In the last few decades more and more people are going down a different route with their careers.
Working for yourself, either by freelancing or starting your own business is becoming more and more popular for fairly obvious reasons. One of the biggest positives of this trend is that it has never been easier to outsource. Twenty or even ten years ago, if you wanted to build or design a website, or rank higher on the search engines, you had to learn all the skills yourself.
Since it is now so easy to outsource many people will hire people from far eastern countries, such as the Philippines, to act as their virtual assistants doing the routine tasks that they don’t want or have time for. When it comes to something as important as web design though, it is important to choose someone local.
You can meet your web designer in person
This is the most important reason to go local for web design. When hiring someone in your town, or at the very least the same country, you should try to talk to your web designer in person or at the very least on the phone. A meeting over a quick cup of coffee and perhaps a few sketches can be the difference between a web design you like and one you love. This is the best way of ensuring you get what you want and to make sure you and your web designer are on the same page.
No language barrier
While it may be slightly cheaper to go abroad for web design, the negatives are not worth it. You probably have some idea of what you want your website to look like when it’s finished- what will go on the home page, banners etc. When there are difficulties communicating, these important details can slip through the water leaving you with a finished product that doesn’t meet your expectations.
No cultural differences
There are great differences in culture and people from country to country. This difference in culture leads to different tastes and preferences. A web designer from a different country will never be able to fully understand the nature of the people in your country. If your website is being built for a local business this is important. A local web designer will understand how your potential customers will think and feel.
Easy to get in contact
Best of all, if your website were to have any problems, all you would have to do is a quick call to your web designer and the problem should be fixed quickly. This is not a luxury that an outsider can provide. They may be on a different time zone for example.
Hiring a web designer from Asia or wherever else in the world could work out very well. You could get everything you wanted from it and more for a slightly lower price. This comes with some risk however. When there is so much local talent in Belfast, you have no reason to take this chance.