How to Outsource Web Design: Guide, Costs, and Tips

Are you finding it difficult to hire quality designers? Is your web design technology obsolete, and do you have no budget to buy a new one?

If your answer is yes, then it is time to think differently. These questions elaborate on the scenario of most of the startups these days. So, what’s the situation here?

You should try outsourcing web design work! It can resolve all these worries and can also reduce your website design and development efforts. Moreover, working with an external partner is all the rage these days.

You may be working in a small office in downtown Ontario, while the agency you decided to outsource website design to is in a big city far away in Eastern Europe. It is most beneficial for startups who need web designers on a one-time or even continuous basis.

Some may still say, “Why should I outsource website design?” To clear the air, here are a few eye-opening outsourcing statistics:

• As many as 78% of businesses feel optimistic about outsourcing.
• 24% of businesses believe that outsourcing helps them handle their projects better.
• The global outsourcing market grew to 92.7 billion dollars in 2019.

Let’s start!

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Benefits of Outsourcing Web Design

Outsourcing web design work serves many purposes. Below are some of the reasons an external partner can prove beneficial for your business.

1. Saves Time

Building a web design team takes ample time. Finding an expert willing to work with you is another hurdle. Outsourcing website designing saves time you would otherwise spend hiring and building a good team.

2. Saves Money

Again, when you decide against hiring, you save money usually spent on recruitment, training, payroll, tools, and software. When you take an outsourcing agency on board, all these expenditures get mitigated.

3. Lets You Focus on Core Business

While you outsource website design work to others, it leaves you with sufficient time to focus on other essential business operations. You can leverage this time to get more clients, marketing, and grow your business.

For instance, Intel, the largest supplier of computer chips worldwide, is in talks with Samsung and TSMC to outsource some of the manufacturing work to the ace chip builders. The decision is expected to help the company improve delays they have suffered for years.

4. Global Access to Talent

Irrespective of your location, finding an outsourcing agency that delivers quality web design work within your budget is possible. With digitization, endless opportunities around the world are waiting to be explored.

5. Connects You with Experts

When you outsource your website development and design work to an external team, the latter works under strict deadlines and feels obligated to deliver on time. Moreover, they can help you at any time if the need arises.

6. High-Quality Results

75% of users consider design as the credibility factor of a website. Hence, it is a good idea to hire an offshore company since most external partners work dedicatedly to deliver designs without any mistakes.

They are aware that even a single fault can damage the work’s scope and their relationship with the client. This automatically enhances the quality of the work.

7. Access to Cutting Edge Designs

External web designers and companies invest in technology to serve their clients with the best in the business. From new methods in designing to new tools and technology, they have it all handy.

By outsourcing your web design, you get access to all of the best tech in the niche.

8. Ongoing Support

All popular and reputable outsourcing companies for web design and development have a help desk ticketing system and a dedicated team for supporting customers. If you choose to outsource web design work to such companies, they will ensure that everything runs swiftly and smoothly.

How to Outsource Website or Web App Design

Carefully examine your requirements, budget, workforce, and technology. If you lack resources or manpower or are not confident about the quality of the in-house work, outsource web design and development work to an offshore company or agent.

Thereafter, you must seek answers to the vital questions below:

• Where to look for outsourcing?
• How do you choose the outsource agent?

Let’s find out the detailed answers to both.

Where to Find Outsourcing Partners

Considering the benefits highlighted above, outsourcing website design work may seem like a silver lining. But where would you find the designers? Are the sources trustworthy? What are the parameters for selecting such partners?

These and many more questions may be prodding your mind.

Let’s answer all your questions one by one via these methods for outsourcing!

Where?	Description
Google	To outsource your web design work is no easy feat. If you think Google can help, it surely will, but you have to be smart. Consider this, the keyword “best web design outsourcing company” has more than 6 million results. However, there are no filters, and you will have to check each potential company in the search results. It is suggested that you make a list of keywords on the basis of the skills you require to outsource website design. This strategy can help you land some of the most relevant results. Shortlist the results and select the most relevant ones using parameters such as online reviews.
Listings	Another good place to perform your search for an external partner is the listings. Clutch is a business listing site that lists 1,50,000 + verified global businesses. You can search as per your requirements. The businesses are categorized based on the services they offer and the countries they are based in. You can also check other listing sites such as: CrowdReviews Sortlist VenturePact and more. Scan these places for required skills.
Social media	Businesses continually use the “Marketplaces” section of Facebook and Instagram to list their companies and services. You can leverage this opportunity and find a suitable partner to outsource web design. You can also ask for recommendations on other social platforms such as Quora, Linkedin, or Facebook Groups.
Referrals	Many companies rely on word-of-mouth marketing. Chances are your professional connections or colleagues may either have used or heard about them. Talk to them. You may find an appropriate outsourcing partner for your web design work. However, just be careful. The company may or may not have the expertise you need for the job. What worked for your industry colleague may not work for you. So just wait until you take the final call.

