Quality design sub-contractors are worth their weight in gold…

Here at Merge Media we are proud to say that we work closely with a wide range of professional and quality sub-contractors for many, if not most, of our web and graphic design clients.

We can either work directly with them or can refer them onto our clients, whatever is preferred. Interested in learning more? We’ve put together below, 4 important reasons why we use and refer to quality sub-contractors as part of our business:

1. Skilled sub-contractors provide the best expertise

Skilled sub-contractors will offer a superior service and provide expert advice and services, such as our SEO expert, David Partis from Website Optimisers. Furthermore, they have been working in a specific field for a number of years and have had ample opportunity to hone their skills. With there being so many aspects to website optimisation for example, such as SEO/Adwords etc, having an expert in this field to refer to, is paramount. We want to make sure that your website can not only look its best, but rank well in Google too.

Over the years, we have come to know our sub-contractors personally and we are proud of the amazing work they do, which in turn, has helped our business grow and achieve excellent results for our clients.

2. Increased productivity

Increasing productivity is one of the biggest positives of working with quality and trusted sub-contractors. Our time is therefore increased – being able to focus on what Merge Media does best – creating stunning websites, branding and graphic design. We can get your job done faster for you, without compromising on quality.

3. It is cost efficient & risk adverse

Hiring the best sub-contractors is often much more cost effective than bringing on new, full-time employees – so these cost savings also get passed onto our clients. Even more importantly, it also helps avoid risk by hiring a reliable and safe sub-contractor, with substantial, specialised, experience.

4. We love to support local, skilled sub-contractors

Being actively involved in our local BNI group, we love to support our local, professional sub-contractors where we can – it helps them out, as well as us. Being able to get to know some of our highly skilled local sub-contractors has been valuable to our business, as we can be confident going forward using their services, knowing that our clients will be receiving only the best and in turn, achieving excellent results for their own businesses.

What sub-contractors do we use?

Here are Merge Media, our main sub-contractors we work with are photographers, signwriters, SEO consultants, marketing consultants, copywriters and web developers to name a few. These are all highly important people that we refer to for our projects, ensuring they are also adding value to your brand.

Click below, to find out more about our latest project for Pohutukawa Coast Vets – where we have utilised our amazing sub-contractors to achieve stunning signage, photography and a well optimised website.

Website builders – what you should know…

Are you thinking of creating your own website using one of the many DIY website builders out there? If so, you’ll need to read this, as it may save you from any headaches down the line…

Your head may be swimming with all the different choices out there… so let’s get to the nitty gritty of it. It could ultimately save you time, money and stress by doing a little bit of research first, before you go diving headfirst into your web project.

Pros of using a DIY website builder:

  • SOME plans are free
  • Different plans & pricing to choose from (simple site to e-commerce options)
  • Responsive (easy to view on multiple devices) templates
  • Easy to build including ‘drag & drop templates

Cons of using a DIY website builder:

  • Free plans often have too many limitations to really be used as a proper working website
  • Your domain name may still have the web builder’s name in it. ie: http://www.carolescakes.wixsite.com
  • You may have their ads on every page
  • You may have the web builder’s logo on your site
  • The site may not support third-party apps, plugins or extensions (this limits you customising your site to how you want it to look and function)
  • Unless you are wanting to pay a similar amount per month to sites like Shopify, you will be limited with your site’s storage – ie some cheaper plans still only offer limited storage, so would only be appropriate for say showing off a student portfolio/blog/passion project etc
  • You may not have the option of moving to a faster server, if your website is loading too slowly

So putting it simply, it comes down to a few things…

  • Do you have a service-based or e-commerce site?
  • How simple or complicated is your site likely to be with regard to functionality?
  • How much time can you afford to spend creating your site?
  • Are you certain that your content is the best it can be (including copy writing, basic and more involved SEO)?
  • How confident are you that you have excellent quality, web-ready photographs and the appropriate digital web files to use (ie logos and other branding elements).

If you are adamant that you can build yourself a site from scratch, that is fast loading, easy to navigate, ranks well in Google and looks beautiful, then you probably don’t need to be reading this post!

However, if you are not 100% certain you can pull it off and quite frankly, don’t have the time, let the Merge Media team do what we do best – by building you an amazing website that will knock your socks off!

We are the experts… we have helped countless poor souls out there who have unfortunately run into trouble with building their own websites and have needed help to get back on track, and quickly!

Our custom built, WordPress websites not only have a versatile and easy to use theme, but they get results. We even offer basic training so you can hit the ground running and make any basic tweaks to your site, yourself (or you can let us take care of this).

Websites that work – what does that mean?

If you’re wondering what aspects are vital for a well built and engaging website, keep reading!

Read more