The performance quality of web developers in Germany – a critical review

This blog article deals with the state of a specific niche in the German software industry. The niche in question offers the creation of websites for companies.

Structure of the article

• Who offers to create other companies’ websites?

• What does the provider’s website look like?

• What exactly does the web design agency/freelancer offer?

• Who actually creates the website?

• What pricing system does a web design agency/web design freelancer use?

• How does the web design agency/freelancer market their services?

• Conclusion

Disclaimer:

No specific companies are named because the company practices are criticized. The criticism can have damaging effects on reputation, which is why the companies remain anonymous.

The answers to the questions presented below are based on extensive Google research in which potential companies were searched for by entering individual keywords (such as “website builder in Berlin”). Information about the company itself was then usually found on the company's website. The article assumes a certain basic knowledge of digital marketing, so specific terms such as “H1 tag” are not explained.

Who offers to create other companies' websites?

The research shows that solo agencies (web design agencies, web development agencies), larger agencies and occasionally web design freelancers often offer the creation of websites.

What are web design agencies or web development agencies?

The first word building block “Web” is the abbreviation for World Wide Web – a system of hypertext documents (websites, online shops, e-commerce systems, etc.) that can be accessed via the Internet. In this case, the second word component “Design” or “Development” suggests the agency’s core competence.

A “design” agency focuses more on the artistic part and a “development” agency focuses more on the technical part of website creation.

A web development agency is suitable for creating a website with an integrated web application. If the design of the website should be the focus, then a web design agency is recommended. An agency is simply an interface between the contractor and the client. The agency does not create the website itself, but rather a third party.

What is a web design freelancer?

Unlike an agency, there is no interface between the contractor and the client. The contractor is an independent worker - also called a freelancer. As with the web design agency, the web design freelancer focuses on the artistic facet of the website and not on the technical background processes.

These agencies and freelancers often advertise their services locally by including the location (e.g. Berlin) in the URL, the "H1 tag" or the "title tag". The customer does not benefit much from the local proximity to the website creator, as communication between the customer and the website creator usually takes place online or by phone anyway.

In addition, the collaboration can often be successful even without basic regional knowledge. The reason for the local link, which the website creator has initiated, is to make the web design agency easier to find in Google. Companies and private individuals who want to have a website created often look for a potential service provider in the local area and use their location as a keyword in their Google search.

Many of these web design agencies could not survive without local discoverability. If there were no local discoverability and every Google user across Germany searched for website builders, then the top 10-20 companies suggested by Google would own all the market share. Getting into this top 10-20 list is very difficult.

However, local discoverability ensures that the market is less competitive. The following is a theoretical model to explain how local discoverability eases competition. In the theoretical model, local discoverability is limited to the cities of Germany.

It is also assumed that Google only presents the Google users with search resluts close to their location. In such a scenario, over 20,000-40,000 companies would be able to slip into Google's top 10-20 ( 10-20 x number of cities ), as each Google search result is tailored to a specific location.

What does the provider's website look like?

The research has shown that freelancers and web agencies' own websites are usually of mediocre quality at best. In the following it is assumed that the websites of agencies and freelancers can be used as an indicator of the expected performance. Below are the mistakes that website builders have made while developing their own website:

• Use of overly complex effects that reduce the loading time of the website.

• Generally poor design: Poor use of white space, no attention to typography, poor arrangement of text: switching between central arrangement and right-aligned arrangement, the use of central arrangement for longer text passages.

• Using mediocre stock images.

• Using long, high-resolution videos on the homepage, which reduces website loading time.

• No individual design: Most websites were created with Word Press or with the help of the Wordpress modular system, the websites are very similar (but this fact can also be an advantage in some industries: the website visitor is used to the same boring design and would even be put off by good, extravagant design (UX).

  The result of a lack of individuality is a lack of ability to create good branding with the help of the website.).

• CTA on the landing page - even though nothing relevant has been shown except a photo of the sales person and some text: Why should the text and the photo persuade the website visitor to arrange a sales meeting?

  This homepage structure seems to be the standard in Germany, but should be reconsidered. The agency should first show its projects or more of its own website before trying to send the website visitor further through the sales funnel.

