Signs You Need to Switch Your Freelance Web Designer
While freelance web designers offer agility and personalization, settling with the wrong fit can derail your project. As relationships progress, some indicators may signal it is prudent to switch web designers. Addressing these early and considering qualified web design agencies prevents timeline and outcome compromises.
Frequent Unavailability
Your web designer should be regularly available during business hours, within reasonable limits, for calls and messages to sync up. However, if they are constantly unavailable and unresponsive to your urgent needs for days on end, this is a red flag. Switching to a web design agency with better bandwidth and dedicated account managers may be beneficial to ensure more consistent communication.
Lack of Strategic Input
An ideal web designer provides strategic suggestions to meet your specific business goals, not just generic visual designs. They should take time to understand your target users, pain points, competitive landscape and objectives. If your freelancer lacks insight on features, user journeys and innovations that would have true impact, a digital agency with a strategic focus could offer more value.
Moving Deadlines
While some timeline flexibility due to edits is expected, consistently postponed deadlines from original scope agreements signal poor planning or overcommitment on the web designer's part. Switch to a web designer with the resources and workload balancing to deliver projects within the agreed-upon timeframes.
Learning on the Job
You want an experienced web designer with proven expertise, not someone using your project as practice. If lack of know-how makes you feel like a “guinea pig” for them to build skills on, consider switching to a web designer whose portfolio and work history provides credentials of success.
Minimal Reporting
Your web designer should provide regular progress reports, not just sporadic verbal updates. There should be an organized system for tracking work completed and presenting meaningful milestones. If communication is sparse and accountability low, a digital agency with rigor around progress tracking and clear deliverables management is preferable.
Upselling Limitations
Freelancers often have niche skills which may limit capabilities to incorporate innovative integrations you want, like apps, animations or personalization. An established full-service web designer with diverse specialties brings together a breadth of skills and solutions to fulfill broader project needs.
Unwilling to Learn
Technology evolves rapidly in web and app design. Designers unwilling to proactively learn new techniques and best practices will make outdated or short-sighted decisions. Switch to an agency actively training its team on emerging trends and solutions to stay ahead of the curve.
Quality Issues
From broken links, bugs and errors to mistakes in coding or content, too many quality issues point to subpar work. Switch to a web designer with rigorous quality assurance processes, testing protocols and access to solutions like site monitoring tools for more bug-free and consistent results.
Causing You Stress
You should feel empowered by your web designer, not stressed. Unpleasant interactions or lack of confidence in their abilities are signs it may be time to switch for a web design agency relationship you trust completely and find comfort in.
Staying alert to signs of a mismatch in working styles or values enables resolving it promptly by switching to a professional website designer. Keep communication respectfully open and clearly express your vision to hopefully transform less-than-ideal engagements into lasting partnerships delivering your ideal outcomes.
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