Did you know that 54.4% of the global web traffic in the 4th quarter of 2021 was generated by mobile devices?

According to a Feb 2022 Statista report, retail e-commerce sales reached US$4.9 trillion globally in 2021 and is forecasted to grow by 50% to US$7.4 trillion by 2025.

Furthermore, the number of digital buyers has spiked from 1.92 billion in 2019 to 2.14 billion in 2021.

These metrics must impress upon business owners that leads and prospects are looking for your niche online. If you don’t own a website to showcase the offerings of your business, now is the time to change that status quo.

With a large pool of inexpensive freelance everything available a few clicks away, business owners might be tempted to hire a freelance web designer to get a website up & running quickly. This article will give you 7 reasons why it’d be wise to go for a web design agency instead in the long run.

1. More resources & higher budget

   For a standalone freelance web designer, there is no competing with this factor. A professional web design agency is equipped to handle projects of diverse sizes and has higher budgets. Datawave is one such SEO and web design agency in Hong Kong.

   A web design company has access to latest technologies, design resources, CMS (content management system like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal etc.) and secure web hosting services for developing and managing client websites.
   The agency follows latest web designing best practices with competencies at hand that are always at par with the advancements in industry.

   You’d be hard-pressed to find a talented freelance web designer who has everything, from first rate equipment (like double screen monitors of latest resolutions) to latest genuine software, prowess to handle all the web design technical aspects, creativity and, of course, accountability vis-à-vis a deadline.
   

2. Proven web design experience & outreach to experts

   A website design company often has its own experts from graphic designers to copywriters & content strategists who are specialists in their crafts, all under one roof.
   If you choose a freelance web designer, you’ll have to hire people for content and coding as well later on and ensure all parties coordinate smoothly to deliver your website before deadline.

   Agency’s experts have vast experience and knowledge of handling domain-specific website design projects of varying sizes, also ensuring fulfilment of industry specific compliance standards wherever required (something a freelancer can’t be expected to accomplish with certainty).

   Furthermore, the agency has connections with other experts as well like professional photographers (for, say, a website photoshoot), marketing agencies (in case the web design agency doesn’t provide marketing services), and web-hosting service providers, to name a few.
   This saves you a lot of hassle when you are scouting for experts who can help make your website more visible and garner organic traffic.
   

3. Latest design trends for an impactful website

   Latest trends reflect designers finding creativity cues off the beaten paths to picture-centric layouts. Web design agencies have the means to keep tabs on, and implement, evolving design trends like:

   • Typography (e.g. interactive fonts)
   • Visual effects such as glass morphism and grain, muted colors
   • Collage style graphics & gridlines
   • Simple yet effective navigation
   • Split screens and parallax (elements in foreground and background scrolling at different speeds)
   • Storytelling through infographics, short films or animations
   • Integration of AI chat assistants in the website etc. to name a few.

   Minimalist designs are also becoming the norm lately e.g. one-page websites that have a much narrower subject matter (for instance, a portfolio or presenting just a single idea).
   For instance, Bugatti, the luxury car manufacturer reputed for high performance, has a fantastic one-page website for its Bugatti smartwatches.
   The site clearly demonstrates how Bugatti is capitalizing on its reputation through high-res pictures of its cars and watches while showcasing its French heritage via the color palette comprising red, white and blue.

   Such websites provide flyer (or poster) like experiences sans any navigation distraction or looking up multiple pages. Of course, if you wish to own such a website, you need the expertise of a web design company and not a freelance web designer.

   

4. Scheduling, turn-arounds, credibility & accountability

   Freelance web designers are not backed by a large team. They often handle multiple projects at once and may not be available due to asynchronous schedules when you need them the most at a crucial moment.

   Too much overload of work on them will definitely give rise to scheduling issues and may force them to take shortcuts while fulfilling your website requirements before deadline, probably resulting in a shoddy work in the end. Turn-arounds will be slow for obvious reasons.

   Next, since there is an unfortunate dearth of online public reviews of freelance web designers, you’ll have little to no references to do a background check of the individual web designer. You’ll be solely dependent on the feedbacks given by the selected contacts they’ll furnish you with.
   Moreover, with hiring freelance web designers, there is always a risk of inadequate capabilities.

   On the other hand, web design agencies have project managers for your every beck-and-call so you’ll always rest assured of professional assistance for any web design contingency as an when it arises.

   Almost all website design companies have their own website containing a portfolio of their previous works. You can reach out to their clients’ websites to get an idea of the company’s web designing abilities and you can also check the online reviews attributed to that company by people.
   

5. Speed & efficiency of an agency

   Multi-faceted web design teams of an agency have a cumulated, previous experience of working together to deliver many high-quality websites to business owners and also assist managing the sites.

   With an already established workflow, they leverage their strengths to estimate quickly and accurately the resources as well as the time required to fulfil a business website’s requirements.
   When a strict deadline is dominating every aspect of your website, a freelance web designer doesn’t seem to be the best choice vis-à-vis a web design company, does it now?
   

6. Web design agency guarantees dependability

   When you decide to get a website built for your business, you have a specific set of timeline-guided tasks in mind. But it is seldom that the website development completes without any deviation from the original plan.

   As the designing progresses, unforeseen modifications/changes/challenges are bound to arise that will require full-scale solutions more often than not.
   These solutions, in turn, require the experience and expertise of multi-disciplinary teams that are well used to work alongside each other and have a history of producing remarkable results.

   For starters, freelance web designers don’t have such teams, contrary to web design agencies. Freelancers can overcome trivial development bottlenecks by implementing menial workarounds but we are talking about the long term and bigger challenges that can be detrimental to your bottom line if not resolved promptly.

   While we are at it, here is a quick rundown on how to choose your web design company.
   

7. Reliable, 24×7 website support

   If your website breaks down for some reason, develops a glitch or faces a cyber-attack, you would immediately want to get in touch with the web developers of the web design firm you hired for developing the site.

   Web design companies have personnel with extensive experience dedicated to resolve a plethora of website issues. As a client of a web design firm, you not just get a high-end, conversion-focused website but also a continuous long term support which is not possible with freelancers.

   The best web design company not just produces a great website for your business but also ensures that it is SEO friendly and its content is augmenting your business’ visibility among the digital populace.
   If you’re ready with the website content already, then it will serve you well to know the top 7 reasons why SEO is vital for your content strategy, all the more reason why you must choose a web design agency that also provides SEO services.

   Freelance web designers can shake their hands off the completed projects after getting paid in full. Clients are left in a lurch when their websites break down or turn partially/fully non-functional. They are then forced to hire someone else to fix things, raising the costs.

   It is true that hiring a web design agency is expensive as against hiring a freelance web designer. However the advantages of hiring an agency in the long run far outmatch what a less expensive freelancer can offer, that too only for a short duration.
   

At Datawave, a web design company in Hong Kong, we align your brand positioning & desired website functionality with our experience as a professional agency to provide you with the best customized web design solution, keeping your website’s performance at par with its functional relevance to the end users.

We believe in an agile, iterative design and implement the latest UX/UI best practices guided by the insights derived from tools like Google Analytics and Crazy Egg.

Want to join forces with us to own an exceptional business website one day? We start from here!