Websites
Freelancer or agency for your project website?
A project website is usually the first thing a serious buyer opens after seeing your ad. Who should build it: a freelancer at a third of the price, or an agency? It depends on what the site has to carry.
Key takeaways
- Freelancers are excellent for one clear, well-defined task.
- A project site needs design, copy, development, SEO, tracking and CRM: that is a team job.
- Keep the domain, hosting, analytics, ad accounts and CRM in your own name, always.
What a freelancer is good at
For a single, well-defined job, a good freelancer is fast and cost-effective: a landing page, a small update, a brochure design, a fix on an existing site. You work directly with the person doing the work, and there is no account layer in between.
Where it gets risky for a project website
- Range. A project site needs design, copy, development, SEO basics, tracking and CRM connection. Few freelancers do all six well.
- Availability. Launch weeks need same-day changes. One person with other clients cannot always give you that.
- Continuity. If the freelancer goes quiet, nobody else knows how the site was built.
- Compliance. RERA numbers, disclaimers and artist-impression labels have to be right on every page.
Side by side
| Freelancer | Agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Best for | One clear task | A full project site or launch |
| Cost | Lower | Higher, with more included |
| Skills | One or two | Design, build, content, SEO, tracking |
| Turnaround in launch week | Depends on their other work | Team cover, agreed response times |
| After launch | Ad hoc | Maintenance plan with backups and updates |
A simple way to decide
If the site is a sales asset behind a crore-level launch budget, treat it like one. If it is a one-page microsite for a small campaign, a freelancer may be exactly right. Either way, insist on these four things: the domain, hosting, analytics and CRM in your name; a written scope; tracking tested with a real enquiry; and a plan for who maintains the site after launch.
Cheap becomes expensive the week the site goes down and nobody knows the password.
See our website packages for what a full build includes, or website maintenance for looking after a site you already have.
