A freelancer gives you one person who answers and knows your file. An agency gives you a team and processes that do not depend on one person. Both can build a good website. What sets them apart is mostly what happens after launch: who hosts and monitors the site, how a change is checked before it goes live, and what stays in your name if the relationship ends.
Whether you are looking at a freelance web designer, a freelance web developer or a web agency, this guide compares the two models, lists the questions to ask either one and explains our own model, which borrows from both.
Key Takeaways
- A freelancer gives you one person who answers; an agency, a team and its processes. Both can build a good website
- Price alone does not settle it: compare what each quote includes, especially after launch
- Before you sign, ask who hosts and monitors the site, whether there is a test version, how a mistake gets fixed and what stays in your name
- The domain name, the content and your Google accounts should be in your name, whichever model you choose
- Expert Local is a sole proprietorship: one accountable person, with a test version, a check before every release, monitoring every 15 minutes and managed hosting included
What a Freelancer Gives You
A freelancer, or self-employed designer or developer, is one person. You talk directly to the person who designs and builds your site: they know your file, and a decision often takes one call. Many freelancers do excellent work, especially on a well-defined site.
The limit is one person's schedule. During a vacation, an illness or a busy stretch, who answers, and who looks after the site if it goes down? A good freelancer has an answer: a site monitored automatically, accounts in your name, documented work, sometimes a colleague who can step in. Ask for it before you sign. Also ask who does the work: a freelancer may hand part of the project to others, such as design or copywriting. So may an agency.
What an Agency Gives You
An agency is a team: often a project manager, a designer, a developer, sometimes a copywriter. Its processes do not rest on one person: if someone is away, a colleague can pick up the file. An agency suits a project that needs several skills at once, or tight deadlines.
The flip side: you often talk to a project manager rather than to the person doing the work, and the size of the team says nothing about its processes. Ask to see how the agency tests a site, puts it live, monitors it and reports to you. If it cannot show you, its size does not protect you.
Freelancer and Agency, Compared
| Freelancer | Agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Who answers you | The person doing the work | Often a project manager |
| Who does the work | The freelancer, sometimes with others: ask who | The team, sometimes with others: ask who |
| During an absence | Depends on what the freelancer planned: ask | A colleague can pick up the file |
| Hosting and monitoring | Included or not, depending on the freelancer: ask | Included or not, depending on the agency: ask |
| A good fit for | A well-defined site, with direct contact | A project that needs several skills at once |
Questions to Ask Before You Hand Over Your Website
Ask a freelancer and an agency the same questions. The answers matter more than the size of the provider.
- Who does the work, and who answers me? A name, not "the team." If part of the work goes to someone else, you should know.
- Who hosts the site, and who monitors it? Ask how the provider finds out a site is down: through an automatic check, or because you call? Also ask what hosting and maintenance cost after launch: our guide How much does a website cost in Quebec? details those costs.
- Is there a test version? A test version lets you check a new site, or a change, before your customers see it.
- How do you roll back if a change breaks something? Putting the previous version back online should be planned, not improvised.
- Who owns the domain name, the code and the content? The domain name should be registered in your name, in an account you can access. For the code and the content, ask what belongs to you and what you receive.
- Are my Google accounts in my name? In Search Console, "you can grant permissions to other users only if you are a property owner," according to Google. Be an owner yourself, and add your provider. Do the same for Google Analytics and your Google Business Profile.
- What happens if you are away, or if we stop working together? Who answers during an absence, and how the site moves to another provider if you leave.
- Will the site follow Quebec's rules? Ask how the French version and cookie consent will be handled. Our guides on Bill 96 and Law 25 explain what a website needs.
A good provider, freelancer or agency, answers these questions without hesitating, and puts the answers in writing in the quote.
Our Model: One Accountable Person, Safeguards Included
Expert Local is a sole proprietorship. One person, its founder Steven Lefebvre, is accountable for your website: he leads the strategy, delivery and follow-up of every engagement, he answers at 438-376-6494, and you get an answer within one business day.
Our websites include:
- A test version: before launch, your new website runs on a separate test version, which we check before putting it online.
- A check before every release: every change passes a health check before going live. If something goes wrong, the previous version is put back online.
- Automatic monitoring: your site is checked every 15 minutes, and we get an alert if a check fails.
- Managed hosting: your site runs in an environment separate from other clients', and server security updates apply automatically.
- What stays yours: you remain the owner of your site, your domain name and your content.
During an absence, the monitoring and the hosting keep running, and you keep access to everything in your name. Ask us the questions in this guide, as you would any other provider.
Our websites start at $3,000 before taxes, managed hosting and maintenance included. After a free discovery call, you receive a detailed quote: each deliverable, its price and what is included. The work starts when you accept it.
When to Choose a Freelancer, an Agency or Our Model
- A freelancer, if your site is well defined, you want to talk directly to the person building it and you know who will handle hosting and updates after launch.
- An agency, if your project needs several skills at once, such as a brand identity, a website, copywriting and advertising, on tight deadlines.
- Our model, if you want one accountable person who answers you, with the test version, monitoring and managed hosting included, for a site whose main job is taking calls and requests, without maintaining it yourself.
Comparing quotes? Book a free discovery call with Steven Lefebvre and ask him the questions in this guide, or see our web design service. To see where your current site stands in search, get our free SEO audit.