Yes, small and start-up businesses should outsource their website development. Outsourcing does not have to mean giving up total creative control and letting an outside firm or company take over completely, from design to maintenance, and having no involvement with your website whatsoever. With the advent of content management systems, now it is easy to hire a creative professional to begin the initial process and build the site, while still letting you have control over more regular updates and adding or removing content.
Hiring a web design firm that uses a content management system (WordPress, for example), like RCC Graphic Designs, allows a certified team of technical and creative professionals do the complicated part: they can build your site, take care of the domain hosting and set up the specific software you need to run your site, like secure payment pages if your business includes selling products online. And once the site is built and everything is running the way it should, your firm can give you admin access to login and make changes as needed – for example, adding new product images or creating new blog posts.
It’s important to find a reliable design firm that will do this for you, but also one that does the following:
- Works with you to establish the look and feel you want for your website. As a consumer yourself, you probably have some sense of what you want your website to look like. You may have even done some initial research and found other sites you like, that you want to model yours after. Your creative development firm should honour your aesthetic ideas, but they can also tell you, from their own extensive experience, if there are any issues surrounding what you may have in mind. They are experts in usability, and can tell you, for example, if a certain font – though it looks pretty – will be hard to read and your customers may get confused. They can offer you a compromise by showing you something similar – so that the basis of your initial idea is still there, and just making it more polished, to allow your website more accessibility to customers.
- Has online/internet marketing knowledge and expertise. The design firm you choose to work with should have at least a basic understanding of what works on the internet, for customers – what will be eye-catching, what is a good way to draw in and keep potential customers. This may involve a business plan that includes setting up your social media channels and providing email marketing services – like RCC Graphic Designs does. The internet marketing aspect of your website is crucial, and your firm will have a handle on this that you may not have time to look into. They can consider marketing techniques when building your website, and help you utilize other tools for promoting your business online.
- Will provide ongoing support for the more technical aspects of your site. The relationship you make with the design and development team is continuous. They should provide ongoing support for any hiccups that may occur during the time your website is live. Some of these things may be more technical in nature that you don’t know the first thing about, so that’s why it’s important to go back to your original designer to smooth out the bumps. They’re not only skilled in the area and can probably figure out the issue, but they have an intimate familiarity with your website’s operation and the systems that are in place, because they created them.
Working with a trusted web design and development firm frees up more of your time to focus on the day-to-day aspects of running your business, and you can rest easy knowing your online systems are in good hands. You can focus on your business, and your firm can focus on helping it run as smoothly as possible online. Working together is key, and that’s why outsourcing is a smart move.