• Great emphasis is placed on showing testimonials as quickly as possible. This tactic is also widespread internationally and is not only practiced in Germany. However, testimonials are objectively almost completely worthless as explained later on.

• Long and clear texts on the homepage. Long texts in the wrong place can have a positive effect on SEO, but worsen the UX. The website visitor usually prefers that the essentials are communicated to him quickly on the website. Tip: For website visitors who like to read, text can be placed in appropriate places. E.g. in the FAQs or on the blog page.

What is a testimonial?

Customer "X" has used the services of the web design agency in the past and now expresses himself positively in the form of a comment, which is displayed on the web design agency's website. This process is problematic because the website usually cannot accommodate more than 6 testimonials due to lack of space.

Solutions like the “carousel” are also not optimal. Theoretically, there could exist 200 reputation-damaging testimonials that are not displayed on the site. So what relevance do 6 positively worded testimonials have on a website? Theoretically, these shouldn't have any. It is a marketing method that works better when the website visitor has lower cognitive abilities.

What exactly does the web design agency/freelancer offer?

Often more than just creating the website is offered. Optionally, the customer can often enter into a long-term contract with the website creator. This industry is known as WAAS (Website as a Service).

With this business model, the focus is no longer on creating a high-quality website. Sometimes website creation is even done for free. The website creator benefits from a long-term contract with the customer. The customer pays the website creator monthly for services such as SEO optimization, other digital marketing measures and hosting.

If the customer is in a highly competitive market, they are unlikely to benefit from WAAS. The WAAS service provider wants to work as little as possible within the framework of his business model, since he is paid the same amount every month anyway.

He also handles many tasks at the same time and does not focus too much on completing a single, specific task (such as creating the website). Therefore, the quality of the online presence of a company that has turned to a WAAS service provider suffers noticeably.

In a less competitive market, this business model could have more advantages than disadvantages, since, for example, the monthly contribution is usually relatively low.

However, it is still to be expected that the WAAS service provider will demand extremely high margins.

Website creators often state on their websites that the website they have designed will rank high on Google.

However, this promise is unfounded because the fulfillment of this promise depends on external factors, not all of which can be controlled by the website creator himself.

If the client's company is in a highly competitive digital market, it is often almost impossible to rank high on Google with a new website. Website creators can usually only improve the ranking of websites in two ways: paid ads and organic visibility.

Google Ads cost a lot these days (as of May 2024) and are even unprofitable in some industries. Organic visibility depends on factors such as “backlinks”, “Keyword Difficulty” and overall website quality.

Backlinks are external links from other websites to your own website. The number and quality of backlinks are crucial for an improved Google ranking.

However, a newly created website obviously does not yet have any backlinks and the website creator cannot conjure them up. The factor "backlinks" cannot really be controlled by the website creator himself.

The factor “Keyword Difficulty“ depends on how specific the keyword or keyword combination is (e.g. “websites for SAAS Berlin”) and how competitive the market is (e.g. it is very difficult to rank for the keyword “mobile app development”, source: Ahrefs , March 7, 2024).

So, if the customer is in the software industry and offers app development, the website creator will face problems in making the newly created website organically visible.

The website manufacturer can have the greatest, self-controllable influence on organic visibility with a high-quality website. The quality of a website depends on many factors. Here are a few key factors:

• Good presentation through good design: If the website is visually inviting, the website visitor stays on the website longer. The extended stay time is measured by Google.

  If the website visitor stays on the website longer, the website will be ranked higher by Google. The reason for this effect on the ranking is that one of Google 's goals is to provide the people who use Google with the answer they are looking for.

  So if the Google user stays on a website for a longer period of time, Google interprets this behavior as a sign that the person has found what they are looking for.

• Good texts: Copywriting has the same effect as good design - both increase the time the customer spends on the website. If the customer finds or reads what they were hoping to find on the website right away, they will stay longer.

  Alternatively, good copy can also be copy that inspires the website visitor to read on and maybe even follow the CTA.

• SEO: The texts on the website should be SEO optimized. This means: The texts should contain relevant keywords (the keywords for which you want to rank). The website should also contain as many backlinks and internal links as possible.

  Furthermore, local findability, for example via Google Maps, helps with local, organic visibility. Advanced methods, such as planning the publication of detailed content (e.g. blogs) that contain special keyword combinations, are also part of SEO.

