Which type of design company best for your project?
not all web design firms are created equal
So you are thinking about having a new website created for your small or mid-market business, and don’t know where to start. You go to Google and search for “web design company” or maybe “web design company for [your industry]” and find there are thousands of companies and individual freelancers that say they do website design.
So where do you start, and how do you choose the best web design company for your business? The comparison chart includes information that we have gathered over the years, such as what skill-sets each type of company or freelancer usually has, what is usually included in the project scope, how long it takes to complete a website project, the average cost for a website, etc.. We also added a column to represent how we do website design, based on our belief in what every website design project should include.
Design Company Comparison Chart.
*on small screens, scroll right to see more info.
| Online Website Builders | Web.com Type Companies | Boutique Agency | Mid-Size Agency | Big Digital Agency | Development Firm | Freelance Designer | Freelance Developer | Linchpin SEO | |
| What’s Included | |||||||||
| Design | Basic Templates | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Development | Basic Code | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| Information Architecture | No | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Content Strategy | No | No | Maybe | Maybe | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| SEO Included / Priority | No | No | No | Maybe | Maybe | No | No | No | Yes |
| Transition / Relaunch Plan | No | No | No | No | Maybe | No | No | No | Yes |
| Google Analytics Setup | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Website Management Offered | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Design | Development | Yes |
| Content Creation | No | No | No | No | Maybe | No | No | No | Maybe |
| Team Member’s Skillset | |||||||||
| Design | Your Skills | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Development | Your Skills | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Maybe | Yes | Yes |
| Information Architecture | Your Skills | No | Maybe | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Content Strategy | Your Skills | No | Maybe | Maybe | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| SEO | Your Skills | No | Maybe | Maybe | Maybe | No | No | No | Yes |
| Website Relaunch Planning | Your Skills | No | Maybe | Maybe | Maybe | No | No | No | Yes |
| Content Creation | Your Skills | No | Maybe | Maybe | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Additional Info | |||||||||
| Project Pricing Type Offered | NA | Subscription | Hourly | Hourly/Project | Hourly | Hourly/Project | Hourly | Hourly | Project |
| Completion Time (Months) | Your Skills | 1-2 | 3-6 | 3-6 | 4-6 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-3 | 1-2 |
| Understand Holistic Digital Marketing? | Your Skills | No | Maybe | Maybe | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Will They Need To Outsource? | Probably | Yes | Maybe | Maybe | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Never |
| Average Website Price? | NA | $99+/month | $12,000+ | $30,000+ | $100,000+ | $15,000 | $3,500+ | 7,000+ | $6,000+ |
| Holistic Website Quality? | Your Skills | Poor | Good | Good - Great | Great | Average | Poor - Average | Poor | Good |