work with at any one time. Depending on the size of their current projects, this could be one, two or possibly even three clients, if they are all small projects.
Web design is much more time consuming than most folks imagine and designers seldom keep regular office hours. As with many small businesses owners, knocking off at five and having a work-free weekend is not the norm.
Being able to contact your designer out of normal office hours can come in very handy if you just don’t have time during the working day.
You have a limited budget
As a sole trader that specialises working with small businesses, tradesmen and individuals, I understand the need to keep a lid on costs. Having said that, I would always advice you should spend as much as you can afford on your website – but no more than you actually need to do.
I see so many badly designed websites that clearly bring little benefit to the business it represents.
I also see plenty that have gone overboard on the design aspects without consideration for the core message that should have been the focus of the website.
Getting someone who “does websites” is not a good option if you care about your business. Agencies are a viable option if you have a budget over £10,000.
If you budget is less than £8,000 then hiring a competent designer who offers a freelance web design service is without doubt the option you should choose.