Everybody wants a website because they know they need to have one for their business. The goal can be as simple as to just get the information out there about what they do. So they go and hire either a agency or a freelancer to build them a brand-new website.
However, many people don’t realize they’re throwing away money because they just don’t see where the drain in their budget is. Here we hope to point out a few things to help you avoid throwing money away while trying to get a new website.
Don’t hire a freelancer
I said before in another article about what I think on freelancing. I’ve done it for years. However, I couldn’t do all the services that people do want nowadays for their business to be advertised. I could only take the time to design and develop the website for them. I didn’t have time to do marketing, online advertising, PR, content marketing and many more things to help that website become popular and their brand grow during the project.
Its not a matter of skill or experience, it’s just a matter of a resources and time. A freelancer is one person and you need a team, or an entire agency, to make something work in a saturated market.
Don’t take control
I love this quote from the next web:
Like we reiterated in Web UI Best Practices, committee design is not collaborative. It’s a dictatorship of many, and you’ll be reduced to the role of implementer rather than facilitator. You’ll also eventually want to kick everyone out of the process at some point.
Honestly this is how designers feel. They are professionals, not starving artist, they do this because they love it, but also because they are professionals and want to get paid for it. Many have gone through training and years of experience to master their craft. It’s very insulting when someone judges the price of that based on standard that do not match the persons years of experience.
When a client comes along and takes control, it’s much like hiring a painter to paint your house and then asking for the paintbrush and ladder.
If you really want the design to work, you have to trust the agency or team you hired and let them do their job. If you don’t, then the outcome is only on you when things don’t work out the way you expected, not on them. You must leave creative control to the creative professionals.
Plan ahead.
You can’t ask anyone in the industry who builds websites or does branding here clients ask, “I want a website” without more details about what they’re expecting. It’s wise to plan ahead to bring to their designer and say, “This is what I am thinking, will this work?” Look online at your competition and bring that to the designer, then look at other sites unrelated to your business and ask what is possible with your budget realistically.
This will be the foundation of collaboration on the design between you and the designer. Their job is not only to create something that you could not imagine but also to create something within specifications of what you are and who you represent. That’s not insulting and will effectively start your client/designer relationship off on the right foot.
Important note: This collaboration does not mean there is creative control to the client, it only means specific input on audience, colors, and other pieces of the design that reach the audience to grow your business and fits the culture you have in your company.
Tell all the others to butt out.
Agencies typically have all the staff and talent required to see your project from very beginning to the very end. If there are third-party contractors involved that you were using for consulting or other services they should be introduced, but you should ask if the agency already has the services available. That could greatly effect your end costs.
Many times businesses will say I have a contractor who gives me business advice for this or that and what happens is that advice contradicts what the agency actually sees and has the resources to do the research to give you the proper advice against what the actual market is doing in responding to.
Essentially too many voices can create a non-collaborative environment but more as the quote above states, “committee design.”
Our professionals have been building websites for over a decade, and we’ve been doing marketing, outbound and inbound, for 40 years and counting. Technology changes and updates, so have we, please give us a call if you’d like to have a free consultation about your business and brand and plan how out to reach your target audience.
