In today’s gig economy, you can find some blazing deals on web design, graphic design and a variety of other marketing services targeting small businesses. We’re a small business, too, so we understand working with a limited budget, and we totally support doing your research to find the best way to stretch each dollar. However, we want to encourage you to be super careful and to not be easily swayed by rock bottom prices when it comes to web design.
In our last post, we talked about getting your content together, onto your website, and available to your customers. This is a good place to start if you’re going to DIY your site. On the other hand, if you’re struggling with a do-it-yourself site or find your time is too short to complete it, you may be tempted to consult the gig economy for help. Whatever phase you’re in, below are of our some reasons to be careful when you’re looking to hire a web designer and considering the gig economy.
A cheap website design is often a canned website design
To start, a lot of the popular online gig economy businesses structure their services to reward the cheapest offers, not necessarily the best quality of offers. In short, keep in mind that the old adage “you get what you pay for” is very often true. When you’re peddling things that are cheap, you can’t spend as much time as you should to meet your clients’ needs. This tends to mean that people who crank out products in an automated fashion are some of the only people that can compete in that environment.
At Roost Web Strategies, we’re not going to give you something we got out of a can and put your name on it so we can be cheap. Our websites are built to be customized to your brand and your needs. Sometimes we will work with a pre-built theme, if it is one that you really like, but we will customize it to match your brand and your site requirements.
Research the designer’s experience and portfolio before you bite
Next, the gig economy is good is for someone who is just starting out, but that might not necessarily be as beneficial for you, the client. These folks may not have a portfolio and they may just want to get it built up. So, if you’re lucky, you could find a perfect unicorn, and get an amazing site for peanuts, but, there’s also a good chance that you’re going to get someone’s cruddy college experiment and you’ll just have to have pay a pro like Roost Web Strategies to create a pro design for you later.
Be sure to research your bidder and make sure they’ve got the chops to give you some modicum of a quality product.
Make certain you will get the level of service you expect
You might score something off of a gig economy site and think it’s great, but then a few weeks or months later, something breaks or needs updating, and you might find yourself needing help. At that point, your great deal is no longer so great, because when you go to find that person again to get help, you may find that they’ve dissolved into thin air.
At Roost Web Strategies, we won’t fly the coop. When we do a website, it’s not transactional; it’s a partnership, and we’re going to be here when you need us.
If you do choose the gig economy for your site, and you’re looking for future service and support, check out the history and profile of each bidder and see if you can find reviews that indicate they can follow up in the future, if you need it.
Don’t be afraid to get quotes from a pro, too!
In summary, the gig economy is driven by the “cheap” philosophy, while professional web designers are driven by the philosophy of quality and service. Even though this means that you will pay a bit more for a professional, you’ll get a product and service that you can count on. So if you, your business, or someone you know, are looking into the gig economy for a website design, don’t be afraid to consult a pro, like Roost Web Strategies, even if it’s simply to get a quote. Our first consultation for free!
