Is It a Good Idea to Outsource Web Design?

The old proverb says, “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, but the thing is, this rule doesn't apply to websites. Think about it. What is the first thing you are looking for in a good website? Apart from the convenience of the functional part, you want it to have an attractive design. But again, it is not just about the visual appeal of a picture, the structure and coherence of all elements are also crucial. Whatever websites you are building, the high-quality UI/UX design plays a vital role in whether or not users will be happy with what they use. As we all know, quality products are costly. Web design is no exception. However, there's a cost-effective way to get the desired result - one can outsource web design and development to an external company.

If you are still in two minds whether web design outsourcing is a good idea for your business, this article will help you make the choice. We're going to guide through the process of outsourcing web design services and describe the most beneficial options available at the moment.

In a Nutshell: What Does a Web Designer Do?

Before you go on and outsource web design to a web design company, it is important to know exactly what web designers do in order to know what to expect from them. There’s a typical mistake to use the terms of a web designer and a web developer interchangeably. However, there’s a difference in their roles. Without a doubt, both a web developer and a web designer work side by side on projects, but to clear things up, let’s take a look at the definitions:

A web designer deals with the aesthetic design of a website as well as the experience of a website for a user. Basically, this person is responsible for the way a website looks and feels. A web designer has the tricky task of integrating user experience into the design while keeping in mind color palettes, branding, typography, and readability of a website.

A web developer in turn takes those designs and turns them to a live functioning and error-free website by the means of programming languages. In other words, this person builds the actual interface through which a user interacts with a website.

It is worth noting that sometimes there are a lot of crossovers between the two fields as it is expected that a good web designer has to have some basic knowledge of programming. Whether you are looking for a creative web designer or a talented web developer to outsource your project to - Yojji will provide you with real professionals at an affordable cost.

Why It Is Beneficial to Outsource Web Design

There's a decent chance that you are familiar with web design. If this is the case, then you know exactly how time-consuming and nerve-wracking the process of designing a website is. Of course, you could take up the task yourself, but it can distract you from the core activities of your business resulting in reduced productivity. It won't come out as a surprise that more and more companies, startups, and individual business owners choose to outsource such tasks as web design to an external team of web design experts. We'd like you to get acquainted with the key advantages web design outsourcing can bring you:

1. Reduction in costs. One of the greatest things about outsourcing whatever task you need to a third-party vendor is that you can save money. You can decrease your expenses big time by hiring a team of web designers from a country with lower labor rates and a more favorable taxing system.

2. Fresh perspectives and new ideas. By having chosen to team up with an external web development firm you will be able to generate new ideas and bring fresh perspectives to your project. Those who work in web design are highly creative people with an ability to find unusual solutions to tricky issues.

3. A wider range of expertise. You could have the best minds in your in-house team, but if web design isn’t their core activity, it is better to opt for the services of an outsourced web design agency or an individual web designer as they will more likely have more experience in this field. When it comes to creating complex large-scale websites, wide expertise is a great advantage.

4. Cutting-edge solutions, tools, and technologies. As you know technology trends tend to change all the time. Some tools and web design solutions become outdated while the new ones emerge and take on the leading positions. If web design isn’t your company’s core business, you might not be aware of the latest technologies. Outsourced teams, on the other hand, always keep up with the web design trends and are able to pick the most advantageous solutions for you.

5. Access to a wider talent pool. Outsourcing whether it is web development or web design provides access to a wide talent pool with a unique skill set. Let's say you are working on a short-term project that requires specific skills that will no longer be needed for other projects. There's no point in hiring an in-house web designer, it is better to outsource website design to an outside vendor.

A Step-by-Step Guide on How to Outsource Web Design Work

When it comes to outsourcing web design work, there's no one right way of doing it as the process may be developing differently depending on the kind of cooperation you choose, the country your outsourced vendor is from, etc. Below, you will find general guidelines on how to outsource web design effectively:

#1. Decide on the scope of work your project needs

It goes without saying that crafting a website from scratch isn't the same as doing some general updates to make it look better. To help the agency to which you outsource web design work understand the idea of what your website should look like, you need to be ready to give specific instructions and describe your project in detail.

#2. Find out about the average pricing in the industry

The rates for completing typical web design tasks might differ greatly so you have to get acquainted with the average prices before you outsource the web design of your project. Of course, you shouldn't look for the cheapest bid since it may result in poor quality.

There are three key factors that influence the scope of work and therefore the costs for web design:

• The complexity of the design
• The functionality of a site
• The number of pages on a website

Let’s say you need a custom 5-page website, the prices would range somewhere between $500 and $1,000. But if you deal with a complex eCommerce site, the costs might be doubled or even tripled.

#3. Hire a reliable outsourcing vendor

Once you have decided on your goals and conducted thorough research of the market, it is time to pick a vendor to outsource web design. Initially, you may want to check the platforms that include the lists of top offshore development companies. The best destinations would be such platforms as Clutch.co, Manifest, GoodFirms, etc. While looking for a potential vendor, make sure you check out the following information:

• The portfolio of an outsourcing development company and its expertise
• The knowledge of particular technologies and tools
• The set of skills of the development team
• Reviews
• English proficiency level

These are just a few essentials you need to check before hiring a web design agency. You might also want to ask your potential vendor for the samples of web design they have done and request information about support or QA processes, etc. Pick a few candidates and compare them with great attention to details. Don’t go for the first company you come across on the web as well as don’t take the bait of the cheapest price. Remember that a good and professional company always asks a lot of questions about your project and your goals to provide the best possible solution.

#4. Communicate

A common misconception to think that after an outsourcing company is found and the tech tasks are given one can forget about the project until the web design is ready. The quality of the end product highly depends on the level of communication between a client company and a vendor during web development. Luckily, due to the variety of communication channels that are available these days, such things as time zone differences are no longer a problem. You can gain full control over the project thanks to such tools like JIRA, Asana, Figma, Dropbox, Slack, InVision, etc. On top of that, you get access to a great number of convenient messengers such as Telegram or WhatsApp that makes it possible to keep in touch with your outsourced web design team.

So, Should You Outsource Web Design?

Answering this question, we'll say that it depends on a number of factors, some of them have been described above. While being quite a beneficial solution, outsourcing web design work to a third-party vendor isn't a go-to solution for everyone without exceptions. If you need a web designer on a regular basis, finding and hiring an in-house team member might be a great option. However, if you need to build a complex site that requires a set of specific tools and skills, it is a good idea to outsource web design to a qualified team. They will complete the task much faster, better, and at a lower cost.

Need a high-quality web design? Hire professional web designers from Yojji now!