  However, this type of content strategy can only be carried out by the website creator themselves within the framework of the WAAS model. Other providers would not take on the monthly time required to execute this kind of content strategy.

When looking for a suitable web design service provider, the following should be considered:

For a high quality website, you should look for customized web design/web development, which is supervised by an expert.

What is custom web design?

When creating the overall concept of the website, essential characteristics of the customer's company are taken into account. This coordination affects, among other things, the following facets of the design: The choice of colors, the copywriting , the images or graphics and the design concept.

In order to be able to design an individually tailored overall concept, it is advisable for the web design agency or web design freelancer to offer marketing consulting as a service option.

During the consulting sessions, the website creator should question the customer in detail about their company and its competitors. Based on the information generated, a website/marketing/branding concept can then be created.

An expert in web design should be able to do the following: create good design, classify and understand the product or service in a marketing context so that the product is presented successfully, be able to write texts, know how to sell a service or product with the written word, have knowledge of SEO and, finally, be able to convert the created design into code.

If these points are followed, the following, frequently occurring result should be avoided: The landing page designed in Wordpress is introduced with a stock image.

Brands with which the company cooperates are mentioned as quickly as possible and reference is made to testimonials or the 5-star Google rating.

The text describes how good the company is and what special results the customer can expect (-> this part has its right to exist if what is written is true and specific rather than generic in nature). The newly created website usually does not contain any additional characteristics.

Optional offers from the website creator for special customers: Website Redesign

What is Website Redesign?

Often times, the customer does not want to have their website completely renewed, but rather just have it visually updated or have individual content or functional aspects of the website changed.

Such a demand can be fulfilled within a service called Website Redesign. This type of service is often in demand as the technology for visually displaying digital products is constantly improving.

It can therefore happen that even companies whose websites were already created in 2022 want to update their web design in the year 2024.

Who actually creates the website?

If the website is commissioned from a web design freelancer, it is usually completely designed and developed by the freelancer himself. However, if the services of a web design agency/web development agency are used, it is often not clear who is really responsible for creating the website.

Some web agencies mention their web designers and developers as team members on the agency website. At other web design agencies, only those responsible for sales and marketing are visible.

If the agency clearly identifies its designers and developers on its website, then they are usually German permanent employees who either take on the design and development process themselves or control the work of vicarious agents.

These vicarious agents are often responsible for the entire design and development process of agencies that only show the sales and marketing team on their website.

Who are the web design vicarious agents?

The web design vicarious agents are often foreign freelancers who have been commissioned by the agency via platforms such as “Fiverr” and “Upwork”, have been noted by the agency in a database (=applicant pool or talent pool) and are kept on call.

The foreign freelancers often come from low-wage countries, so they can be fobbed off with a low hourly wage.

There is anecdotal evidence online that suggests that some web design agencies charge €2,000 for a Wordpress website that was completely created for €300 by a freelancer from a low-wage country.

The service provided in Germany only includes holding a sales meeting and creating the website texts.

Not only is this business model morally reprehensible, but it does not place the quality of the actual product, the website, at the forefront of business efforts. Resources are saved on the actual product, the website, as only €300 is invested in creating the website.

This type of resource allocation suggests that the vicarious agents are not particularly highly qualified and are paid a low hourly wage.

When answering the question “What exactly does the web design agency/freelancer offer” it was already mentioned what skills the website creator should ideally have.

Below, these skills are listed again and linked to a level of education. It is believed that vicarious agents with the following educational levels can create a high quality website.

• Creating good design: M.A. in Design

• Classifying the product or service to be sold in a marketing context: M.Sc. In Marketing

• Good Copywriting: M.Sc. in Marketing

• SEO optimization of the website (if possible): M.Sc. in digital marketing

• Design development: M.Sc. in Computer Science – or no degree required if every facet of the website can be developed in “Webflow” or a similar software.

However, ideally the first four points should be carried out by the same person. The marketing expert must fully understand the classification of the product in a marketing context.

This comprehensive understanding is difficult to pass on. If it is possible to pass it on to the designer, then the transfer process or the communication process will at least take time.

