The Benefits of Digital Outsourcing (Even if you Can Build a Website Yourself)

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Having a great website is the number one priority for any business that hopes to make a positive impression on the online market. Whether you’re heading up an established corporation, or taking your first steps as a solopreneur, it won’t be long before you need to start thinking about web design, and how to achieve your vision for your business.

If you’re new to digital design, you might already be considering outsourcing. After all, you have plenty of other priorities, and there are numerous companies who can fulfill your digital creation needs without straining your budget.

However, if you already know the ropes, there are some benefits to doing your own digital creation, especially if you have limited resources, or you already do this sort of thing as a pastime.

Nevertheless, even an experienced web designer might choose to outsource their build, freeing them up to focus on other aspects of their business. Here are a few of the reasons you might benefit from doing the same.

Recommended reading: 4 Things Business Owners MUST Know about the Growing Freelancer Sphere

Digital Outsourcing Cuts Costs

At a glance, doing things in-house, or entirely solo, might save money. You might be a dab hand at design and want to update your company logo and website design. As you know exactly what you want, it sounds sensible to dive in and create the logo yourself.

However, once you calculate the value of your own time, plus the cost of software, graphics, and other elements you might require to fulfil your digital needs, you may find that the endeavor costs more than you realize. If you require specialized software, for example, it’s a one-off investment. But will you really get your money’s worth if you’re not using it every day?

Outsourcing means you can look for a competitive rate, or agree to a fixed price for the services required. This makes it far easier to stay within your budget and removes the onus from you to deliver the finished product within a set time-frame.

When the obligation lies with the contracted freelancer, it frees you up to focus on more pressing matters. They may even already have the software needed to complete the project since they do this type of work all the time.

Whichever freelancer you settle on, they will already have the necessary toolkit, experience, and professionalism to make your project a success. This is far more cost-effective than attempting to handle everything yourself, only to be caught out by unexpected costs halfway through the design and development process.

Digital Outsourcing Inspires Innovation

You know what you want and should remain involved in the process. However, outsourcing the project opens the door to new ideas, and enables a fresh set of eyes to be cast over your design.

For example, if you’re doing your web build yourself, it can be very easy not to see the forest for the trees. Working on your website solo means there isn’t a second pair of eyes around to help point out where you might be going wrong or how you can improve it.

Introducing a remote freelancer means that you are both looking in the same direction. As they work, you can check in and make suggestions. And similarly, they can point out flaws or bottlenecks in your concept that may need addressing.

An outsider can present new ideas, and cause you to look at your project from a new angle. You don’t need to accept all of their suggestions, but their input may refine your ideas, or even inspire you to try something new and exciting that you might not otherwise have thought of.

Digital Outsourcing Invites Expertise

Another benefit of digital outsourcing is that when you reach out to a freelancer, you know that they have built up their CV by working solidly in the industry. They have the hard-won knowledge and expertise that you might not necessarily have in that field. It’s in the nature of their work to remain a viable option for clients like yourself. They also have stay up to date with all the trends and developments of the web development world to remain competitive.

Building a website is so much more than filling in a template, or even design and coding. For example, industry professionals will be well aware of the very latest SEO best practices, and technical optimizations that should be made to any site. The importance of SEO has never been greater, and the search engine landscape is always changing. Staying up to date with the latest developments is easy if your work calls for you to do it all the time. But if you’re juggling web design with running and managing a business, you’ll find you may not always follow best SEO practices.

If your project is creating a new website, bringing in freelancers with this level of innovation and expertise will ensure your website is fast, responsive, and accessible.

Digital Outsourcing Saves You Valuable Time

Digital creation takes time, energy, concentration, and research. So while there’s no reason you can’t do it all yourself, it’s important to consider whether these finite resources might be better spent on other things.

There are only so many hours in the day, and with the greatest will in the world, you only have a limited amount of energy to pour into your business. Outsourcing frees you up to devote yourself to matters such as business development, networking, marketing, and all the other elements of a successful business venture.

You might think that the project is so simple that you can do it in very little time; indeed, less than the amount you’d spend seeking out an individual to do the work for you.

Say you have a collection of company whitepapers that you want to make into an ebook. This is something that many successful businesses do because you can use an ebook as a lead magnet to grow your email list by up to 300%. But how much is your time worth compared to what you would pay a freelancer to put it all together?

By leveraging digital outsourcing, you save time and effort that can be directed elsewhere. Your expertise as the business owner is not required to lay out the ebook in publishing software. Outsourcing projects means you only need to worry about approving the finished product.

In the business world, time is money, and your time is your money. Don’t fret over basic business tasks when you should be concerned with more pressing matters. Let an industry expert free up your time by outsourcing it to them.

You Still Get the Final Word

A big concern for many dedicated entrepreneurs is that outsourcing reduces the level of control they have over a project. However, this isn’t the case. After all, you can still be involved in coming up with the plan, refining your specifications together, and checking and double-checking the results to be sure you are happy with them before closing things out.

Work closely with the freelancer you have chosen to ensure that you are on the same page, and that they understand exactly what you want. It’s your business, and while contractors will be able to offer advice and personal experience, you still get the final say.

The importance of delegation can’t be underestimated. Yes, it’s vital that you stay in control of your business. But to truly grow, you need to entrust some tasks to people who can complete them better than you can.

Don’t be afraid to try something new, and remember, you can almost always add or change features at a later date. Furthermore, by outsourcing now, you set yourself up nicely for the future, as you can confidently outsource future changes to the same person knowing that they already understand your requirements as well as the existing format of your website.

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Ultimately, there is nothing wrong with managing your own digital creation needs if you have the time and confidence to do so. However, you should not feel that this is the only way to succeed. Only you can decide what’s best for your business.

Just remember that your input is the most valuable asset to your business. It wouldn’t exist at all without your hard work, vision, and innovation. So don’t sell yourself short. Your time is better spent working towards objectives that only you can fulfill, and leaving your website to the experts.

Take the time to compare prices and speak to a few different freelancers to weigh your options. Not only can you save a lot, but you can also build valuable connections that will benefit you for this project as well as future ones.

Kayleigh Alexandra is a content writer for Micro Startups — a site dedicated to giving through growth hacking. Visit the blog for your latest dose of startup, entrepreneur, and charity insights from top experts around the globe, along with articles touching on social media, digital design, content writing. Follow us on Twitter @getmicrostarted.