It’s so much better to have control over the web design and build process yourself. You know what’s going on. You can call the shots and keep your clients happy and staying with you. Never have to worry your outsource partner is going to steal your clients from you. Is this how you see it?

The answer to that is a resounding Yes and No. It’s not always better to have your team in house. Having a design studio in house is most definitely more often a cost centre rather than a profitable division. Not only do you need space and staff but you also need to throw money at upgrading expensive equipment every few months. Add to this the fact that good staff are head hunted from you or leave to set up their own business and you can see a design studio can end up being a headache rather than a division that adds value.

Not only that but you also need to bring in a steady stream of work to keep them busy and to make the studio cost-effective. What is enough work? That again is a question. You don’t want to keep your clients waiting but you also don’t want to have too much staff hanging around in case you have a month where no new work comes in. And we’ve all had that problem. Staff leave and off ill? Instant headache.

But mostly it’s about whether you and your team actually know what’s going on. Are you up to speed with the latest technology and web design trends. Did responsive web design catch you off guard or were you ahead of the pack. Do you know whether your design and development team know what they are doing or do you get some horrible shocks when presenting to clients and nothing works as it should.

It certainly makes sense for a large business to set up a design studio where turnover is high enough to employ a knowledgeable project manager and good client services staff. But for a small SEO studio or Marketing and PR Agency it could be a costly exercise. Outsource web design. You could be pleasantly surprised.