Copywriting also interacts with other areas of the website. The written texts not only serve to convey information to the website visitor but are also part of the design and SEO.

If the sub-areas “design”, “SEO”, “copywriting” and “marketing classification” are handled by different people, not only is the communication effort high, but there is also a risk that the website style will lack consistency.

The only step in the website creation process that could be done by a second person is “design development”.

Which pricing system does a web design agency/web design freelancer use?

There are different pricing models that depend, among other things, on the website creator's offer. Some website builders only offer to create a new website or to redesign an old website.

An ongoing service is not part of this business model. In this case, a fixed price is calculated based on the complexity of the website before the service is provided.

Alternatively, the time required to create the website can also be documented so that the price is only calculated shortly before the finished website is handed over, based on the actual effort.

After the amount is paid and the website is handed over, the website builder and the customer often go their separate ways.

How much does it cost to develop a website?

The prices of German web design agencies and freelancers are not publicly known. However, anecdotal evidence suggests that a single WordPress page can cost up to €1,600.

In the US, an entire website (2-4 pages) developed in “Webflow” can cost $9,000. If the company wants a special website, for example with lots of animations, the price can be significantly higher.

Another business model includes an ongoing service that costs the customer a monthly fee. The website creator who operates within this business model is responsible for the ongoing care and maintenance of the website.

This includes securing a hosting provider and updating content on the website. There are extreme versions of this business model that do not charge a fee for creating the website, but instead require the customer to pay a relatively high monthly amount for the ongoing service. This type of business model is the WAAS model already presented.

Any business model that offers an ongoing service is only suitable for companies that have absolutely no idea how to care for and maintain a website.

Buying a domain, choosing a hosting provider, and updating the website content yourself via a CMS (Content Management System) are all tasks that can be completed within a few minutes.

Most companies need an employee who is responsible for maintaining the content on the website anyway, as it needs to be renewed regularly (e.g. because of announcements, blog articles for SEO, etc.). This employee should also know how to update the created content using a CMS.

How does the web design agency/freelancer market its own services?

The web design agency itself is often not the actual website creator and only handles the sales and marketing process.

This fact has already been established when answering the question "Who actually creates the website?" This means that the agency often only functions as a marketing apparatus.

Since the sales team also has to make a living from the websites it sells without contributing anything to the actual product (apart from communicating the customer's wishes to the vicarious agent and writing the website texts), the agencies' websites are usually much more expensive than the freelancers' websites.

The web design freelancer usually invests hardly any resources in marketing and sales performance, but simply advertises his services on platforms such as “Fiverr” or “Upwork”.

In order for their own services to be listed on these platforms, the freelancer only needs to create a simple, short profile of themselves. The profile can then be found on the platform by potential customers.

The price charged by the freelancer is therefore made up of the hourly wage x the time invested. So, the customer only pays for actual performance. One disadvantage is that freelancers from western countries are relatively expensive and often cost over €25/hour.

In addition, the average business owner who needs a website often cannot tell from the profiles of web design freelancers whether the freelancer is talented or not.

Web design agencies often use Google Ads and other paid advertising options to market their services. In Google, the "title tag" supported by Google Ads is marked as "Sponsored". The use of paid advertising in this industry is objectionable for two reasons.

1. Ultimately, the customers have to pay for the paid advertising themselves. If €200 was used to acquire customers through paid advertising, then these €200 were also included in the price calculation. The customer therefore pays for the ad to be recommended to them.

2. Sometimes the use of paid advertising can be economically justified. A company in an industry that is striving for economies of scale has long-term economic advantages from growth in size (e.g. steel industry).

   
   

   However, in the market niche of the web design agency, economies of scale cannot be exploited. The websites are created by people and cannot be produced by machines. In addition, there is no profit to be made from large purchasing volumes.

   The creation of websites is therefore not scalable, so the growth in size of the web design agency does not benefit the customer.

Conclusion

If you want to have a website created in Germany, the options available are not particularly lucrative.

The problem is that the web design agencies/web development agencies will often only create a mediocre WordPress website. In addition, the agencies often have very high margins.

The better option is to hire a web design freelancer through a platform like “Fiverr” or “Upwork”.

However, there is a chance that you might end up with a less qualified freelancer without realizing it.