How to Select the Right Agency

Choosing a software development partner isn’t a walk in the park. The process is overwhelming, and it is natural to feel confused looking at the plethora of options.

First off, you should know your requirements.

1. Do you need a brand new website or just a redesign?
2. Do you also need a content management system?
3. Are you looking to use multimedia?
4. What are the kind of images you intend to have: custom, stock, or reusable?
5. Any custom features you want, such as custom chats?
6. Do you want to use eCommerce platforms?

Once you are clear about the above, use the following information to find an outsourcing partner for web design work.

1. Define your expectations	For a successful outcome, both parties need to be on the same page. Work: Be sure about the amount of work you expect to outsource: no. of pages, designs, words, and more. Clarify payment mode: Choose your method, be it an email address or invoices using any software. Let the outsourcing company know it upfront. Personal involvement: Some outsourcing companies prefer working independently throughout. If you intend to get involved, convey this before hiring the experts. Revisions: During the project, do you want revisions of the work? Tell them. Some freelancers include this in their estimate. Specify exact deliverables: Vital in case of fixed cost projects. Tell them what you want and how much you would pay for the said work. Design: Working style varies from designer to designer. So, share visual examples. It will give them an idea of what you like and what you don’t. Timeline: Specify the date by which you expect to receive all the deliverables. Is there some wiggle room or not? Convey it. Communication: Who will communicate on behalf of the designing team? How often would you be updated? You deserve to know it all.
2. Check the expertise and social proofs	Portfolio: Check their expertise. It should match your requirements. Don’t forget to glance over their work if provided or ask for one. For example, check if the website is responsive? Are there any broken links? How many websites have been outsourced to them so far? Behance: It is a social media platform owned by Adobe, where creative people showcase their work. You can hunt for a suitable outsourcing agent on it or can check the work of the agent you are planning to hire. Also, you can check the agency’s Dribbble, it’s very similar to Behance. Case Studies: If you want to understand their work methodology, read the case studies. This should help you in knowing their designing process and standard of deliverables. Check the websites they have worked on. The website of the agency contains case studies and user testimonials. Clutch: It is a listing site where you can find agents to outsource your website work. Clutch lists companies along with their location, number of employees, hourly rates, and reviews. References: Read the references on their website and social media. Verify the identity of the individuals that have referred to the company or individual in question.
3. Interview with the team	Shortlist candidates: Shortlist 8-10 companies as your potential candidates to outsource your website design work. Check their portfolios, read references and websites before conducting interviews. The interview process: Ask all essential questions. Put forward a situation and ask them their process for handling it. Note their tone, attitude, thoughts on deadlines, and also how well they take feedback. Clear all your doubts. Conduct test: Make the designer write a paragraph explaining your website or make him write a few lines of the code. This helps in knowing their expertise.
4. Do your expectations meet the reality after the interview?	After conducting the interview, you should have answers to all the following: What is their location? Are they working in the same time zone as you? How many years of experience does the company have in outsourcing web design work? How much average time does it take the company to finish a project with similar work depth? Do they provide customized solutions if a project’s requirements demand so? Do they have experience in designing responsive website designs? What do they specialize in? What are their website and app design process? What are their website and app design costs? Will you be charged hourly or at a fixed rate? What is the procedure for quality control? What is their work schedule? Can they honor the deadline you want them to? The answers to the above should match your expectations for you to take or hold things further.

The summary of the paragraph: outsource web design only after you have amassed sufficient information about the agent or agency.

What’s the Cost to Outsource Web Design?

The cost of outsourcing website design involves many factors.

Redesigning a website is cheaper than building a new website. The final cost depends on the amount of content and the complexity of the pages to be designed.

Simultaneously, if you are looking to design a new website with blogging abilities, it will take more time and must be done only by a specialist.

How much does it cost to outsource? What factors influence the cost? Let’s discuss.

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What Impacts Outsourcing Costs

Two things affect the cost of outsourcing web design work. Let’s take a quick look at them!

1. The complexity of the business logic of a website

Business logic comprises algorithms and rules that take care of information exchange between the user interface and database.

Take the example of Facebook. It started as a simple website where the users made friends, but now you can have a video chat, watch videos, add stories, sell, and even garner work. This enhancement in functionality and features makes the app complex.

Consequently, the cost of maintaining and upkeep the app goes high. This increases the number of roles making the price even higher.

If an app has multiple functions, features, and roles, the cost for app designing, re-designing, or maintaining it will undoubtedly be higher than a simple app. Therefore, consider the entire business logic before outsourcing web design work.

2. Complexity of design

The simpler the design, the simpler the designing process, and the less time it takes to create it. Simultaneously, the more complicated the invention, the more complex the designing process, and thereby, more time goes into designing it.

