Website
Design &
Development

Short answer: It really depends. Some clients just need a quick landing page refresh, which can be finished in less than a week. Some clients need an entirely new website, complete with a new marketing automation system on the backend. This can take several months, with reviews and iterations and testing along the way. Your dedicated project manager will assess your goals and needs, and set expectations about how long it will take to deliver on your requests.

Snowdrift is an all-in-one marketing agency. We can help with every aspect of your marketing goals, from planning, to web design and development, to advertising, to automation. We can work with you at any stage of your marketing journey– whether you’ve established your business in the market with a strong brand, or whether you’re just getting around to this marketing thing. Our clients come from all phases of the marketing journey. We start where you are, and help you get where you need to be.

The difference between working with a website design agency like Snowdrift and working with freelancers is a lot like the difference between being a CEO and being a project manager. An agency puts you in the role of the CEO. You set the direction, and we do the heavy lifting for you. We will assess your needs, advise you of what’s possible, outline plans and options to accomplish your goals, see the design and development through to completion, and follow up frequently to make sure everything is performing at optimum levels. You get to play the role of the savvy CEO who invests in a smart solution and reaps a satisfying ROI.

On the other hand, hiring freelancers is more akin to acting as a scrappy, hard-working project manager. You evaluate the needs, do all the research, and decide what needs to be done all by yourself. Then you search for one or two freelancers, hire them, and manage all progress, communications, and problems while they try to get it done. In short, it’s a full-time job for you.

But hiring freelancers can be a great solution under the right circumstances. You might want to go with the freelancer option if…

1. You know exactly what your website needs to be. You’ve established where it fits in your overall marketing plan, and have outlined all the necessary functionality, and understand what the design, copy, and technical needs will be.

2. You have time to communicate with and manage freelancers. You’re comfortable giving kind, candid feedback and setting clear expectations.

3. You have the marketing know-how to ensure all site functionality, data collection, and automation is performing correctly after delivery.

Go with an agency if…

1. You want expert guidance and help with your overall marketing goals and plans.

2. You don’t yet have a clear understanding of the front-end design and back-end functionality your website needs.

3. You need to move quickly, or have a great deal of site content to create.

4. You don’t have time to manage freelance developers, designers, or copy writers in your day-to-day work. Or you aren’t sure how to establish reasonable deadlines and quality standards for these types of workers.

5. You’re not prepared to continuously evaluate and improve the SEO and conversion performance of your website on your own.

Hiring freelancers is probably cheaper in the beginning, but ultimately the time and frustration it will cost will eat those savings for lunch. Worst of all, in many cases you won’t get the website you were hoping for. Working with Snowdrift – a reputable, Boston-based website design agency – is the most efficient way to get results.