Digital Agency vs Freelancer

Since our fantastic rebrand back in March, we have been out and about meeting new clients and after early discussions about web design and digital marketing, and a few of them have mentioned that they have used freelancers in the past and they often ask us what the main differences are between us as an agency and a freelance solution.

Now let’s set the stage, we aren’t dissing freelancers in any shape or form! Freelancers can meet the needs of some businesses very well, they can offer a cost-effective alternative to some web design and digital marketing tasks but when your business grows, so does your digital needs. Sometimes, freelancers cannot meet those needs, and you need to seek alternatives, which is where an agency often comes into play.

So with this in mind, let’s have a quick look at the old adage of Digital Agency vs Freelance.

Speed

There’s usually a reason why freelancers go freelance. One of those reasons is time. By going freelance, you can open up your time to other activities and aren’t shackled to the traditional 5-9 archetype. Sounds great if you are the freelancer, you can plan your work in when you want around other things, but as a client, you will be working to deadlines, deadlines that could mean make or break. Do you really have the time to wait for your freelancer to get around to your essential tasks?

With an agency like Hush, you have a full complement of designers, web developers and digital marketers to aid your business growth. You know that if one member of the team isn’t available, another one will be able to pick up your task quickly. No waiting around, just a quick service.

Experience

At Hush, we have over 50 years (probably more) combined experience in web and digital spread across various different sectors and industries. We have a shared experience of all things digital, which means when a client wants a specific task completed, we have the right person for the job.

Don’t get us wrong, the majority of freelancers do have the skills needed to develop a brand new website and launch it, but do they have branding skills? Are they able to write and optimise content? Are they able to offer ongoing and quick support? Can they build a truly bespoke web design and develop custom modules tailored to your exact needs?

At Hush, we can. It doesn’t matter if you have a business idea and a logo scribbled down on a bit of paper. Our team of experienced experts will be able to visualise your concept and bring it to life. From designing your logo and brand to launching a new site, to setting up e-commerce tracking goals, we have you covered.

Workload

Say you’re a busy Marketing Manager. How many tasks and campaigns have you got running right now at this exact moment? We get it, your workload is pretty stacked, as will be your freelancer. Any good freelancer will have a few clients on the go at any one time to pay the bills. Depending on how many clients they are working for could drastically affect the overall performance of the tasks they are working on for you. Sometimes a quick, easy fix is better than nothing, and this is where issues with your site may occur. Some freelancers might speed processes up by copying elements from prior designs that they have created, without removing elements from the copied site – trust us, we have seen it happen before!

It is much better working with an agency like Hush. We have the right people in place at all the different stages of development, it’s not just left to one person to design and develop your new website. Designers design, developers develop and digital marketing markets! What we are trying to say is that at Hush, the workload is shared out across many teams and members of staff, who are fully responsible for their each area and work.

Availability

As mentioned earlier, being a freelancer is great when you are the freelancer – you can plan your work around your life, and you don’t conform to a traditional 9-5 working week. This could be a huge sticking point when getting work completed. Most of us work the typical 9-5 and thus will need constant updates and input into web development projects. If you are unable to contact your freelancer or get the changes and updates you need in time, it could have a knock-on effect with the delivery of your project. Have you thought about once your project has launched? If you need support or changes making and your freelancer isn’t available immediately, it could lead to huge ramifications for your business.

Some freelancers will work remotely anywhere in the world, can you really deal with working out different timezones etc. to talk to your developer? Sounds like a headache, a headache you won’t get working with Hush. We operate a typical week, and one of the team is always at the end of the phone to give updates and support on any of our projects. We have a support system which automatically raises support tickets with our all of our developers, and we work to strict internal KPI’s when working on support work so you can be assured that your work will be completed, or a solution offered, in an allotted timescale.

Freelancer Replacements

Over time you will probably build up a great rapport and working relationship with your freelancer. They will know your website inside out and while in most cases, your website should be able to be worked on by anyone, what happens if or when your freelancer decides to go full-time at an agency or decides to get out of the web design industry altogether? You could be left with a website that you have very little control over or knowledge about. If you have bespoke elements in the site, who will maintain them to make sure they stay safe? If you have regular updates to the site and can’t do them yourself, who will do them? Finding a replacement to take over your website after launch could be tricky.

Every developer has their own way of building things and finding someone who can pick your site up straight away will be hard. Have you thought about the issues that may occur if your freelancer no longer freelances midway through a project? You could be left with hundreds of hours and a lot of investment wasted. Don’t get us wrong, occasionally the odd HushBot leaves to move onto pastures new, but we have a skilled team of developers and digital marketing gurus who can pick up different projects at any time. In a lot of cases, we are also able to manage, maintain and support websites that have already been launched and need some additional TLC.

Cost

We’ve saved the best until last. Cost is a huge thing to think about when looking to develop a new website and should be weighed against your goals for the new site. Are you wanting this website to be the next stage of your business growth? Is the site going to play a more significant part in driving sales and conversions? These are all things you need to think about because to get a website that really delivers it will cost more than paying a freelancer. But think about what you are paying for that cost. A bespoke design solution, a team of developers and digital marketers, years of experience and knowledge, pretty much everything we have mentioned in this blog. At Hush, we like to say “if you pay cheap, you pay twice”; do you really want to pay out for a new website on the cheap, that doesn’t meet your needs and isn’t future proof? Probably not. We also wrote a blog all about Quality vs Cost back in December, read in full!

To finish, freelancers do meet the needs of many business types, and that is fine. But when you are looking for bespoke website design solutions and development, look no further than the team at Hush Digital.