July 04, 2021
At Unified Web Design we work with a number of digital marketing agencies in helping them fulfill this side of their business. And I've had a lot of enlightening conversations over the past few years with those that either do or are ready to move this part of their business off-site.. or off-virtual site. 😉
But one thing that I hear a lot is that they don't want to have to manage a web design or development team in-house. I've talked with agency owners and other businesses that have had in-house teams, but moved away from them. And some agency owners that just know better.
There are many benefits to partnering with a dedicated web design & development agency.
You Don't Have to Manage Web Designers & Developers
NEWSFLASH: If you don't have good web design and development skills yourself AND you don't already have experience managing those teams, then you're going to have a hard time.
Like any kind of team, they need care and feeding in a specialized way. You need to know how to manage them, know their lingo and how to communicate what needs to be done, and be able to understand what they are telling you!
A development team…
- Do you know what Git is or a repo?
- How about React or Angular?
- Can you look at any code base and determine what framework was used to build it?
- What about servers? VPS?
- Docker? Webpack?
- Do you know if such and such an approach to that feature is good or bad?
- Can you review code? Is that code any good? Does it follow good standards? Will it conflict with anything?
Just scratching the surface…
And then there's the creative aspect. Do you have experience managing a ‘creative team'?
- Do you have that creative eye to review their work?
- Do you know how to communicate creative projects and have good processes in place?
- Do you know HOW they work? Their creative process?
- When is a wireframe required.. a mockup? A prototype? What's that?
- You need responsive design?
People spend years or decades learning that stuff. And the reason agencies have a hard time finding good developers and designers is because there are gaps in their knowledge and experience.
And the training .. that alone is a challenge.
But Matt, wouldn't I still be managing them? Even if I'm outsourcing?
Good question. You do have to do your homework. But there are good agencies to work with out there that take the ‘management' off your plate. *cough* *cough*.
There are pitfalls to finding the right agency for sure. If you are trying to work directly with international developers and agencies, there are a lot of ways that can go sideways. Just a few examples, they may deliver poor work, deliver late OR there may be timezone and communication issues.
But a good agency can help you and take a LOT of stress off your plate.
The effort is worth it even if there's trial and error. Even if you have to go through a dozen agencies to find the right one. Because when you do find a good partner, amazing things happen! Including…
Getting More Clients –> Happier Clients
As trends in Digital Marketing Agencies grow, you will be able to get clients you couldn't get just on your own. When you have a dedicated web design agency ready to provide technical and creative know-how, they may even be able to help you close that sale.
No more trying to fumble your way through a client call or proposal .. you'll have a partner to support you.
You'll be able to say ‘yes' more.
The quality you deliver should also be greater because you are dealing with someone that specializes and can deliver great results for your clients.
And it's WAY more scalable. You don't have to manage and scale a team to keep up with the demand. Your agency partner handles that for you.
Trial and error are worth it… or you could just contact my agency. 🙂
Let's see if we're a good fit for you!
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