For example, Netflix. The streaming app has a complex structure. Designing an app such as this will consume sufficient time, and any external partner will price you accordingly.

• Custom design

A custom design implies endless options, and these have a direct impact on the cost. Take the example of a custom website with the following specifications:

Pages	15-20
CMS	WordPress
Templates	4 (Home, Contact page, landing page, informational page)
Web design	Responsive
Forms	3 (Contact form, lead magnet, and exit pop-up)

To include all the details mentioned above, a designer will take a minimum of 45 hours to complete it with additional 45 hours to develop and 10 hours for testing. The company you outsource the web design process will charge you on an hourly basis.

The more custom aspects there are, the more costly it will be.

• Native design libraries (like Google Material)

The native library uses native code. It is compiled for a particular operating system or a hardware architecture. Building in native libraries requires specialists, and this can impact the overall cost of outsourcing your web design and development work.

Google Material Design is a design language developed by Google to help design teams develop high-end experiences for users.

Apart from the above, the region plays an essential role in deciding the cost to outsource web design work. However, it is pertinent to consider specific points before you hire someone working far away. The factors you should consider involve:

1. A highly developed IT market
2. The education infrastructure
3. Communication skills (preferably in your language)
4. Lower cost
5. Time zone
6. Cultural differences (applicable to some businesses only)

Generally, to outsource website design, you may have to pay anywhere between $25/hour for a designer located in Southeast Asia and it goes up to $100/hour for a US-based specialist.

We have researched the US, Latin America, East Europe, and Asia to find you the best places having the best designers along with the prices they quote.

The salaries of the software developers are calculated on the level of expertise, namely:

1. Skilled Junior Developer
2. Middle-level developer
3. Senior-level developer
4. Architect developer

Other than that, the skillset of the designers also affects the salary figure.

Cost with a US Firm

Location: New York, USA

New York boasts some of the best web designers in the US. The average base salary is $74 558/year, according to salary.com.

The table below shows the average salary of a web designer in the US skill-wise.

Designer skills	Average Salary (approx.)
User Experience Design	$77, 000
User Research	$80, 000
User Interface Design	$76, 000
Interaction Design	$76, 000

Based on the spreadsheet data, the average price of the NYC-based web design agency is $40 per hour. Thus, an average 160-hour design would cost $6400.

Cost with an Asian Firm

Location: Bangalore, India

India is one of the best nations for outsourcing web design work. In this South Asian country, Bangalore, a southern city, leads the pack in providing the highest salaries.

The average base salary for a web designer is $5500/year, according to PayScale. The table below shows the average salary of a designer skill-wise.

Designer skills	Average Salary (approx.)
User Experience Design	$5, 500
User Research	$7, 000
User Interface Design	$6, 500
Interaction Design	$9, 000

Based on the spreadsheet data, the average price of the Bangalore-based web design agency is $14 per hour. Thus, an average 160-hour design would cost $2250.

However, we should note that working with Asian contractors is often burdened by language barriers and poor quality.

Cost with a Latin American Firm

Location: Mexico

Mexico has a global rank of 43 in technology. It is one of the top Latin American countries that is now warming up to software engineering. The average base salary for a web designer in Mexico is $15,000/year according to PayScale.

The table below shows the average salary of web designers skill-wise in the Latin American country.

Designer skills	Average Salary (approx.)
User Experience Design	$15, 000
User Research	$19, 000
User Interface Design	$14, 000

Based on the spreadsheet data, the average price of the Mexico City-based web design agency is $25 per hour. Thus, an average 160-hour design would cost $4000.

Cost with an Eastern European Firm

Location: Ukraine

Lviv, Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Odesa are some of the biggest cities you can consider for outsourcing your web design work in Ukraine. In this East European nation, a web designer can earn an average base salary of approx. $8, 000/year.

The table below shows the average salary of a web designer skill-wise.

Designer skills	Average Salary (approx.)
User Experience Design	$8, 000
User Research	$10, 000
User Interface Design	$9, 000

On average, Ukrainian agencies charge $35 per hour, as they provide full-cycle services and a 3-member team for design projects. This team usually includes a project manager, business analyst, and UX/UI designer. Thus, on average, a 160-hour project would cost $5600.

Looking for a Reliable Design Partner?

Do you want an outsourcing company or freelancer for your web design work? If yes, then SpdLoad should be your first choice. You may ask why Spdload is outsourcing web design work.

Well, there are many factors that support this:

• When you outsource website design to Spdload, your idea is in safe hands. For this, we sign an NDA with you.
• We have a team of professionals who are well-versed in everything related to web design.
• We have delivered premium quality service to many of our clients.

Here are some great examples of our design work:

1. Dockids: A telemedicine app, 120 hours on UX/UI design
2. Click to Ride: A taxi app, 120 hours too on UX/UI design