Nowadays, a well-crafted website is the bare minimum. According to Hostinger, 94% of first impressions are attributed to a website’s design. Whether you’re in charge of a large organization or an up-and-coming entrepreneur, having a user-friendly and responsive website with eye-catching visuals and relevant content can make the difference between converting visitors to customers and losing out on potential revenue. Building a website from scratch is doable; however, having the means to outsource web design to the Philippines can ease the burden off of your shoulders.
This allows you to focus more on formulating marketing strategies and other important matters, all while enjoying reduced labor costs and increased website traffic — backed by a highly qualified team of web designers. Below, we outline the reasons why businesses outsource web design to the Philippines.
Lower Cost of Labor
For many foreign businesses, cheaper labor costs are one of the main factors influencing their decision to outsource their tasks. Hence — when you outsource web design to the Philippines — you’re not only cutting down on your business’s overhead and labor costs, but you’re also getting a visually engaging website that can further scale the profitability of your products and services.
English-Proficient Workforce
According to the EF English Proficiency Index, the Philippines is one of the countries with the highest English proficiency, ranking at the 20th place as of 2023. Due to Filipinos’ proficient English skills, language barriers are eroded — ensuring smoother written and oral communication among overseas businesses and their offshore web design outsourcing staff.
Plus, given the Philippines’ culture and history, the country can effectively collaborate and forge strong working relationships with businesses in the United States or any western country without cultural clashes. When you outsource web design to the Philippines, the designers you’ll be working with will be familiar with common English slang and expressions.
High-Quality Web Designs
The experience of Filipinos in web design — combined with their high level of education and English proficiency — make them a top contender among companies looking to outsource web design to the Philippines. Moreover, their drive to produce compelling web designs tailored to your organization’s needs reflect their hard work and competence in the field.
Flexible
Being time-flexible is a plus when you outsource web design overseas. Fortunately, Filipino employees are known for their flexibility. When you outsource web design to your Filipino team, they can adjust to significant time differences to provide web design services to your business.
With Philippine-based outsourcing companies operating on a round-the-clock basis, you’ll have no problems requesting revisions and maintaining communication during working hours. In turn, this can help improve productivity and efficiency in web design project management.
Support From the Government
Time and again, the Philippines has solidified its reputation as the “BPO capital” and “call center capital” of the world. Of course, this is all thanks to the government’s profound support for the BPO industry.
Local laws like the Special Economic Zone Act, or Republic Act No. 7916, enable the country to establish economic zones and forge industrial partnerships with other countries, giving the Filipino workforce a competitive advantage on the global market. The Data Privacy Act of 2012 — or Republic Act No. 10173 — also ensures your peace of mind as BPO companies will protect all the sensitive information when you outsource web design to your Filipino team.
Not only do these laws make the Philippines an attractive destination to outsource web design to, but they also help establish trust between foreign businesses and local BPOs.
The Pros and Cons of Onshore and Offshore Web Designers
For businesses looking to outsource web design, deciding whether to hire onshore or offshore web designers can be tough. Let’s take a look at their advantages and disadvantages.
Pros of Onshore Web Designers
1. No Cultural Differences
Hiring in-house web designers means you don’t have to deal with language barriers, facilitating smoother and hassle-free communication between team members without accounting for cultural differences.
While it’s not bad to outsource web design to an offshore designer, an in-house web designer possesses ample knowledge of their local market’s consumer behavior, making it easier to design websites that appeal to their target audience’s tastes.
2. Faster Revisions and Outputs
Because of the absence of time zone differences, you can better control the design and quality of your brand’s website. In case of revisions or urgent projects, your onshore web designers will get the job done quickly. If you outsource web design to other countries, you'll have to wait until the next business day for your team’s outputs.
Cons of Onshore Web Designers
1. Higher Costs
In-house web designers — though they possess the same skill sets as their offshore counterparts — are often more expensive due to the higher labor costs in their home country. Hiring and training your onshore staff as well as investing in a bigger space or better equipment to accommodate your growing team entail additional costs. Due to higher overhead costs, many businesses choose to outsource web design to other countries, including the Philippines.
2. Smaller Talent Pool
If, for example, your business is based in the United States, you’re more likely to hire web designers residing in that country. While they’re more familiar with the local market, there are plenty of talented web designers you can outsource web design to overseas.
Pros of Offshore Web Designers
1. More Access to Talent
With an offshore team, brands have access to a wider talent tool. Despite time zone differences, the offshore teams you outsource web design to can deliver quality work at a lower cost, driving more profit to your business.
2. Better Scalability and Global Reach
In terms of scalability, offshore teams have the upper hand. This ensures your business’s flexibility when you outsource web design to foreign designers. Whether there’s a shift in market demand and consumer tastes, an influx of web design projects, or changes in the local economy, you can expand or downsize your workforce accordingly.
