Why Hire an Agency When You Can Hire In-House?

I’ve been supporting websites professionally for over a decade, and in that time have worked in a variety of situations:

• Being the single cog at the machine that is a client services agency
• Being the point of contact between a client and a team
• Working with a clients’ in-house teams on a specific area of expertise
• Being the leader of a small team working on a client project
• Being the sole provider of services for clients

Each of these is a different way of working and involves different processes. What isn’t different is communication. Having a team that you can communicate with before any problems arise with your website is vital. You may not think that you need ongoing maintenance, but if you don’t have an internal team, it is a must to ensure that your business runs smoothly and that you don’t lose money.

So Why Use An Agency When I Can Hire In-House?

If you hire an in-house employee, you’re getting the skill set of that one employee. They may be great, but can they do everything? I’ve learned what areas are not my strong suit (You don’t want me designing your logo, trust me!), along with which areas I shine in. I then supplement those weak areas with trusted colleagues who complement my skills.

So let’s say you decide to use an agency for a WordPress maintenance retainer. What employee roles are you filling for one monthly fee?

• Developer: Good developers are worth their weight in gold, but their hourly rates can quickly consume an entire project budget.
• Designer: Great designers are always in high demand. Well designed assets show that your company means business, and can help you stand out from your competition.
• Market Strategist: You make the decisions in your company, and you want the most reliable data to back up your decision making. Having analytics and marketing reports made for you can save time and trouble.
• Account Manager: Regular reporting is crucial to the success of any company. In addition to ongoing support and maintenance, make sure you have reports in place for your website. Your account manager can keep track of updates, any changes that may affect you, and the state of your website overall.

These are just a few of the roles that any business needs for their web presence. Can you afford to support an employee for each of those mission-critical roles? It’s ok if you can’t, as there are a number of options to get the value of an employee without the worry of having to pay for their downtime between tasks.

The choice between hiring in-house or hiring a website development and maintenance company isn’t always so clear. But when it is, the savings associated with outsourcing these tasks to a trusted team cannot be denied.