The scenario of web development has transformed over the past few years. Today, web design and development tasks are counted amongst the top outsourced jobs by enterprises across globe. This is because of a key shift in the approach towards website development. From being a meager job that required least attention, it has become a trend that is much-hyped about. Developing a website is more about developing an online presence aimed at expanding a company’s market outreach. Hiring the right entity is often the biggest challenge that you face while outsourcing development tasks.
Web development is often catered to by two major entities- an established website development company and a freelancer or individual developer. Enterprises usually prefer working with established development firms. Smaller businesses, however, give preference to freelancers or independent developers.
If you are finding it hard to determine to whom you must assign your next development venture, then it is best to look at the pros and cons of hiring both the entities. Then, as per your requisites, you can outsource your task to either a freelancer or an organization.
Let’s analyze the strengths and weaknesses of both the entities.
Pros and Cons of Hiring a Web Development Company
Website development companies are established entities with pre-decided workflows, so their service fee is obviously high. But they give you all reasons to rejoice. These companies employ specialized programmers who are well-versed with various programming languages such as HTML, PHP, CSS, jQuery and Dreamweaver. This enables them to provide you with highly efficient web services and customization options.
Development firms also take lesser time to complete an assigned job because they have more resources to work dedicatedly on it. Some companies extend web development packages as a part of their service portfolio, which involve almost every element that is essential for developing and maintaining a website. Web content management, social media marketing, web hosting and support and maintenance services are some of the services that are included in a web development package.
Problems Encountered While Hiring a Web Development Company
Besides elevated pricing, there are certain other issues that one might face while outsourcing job to web development companies. At times, there might be conflicts between the clients and the company regarding transactions and optimization services. Some development firms try to inculcate their own ideas into a project rather than comprehending customer’s needs and delivering results accordingly.
On other hand, some companies simply over-do a web pages or websites with plug-ins and functions. Adding unnecessary widgets and design functionalities can decrease the load speed of a website, thus adversely impacting its performance. If you look at customer retention, loading speed is an essential aspect. The average loading time while a person switches from one page to another is of two seconds. Thus, companies should try to achieve a timeframe of near about 2 seconds.
Pros and Cons of Hiring a Freelancer
Small businesses and start ups often prefer to hire freelancers for their development projects. This is because their fee is less as compared to that of an established software firm. Furthermore, some freelancers render amazing output that outruns the quality offered by professional web design companies, especially in terms of layout, functionality and usability.
However, hiring freelancers can be risky as well. Past experienced reveal that some freelancers are unable to complete deliverables within defined timeframe and the quality of results is not up to the expectation mark. The reasons behind this can be numerous- fall in level of interest while working on a project, lack of required expertise and deadline pressure.
As only a single person is working on the project, you can expect delay and longer time consumed in wrapping up the project.
Problems Encountered While Hiring Freelancers
You may not encounter behavior issues with every freelance web developer you come across, but it is surely the case with most of them. Another issue encountered with a freelancer is the lack of innovation and second opinion, especially when he’s uncertain about his programming ideas and concepts. At times, they might even leave the project in middle without completing it. This may be because they found better paying projects or other opportunities to make quick money.
The Winner Is…
A website development company definitely has a hand above freelancers. They have more experience and the risk involved is less. The turnaround time is also less. Some companies commit to deliver an entirely new website within a timeframe of just a week.
Web development companies have emerged as winners but at the end of the day everything depends on your requisites. Keep your requisites in mind and then decide upon to whom do you wish to outsource.