How to outsource web development without the usual headaches

By the Digitaz team. 7 minute read.

Hiring a full time developer in the US, UK or Australia is slow and expensive. Recruiting takes months, salaries keep rising and one developer rarely covers design, front end, back end and hosting. That is why more businesses and agencies now outsource web development to offshore teams.

Done well, outsourcing gives you a senior team at a lower cost. Done badly, it gives you missed deadlines and code nobody can maintain. This guide covers how to get the first result and avoid the second.

What does outsourcing web development mean?

Outsourcing web development means hiring an outside team to plan, design, build and maintain your website or web app. The team can be in your own country or offshore. Offshore teams in places like Pakistan, India and Eastern Europe are popular with Western businesses because they combine strong technical skills with lower rates.

When outsourcing makes sense

• You need a new website or redesign and do not want to hire a full time team for one project.
• You run an agency and need extra development capacity for client work.
• Your in house developer is overloaded and the backlog keeps growing.
• You need skills your team does not have, such as Shopify, WooCommerce, speed tuning or custom integrations.
• You want work to continue while your local team sleeps.

Three ways to outsource

Fixed scope project

You agree on pages, features, timeline and price before work starts. This suits new websites, redesigns and stores, because the scope is clear and you know the cost up front.

Dedicated developer

A developer works only on your projects every month. This suits businesses with a steady stream of updates, landing pages and new features.

Agency partner

An agency builds websites for its own clients through a partner team, under the agency brand. This is known as white label development. We explain the model in our white label digital marketing guide.

How to choose an offshore web development team

1. Look at real, live work. Ask for links to sites they built and check speed and mobile layout yourself.
2. Check reviews on third party sites. Google, Clutch and Upwork reviews are harder to fake than testimonials on a homepage.
3. Test communication early. Notice how fast and how clearly they answer before you sign. That is how they will answer during the project.
4. Ask about time zones. You want overlap with your working day, or a team that works around the clock.
5. Get a written scope. Pages, features, revisions, timeline, price and payment terms should all be on paper.
6. Confirm ownership. You should own the code, the design files, the domain and the hosting logins.

Red flags to watch for

• A price far below every other quote. Very cheap work often means templates, copied code or junior staff.
• No staging site. You should be able to review progress before anything goes live.
• Vague answers about who will do the work.
• Refusing to hand over logins or source files.
• No plan for updates, backups and security after launch.

How much does it cost to outsource web development?

Cost depends on the number of pages, custom features, integrations and content. A simple business site costs far less than a custom store or a web app. Offshore teams are usually a fraction of the price of a local agency for the same scope. On our outsource web development page you can see our pricing bands, from simple sites to custom builds with a monthly care plan.

How to make an outsourced project run smoothly

Share examples. Send three or four websites you like and say what you like about each one. It saves days of back and forth.

Prepare content early. Missing text and images are the most common cause of delays. Have them ready, or ask the team to write them.

Agree on one channel. Pick Slack, email or WhatsApp and keep project talk there, so nothing gets lost.

Review on staging. Give feedback in batches on the staging link instead of one message at a time.

Plan for after launch. A care plan keeps plugins updated, backups running and the site secure.

Final thoughts

Outsourcing web development is not about finding the cheapest team. It is about finding a team that is clear, reliable and good at what it does, then giving it a clear brief. Get those right and an offshore team can feel like part of your own business.