**How to outsource website development? Is outsourcing to a company the answer? Here's everything you need to know about outsourcing your website development needs. **

A strong web presence is essential in 2023. In today's competitive digital landscape, you need a website with peak performance to stay relevant. Is it better to build an in-house team or outsource website development? Hiring an outside company to build, manage and maintain a website that works for you can reap years of benefits. In today's article from GrowEasyLtd.com, we'll tell you how:

What is outsourced website development?

Outsourcing website development is the business process of hiring an outside agency or contractor to manage website development, launch, updates, migrations and redesigns. The external company provides all the manpower required including web designers, developers, database administrators and IT support specialists.

What are the benefits of outsourcing website development?

You may need to upgrade or refresh your website. Or you may be starting a new business. Maybe you have an aggressive sales goal you need to achieve, or you want to improve your lead generation funnels. However, unless your business is website development, you and your team may not be the best for the job.

Think of it this way: imagine you're driving to get a haircut on the way home to cook dinner. You notice that your check engine light is on. At that moment, you realize you need three services: a haircut, food for dinner, and a car inspection. While you may have the ability to do one or some of these things yourself, you can also hire an expert to do the job properly, more efficiently, and better than you could do it yourself. There are tangible benefits such as time savings and quality assurance when you hire an expert to give you a haircut, fix your car, or take a meal prepared by a chef to a restaurant.

Is outsourcing website development any different? One of the most common reasons we outsource something is simply because we can't do everything. As such, extensive (and expensive!) web design projects are often outsourced. Here are two main reasons to keep in mind:

✔️ Outsourcing ensures that internal business processes are not interrupted with additional work.

✔️ Outsourcing ensures that your investment is well spent on an expert, high-quality product

What are the most common outsourced website development services? | How to outsource website development

The most common outsourced website development services include website design, website migrations and website content. These types of projects require a significant amount of financial, scheduling and time investment over several months - but typically yield high returns. Here are some specific examples:

  • Redesign and relaunch your website to increase usability and conversion rates.
  • Migrate your existing website to a new platform with no downtime.
  • Gradually increase organic leads and position in search engine results (SERPs) by writing quality content focused on keywords.
  • Translate existing content into a new language version of your website.

Nearshore vs offshore web development | How to outsource website development

So, you're ready to outsource your next big web development project. What options are available to you? There are a range of options, but one important thing you need to decide is whether to hire offshore or nearby web development outsourcing.

Nearshore refers to outsourcing either within your country or to countries that are in close proximity or in the same time zones. Offshore refers to outsourcing to more remote countries with significant time differences.

What are the advantages of web development in proximity? Location is not as critical as it once was in today's digital world. However, there remain many practical reasons to hire a web development service nearby, working within your hours: your project manager will be available to answer questions, give updates, and collaborate with your team in real time. Plus, you avoid delays associated with working with someone in the opposite time zone, often amounting to one full workday to implement change requests.

Another factor is language and dialect. You are more likely to experience misunderstandings related to the nuances of translation and dialect in offshore outsourcing vs. nearby web development. Simple things like using British spellings instead of American spellings in web copy can significantly impact organic SEO and overall website performance. Additionally, a nearby firm is more likely to identify with your client's marketing path - i.e., your website's target audience.

How to outsource website development?

Are you ready to outsource your website development services? Save significant time, money and resources by choosing an external website development team. Here's how.

  • Determine your business needs | How to outsource website development
    • If you haven't already, make sure you've clearly defined your business goals and needs. This is the most important step. Otherwise, you risk wasting time and money on a website that doesn't meet your needs. Why launch a new website? Who is your customer? What measurable goals do you want to achieve? Begin the discovery phase of your website development process before seeking outsourcing services.
  • Select 3-5 potential outsourcing services
    • When you outsource website development, you have many options ranging from large agencies to independent freelance talent. We recommend narrowing down your options to 3-5 partners so you can compare them side by side. Here's where you can start:
      * Interview potential partners. Tell them about your business goals and ask them how they can help you achieve them. Ask them if they've done similar projects.
      * Get references. Review their portfolio of work and look at client testimonials. Ask them if they have a client willing to talk to you about their services.
      * Compare quotes. Review the pricing, services, and terms offered for each bid. Consider secondary services like search engine optimization, web design, and conversion rate optimization that offer long-term benefits as part of your package.
  • Hire a partner and integrate them into your team | How to outsource website development
    • It's important to integrate your website development services team into your processes. This ensures that they will produce the best work for you by understanding your business first hand.
      * Before you get started, meet with your website development project manager to make sure you're on the same page about the scope of work and measurable outcomes.
      * Identify areas for improvement by regularly reviewing available performance metrics in Google Analytics (organic traffic, conversion rate, bounce rate).
      * Always communicate changes in business goals to your web development team.

Tips for choosing an outsourced web development company

If you've read this far, then you know that there are many things to consider when hiring a website development company. Here are a few tips for choosing an outsourcing web development company.

✔️ Hire an outsourcing service nearby to ensure a seamless collaboration.

✔️ Consider long-term services to ensure your website maintains peak performance.

✔️ Make sure your outsourcing agency offers a complete website development team including design, UX, marketing, SEO and customer support.

✔️ Avoid independent contractors or freelancers for very large, expensive website development projects.

✔️ Consider freelance talent for small changes or building content around specific areas of expertise.

Hiring an expert to complete your next web project offers many tangible benefits. You'll save time and resources that you can allocate to other business areas. If you've never completed a web project in-house or don't have a development team, outsourcing website development will ensure a best-in-class web project - provided you choose the best outsourcing service for your needs. First, clearly identify your business needs before using web outsourcing services. Then, identify several options, research their services, costs, and customer reviews. Finally, choose one offering.