Website development
A marketing site that explains what you do and brings in the request. Fixed scope, fixed price, a date.
Read more →Freelancer or agency: who should build your site?
The question that matters is not who builds it cheapest, but who is still there in two years when something has to change.
The short version
A good freelancer is often the best value there is. You talk to the person doing the work, there is no account manager in between, and the hours go into building rather than meetings. For most small and mid-sized company sites that is exactly what is needed.
With an agency you are buying continuity and capacity. Somebody is always reachable, somebody takes over if the builder leaves, and more than one discipline is in house. That costs more, and on a small project part of that money pays for overhead that does nothing for you.
Choose a freelancer if
- The project is manageable and measured in weeks.
- You want direct contact with whoever builds it.
- Budget is a real constraint.
- You can judge whether the work is good, or know somebody who can.
Choose an agency if
- The site is business-critical and downtime costs money directly.
- Several disciplines are needed: design, build, copy, SEO.
- Your procurement requires a company with staff and insurance.
- The project runs for months and somebody has to be able to take it over.
What gets overlooked here
The difference that actually matters appears in neither quote: who holds the access. Domain, hosting, the source code, the accounts. If those are registered to whoever builds it rather than to you, the biggest risk is not that they do poor work but that they become unreachable. That is the scenario in which companies lose their site, and it happens at agencies as readily as with freelancers.
So ask explicitly, whoever you work with, and put the answer in the agreement. We register everything in the client’s name as standard, and we say so here because it is the question almost nobody asks until it is too late.
Once you have decided
DIY or hire
Making a site yourself is not hard. Making one that brings in customers is a craft, and you only notice the difference after six months.
Read more →WordPress vs custom
WordPress runs roughly four in ten websites. That is neither coincidence nor recommendation — it depends entirely on what the site has to do.
Read more →Rebuild or improve
A new site is almost never the answer to "we get too few enquiries". Finding out why first is cheaper and works more often.
Read more →Frequently asked questions
What if my freelancer stops?
If the code, the domain and the hosting are in your name, somebody else can take over. If that is not arranged, you start again — which is exactly why the question belongs up front.
Are agencies better at SEO?
Not by definition. What counts is whether somebody there understands it and whether it is in scope. Ask for concrete examples, not for the word.
What are you?
A small studio: you talk to whoever builds, and everything is registered in your name. If a freelancer can do what you need for less, we would rather say so than sell you a project.
Not sure which way to go?
Send a short brief with what you have now and what needs to be better. You get an honest answer, including if that answer is that you do not need us for it.