In addition, employing an offshore team of web designers gives you the gift of promoting your brand to a global audience — increasing your likelihood of gaining foreign customers. This reason alone incentivizes businesses to outsource web design projects overseas.
Cons of Offshore Web Designers
1. Time Zone Differences
Time zones add a layer of challenge when deciding to outsource web design projects to another country. For example, the Philippines is ahead of Washington, DC, USA by 12 hours. This can lead to difficulties in setting an appropriate schedule for virtual meetings and maintaining productivity and quality control.
However, time zone differences are not an issue at all provided there is a standard of quality of outputs and open communication between you and your offshore members. Should you decide to outsource web design to the Philippines, most offshore web designers in BPOs are flexible, adapting to their client’s time zone to ensure real-time delivery of outputs.
2. Cultural Compatibility and English Proficiency
Cultural differences can be a barrier when you outsource web design to offshore web designers. Some euphemisms in your home country may also not be understood by non-native speakers, even those proficient in English — potentially leading to misunderstandings and miscommunication.
5 Steps to Outsource Web Design to the Philippines
Now that you’re ready to begin your outsourcing journey, below is a step-by-step guide on how to outsource web design to the Philippines— from finding the right agency or freelancer to establishing a long-lasting professional relationship with your offshore team.
Step 1: Assess Your Organization’s Status
Before you outsource web design to the Philippines, it’s important to take a hard look at your business’s workforce and budget. Here are three questions to reflect on:
- Are your in-house web designers capable of delivering quality designs?
- Do you want to slash labor costs?
- Do you need more manpower?
Your answers to these questions should give a clearer picture of your organization’s shortcomings, and if these warrant a need to outsource web design to foreign countries.
Moreover, it’s also important to set expectations and present your potential outsourcing partner you’re going to outsource web design to with the scope, goals, and expected turnaround times of your web design projects. Identifying your website’s target audience and branding is paramount to helping your offshore staff incorporate proper design elements to engage your visitors.
Step 2: Do Your Research
There are a plethora of skilled freelancers and top creative agencies in the Philippines to outsource web design to. Generally, hiring a freelance web designer is more affordable. Freelancers also bring with them their skills, knowledge, and expertise to the table. But most of the time, they’re more suitable for short-term projects. They juggle multiple projects, which means they have more access to their clients’ data — which can be risky in case something goes awry on the freelancer’s end.
Likewise, partnering with outsourcing companies in the Philippines is a cost-effective endeavor, with the added bonus of developing long-term partnerships with your offshore Filipino web designers. Most of all, you don’t have to worry about data loss when you outsource web design thanks to the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
Before you outsource web design tasks, conducting a background check on your outsourcing partner is paramount to your organization’s success. Whether it’s reviewing their official website or portfolio, scheduling a call, or reading about Filipino culture and laws, you’ll be able to gauge if a freelancer or a BPO you’re going to outsource web design to is culturally compatible with yours and competent in delivering quality web design work.
Step 3: Discuss Responsibilities and Enter Into A Binding Contract
At this point, you’ve probably chosen the best BPO company to outsource web design to in the Philippines. Now, you’re ready for the next step: contract signing. The outsourcing company will provide a contract for your partnership, highlighting the responsibilities of both parties to ensure they’re met as expected when you outsource web design projects. Likewise, you can present an outsourcing firm with a contract or a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
Before signing a contract, be transparent about your goals and the complexities of your web design projects. This way, the BPO firm can train and onboard the right people for your business.
Step 4: Establish Lines of Communication and Provide Resources
Whether it’s Slack or Skype, having a dedicated platform for communication makes starting team-wide meetings, consolidating tasks, and reporting issues more convenient for your offshore web designers and Point of Contact (POC). It also promotes accountability for both parties.
When you outsource web design to your offshore team, don’t forget to set up login credentials for websites and provide access to web design tools, so your Filipino team can design your website to perfection.
Step 5: Monitor Your Offshore Team’s Performance
Once you begin to outsource web design tasks, performance monitoring will be vital to your business. By making sure your offshore team meets Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and other performance metrics, you set your outsourcing staff for success and your organization for increased revenue.
Maintain frequent communication with your outsourcing agency’s POC, so you can provide regular feedback on your offshore staff’s design choices. This way, you can expect the same level of quality and professionalism when you outsource web design projects in the coming months.
Outsource Web Design to the Philippines Today
Web design is not just an art; it’s a science of strategically asserting your brand to your potential customers. From the typography to the layout of the visual elements, creating a website that’s as creative as they are effective in converting visitors takes time.
This is where you can start to outsource web design projects. At KDCI, you’re not only getting web designers with an artistic eye, but also those who can maintain the overall functionality of your website. With more than a decade of experience in the outsourcing industry, we are confident that we are more than capable of taking your brand to new heights.
Learn more about creative and web design outsourcing. Contact us today!
