10 Reasons You Should Outsource Web Development Instead of DIY

Featured article by Catherine Hernandez, Independent Technology Author

With the myriad of free website builders available, anyone can build their own website easily and inexpensively. But far fewer people know how to make a successful website. Do you?

Do you know the difference between designing for success and merely arranging site content onto a pre-made template? Do you have experience and up-to-date knowledge of web design and SEO? Do you have a proven track record of several sites you’ve built or redesigned that are successful to this day?

A competent, professional web designer has all of these credentials and then some. They have the experience and know-how to build your site for success. And they can prove it.

Outsourcing to a quality web designer will ensure the success of your website–it’s worth the investment. Before you decide to build your own site, read these 10 reasons you should outsource web development instead.

1. You’re Not Qualified

Don’t take this the wrong way. We’re sure you are amazing at what you do. But if what you do for a living is anything other than web development, you’re clearly not as qualified as a professional web designer.

This same principle applies to hiring an in-house developer. If you have no expertise in web development, what makes you think you’re qualified to hire an in-house developer? You don’t know what skills they need or how to tell if they’re good at them.

2. You’re Not a Team

Designing a website for success literally takes a team of skilled individuals. To build a successful custom site they must be knowledgeable in:

* Graphic design
* Web design trends
* Interactive design
* Coding for multiple browsers in multiple operating systems on multiple devices
* Back-end development
* Front-end development
* SEO
* Mobile app development* App store optimization and marketing
* Business and marketing as applicable to your company
* Much, much more

There’s no way one person can have enough expertise and enough hands to do a great job with all of these things. You alone, or one or two in-house developers you hire, will not be enough.

3. Outside Web Development Firms are More Than Qualified

Let’s say you assemble an in-house web development team according to the best-case scenario. You get the most skilled staff and a big enough team to handle the workload. Outside web development firms are still better.

You see, web development firms have a lot more competition than the lone developers you may hire. If a lone developer does a bad job and gets fired, he can easily find another job. There are always job openings for those with computer skills.

But if a development firm doesn’t satisfy their clients or measure up to the thousands of other firms there are, they go out of business for good.

Also, a development firm is already a well-oiled machine of teamwork. When you hire developers individually, it takes them time to develop this level of teamwork, if they ever do.

4. You Don’t Have to Manage Outside Web Developers

As you can see in Reason #2, creating and maintaining a successful website is a full-time job for an entire team of people. There’s no way you can do this on your own.

And hiring in-house can be even worse. You’d have to add a whole, new department to your company. That’s one more team to manage and a load of new metrics to keep track of.

Would you even know how to measure their results? How will you know if they’re doing a good job or what they can do better?

Let’s assume you do know how to evaluate and manage their performance. It still takes up your time and effort to do so.

It also takes space. Where will they sit? You better have room for them in your office.

When you outsource, you don’t have to manage the team directly. All you need to focus on is that the website is achieving the metrics your company needs it to. The web development company will take care of the rest.

5. It Takes No Time To Hire Outside Web Developers

Hiring in-house means a long and involved hiring process. You’ll have to interview hundreds of applicants and then help them get settled into your team.

And how do they fit into your team? You’ll have to come up with new employee contracts and company policies concerning this new department.

6. It Takes No Time To Train Outside Web Developers

An outsourced team doesn’t have to be trained or indoctrinated them into the ways of your company. Their team leader will take care of all that for you.

But each in-house employee requires at least a few days of training. They already know the techie part of the job. But they’ll still need to learn the basics of being an employee at your company.

You’ll have to teach them whose who, where things are, your mission statement, etc. You’ll have to familiarize them with your unique approach to teamwork and work ethics.

This might not seem like that big of a deal. But it is when you invest this time, money and effort into an employee who decides to quit after a week.

7. Outsourcing Prevents Turnover

Hiring in-house comes with a nightmare’s worth of additional HR issues. Do you have enough developers to handle the workload if two of them call in sick?

But your biggest problem will be turnover. If any of your in-house developers quit, you’ll have to hire all over again. And with all the jobs available to programmers, it’s not unlikely to lose one to another company.

All of this is time wasted that you can prevent by outsourcing.

8. You Have Better Things to Do

We’re going to assume you actually work at your business. Your day is already full of important tasks that demand your focus, like running a company.

You can’t afford the time or effort it takes to design and maintain your own website even if you were qualified. And as we mentioned above, managing and maintaining in-house development staff is a hassle you don’t need either.

Ease your overburdened mind by letting someone else worry about it. Outsourcing your web development leaves you free to invest all your time and effort into your business where it belongs.

9. They Have Better Things to Do, Too

Outsourcing isn’t just easier for you. It’s easier for your development team as well. While you’re fully focusing on your part of the job, they’re fully focusing on theirs.

They don’t have to worry about visits from your district manager or upcoming employee evaluations. They don’t need to know about your leads or clients.

They are free from the distractions of your office. So they can fully devote their attention to making your website thrive.

10. Outsourcing is Cheaper

Many people are turned off to the idea of outsourcing their web development because of the high price of local outsourcing firms. But, unlike with in-house development, local isn’t your only option when outsourcing.

The average salary of Polish web developers is $42,000 dollars less than American web developers make. Outsourcing to Poland can save you thousands of dollars.

But that doesn’t mean you’re sacrificing quality. Polish developers are ranked the third highest in the world.

There’s also another way outside web developers can save you money. After designing and building you the perfect website, a good web development firm will teach you how to easily maintain it yourself.

First, they build your website with an easy-to-use content management system (CMS). For example, let’s say they build the site using Drupal. Once it’s finished, they’ll give you a “Drupal for Beginners” crash-course.

They’ll teach you all you need to know about using the CMS to maintain your own site. From then on, you can run it yourself for free.

If saving several thousand dollars per year is important to you, outsource your web development.

Outsource Web Development

Do you want the best website for your business? Do you want to get it the easiest, cheapest way possible? Then outsource web development to a highly-rated developer.

Now check out these 3 Apps That Improve Efficiency in the Workplace.