4 types of agencies you may meet when you send a quote request
You decide you want a new website. And the problem appears at once: who should you hire? On the Polish market you can choose from hundreds, if not thousands, of digital agencies. So which one is worth choosing? What should you look at before you start working together?
After reading this article you will know:
- Which agency you should work with, given your expectations.
- How the price lists of those agencies differ.
- What type of services and what form of support each of those agencies will offer you.
What are the 4 main types of agencies?
I should say at the start that the digital agency market is very diverse. The industry uses dozens of names for its services, and there are no official divisions.
That is why I used some simplifications. To organise the information I created a split of digital agencies into 4 basic groups:
- Software houses
- Template agencies
- Branding agencies
- Interactive agencies
I gave those agencies from 1 to 4 points in 6 key categories:
- Programming: the more points, the higher the ability to build complex website features: animations, booking systems, CRM integrations or online shop functions.
- Design: a higher score reflects stronger graphic design competence. For interface design I looked at how well they follow the established rules of the field, not at my own taste.
- Usability (UX): the higher the score, the more comfortable the website is to use.
- Content: the points reflect help with preparing materials for the website: texts, photos and video.
- Price accessibility: the higher the score, the more affordable that type of digital agency is.
- Delivery time: more points go to agencies that finish commissioned work faster.
The project in the quote request was a website of 10 subpages. The features I expected included:
- a news blog,
- translation into another language,
- a newsletter,
- social media redirects,
- a Google Maps widget,
- a portfolio of work and case studies,
- client testimonials,
- FAQ
I also expected 5 service descriptions to be written for the site. On that basis I scored the offers of the 4 groups of digital agencies I defined.
Which agency should you choose for a project? A table of strengths and weaknesses
The table below shows the scores I gave software houses and template, branding and interactive agencies.
Which digital agency should you choose? Conclusions from the research
In this comparison there are no better or worse agencies, which is why I did not add up the points. Each of them fits the needs of specific clients and works better on different types of jobs.
When is a software house the right choice?
It is worth working with software houses when high-level programming support is key. Their weaker sides (less attractive design, long delivery times and poor client service) mean it is often worth also investing in a branding agency that will focus on preparing the design. It is also a good choice if you already have your own design team.
Software houses work well for jobs involving:
- global e-commerce,
- mobile apps,
- dedicated software (including web apps),
- building advanced site features, for example a car equipment configurator.
Pros and cons of template agencies
Their teams build sites with builders or templates. That is why their services are by far the cheapest. Solutions of that type have many downsides, including:
- no unique visual identity;
- no way to transfer copyright (they work on a licence);
- poor performance and responsiveness;
- major template limitations.
Template agency services are fine for budget projects. They also work when the site is only a calling card and clients come from referrals (as they do, for example, for hairdressers or mechanics).
A branding agency: when is it worth working together?
A big advantage of branding agencies is how complete their work is. They can deliver many different graphic projects at a high level. You do, however, pay a lot for that.
Branding agencies are best for clients for whom building a website is only part of a larger undertaking, such as a global brand campaign. They are also good for brand strategy or graphic projects, for example packaging.
Pros and cons of interactive agencies
Interactive agencies take especially strong care of the project from the design and technology side. They are a good choice when the website has a real impact on winning clients.
It is worth using such agencies when the quality of the website and its visual identity matter more than custom software or brand strategy. On price those projects sit between the more expensive branding agency services and the cheaper software houses. They work excellently on medium-sized projects.
