How to Outsource Web Design
Last updated . The published rates were checked October 1, 2026. DeskTeam360's details and the other sources were checked September 25, 2026.
To outsource web design, pick the design jobs you'll hand off, choose who does them, and send each job with a written brief and examples. Outsourcing gives a business skills it hasn't built in-house.
This site is run by DeskTeam360, and its setup appears below as one example.
What does it mean to outsource web design?
It means an outside person or company designs the pages and sites your agency sells or uses. Before the first job, decide who talks to the client and who gives the final OK.
You can hand off only the design, or the design and the build together, so one team takes a page from layout to launch. If you'll resell the work under your agency's name, see white label web development for how that model works.
What web design work can you outsource?
Start with the jobs you can explain in a written brief. Here's the kind of web work one team, DeskTeam360, takes on: WordPress, React and other CMSs, landing pages, redesigns, bug fixes, WooCommerce and custom features, from a quick homepage update to a full rebuild.
A simple way to sort your own list:
| Hand off first | Keep for now |
|---|---|
| Landing pages from a page you already like | The first look for a brand-new client |
| Page updates on monthly client sites | Sales calls and client strategy |
| Redesigns of single pages | Work where the brief lives only in your head |
| Small fixes and layout bugs | Anything you can't explain in writing yet |
For more on what to send out and what to hold on to, see how to delegate tasks.
Who can you outsource web design to?
You can hand it to one person paid by the hour, a firm paid per project, or a team paid every month. Outside web help is usually priced one of three ways: a fixed price per project, by the hour (time and materials), or a dedicated team. As one example, DeskTeam360 charges a flat monthly rate.
| Who | How they charge | Published rates |
|---|---|---|
| A freelance web developer | By the hour | Freelance web developers on Upwork typically charge $15 to $50 an hour |
| A design agency | Per project or by the hour | Design agencies on Clutch mostly charge $25 to $49 an hour, and most web design projects there cost under $10,000 |
| A web development firm | By the hour | In a GoodFirms survey, most web development firms (57%) bill $50 to $100 an hour |
| A monthly team (DeskTeam360, as one example) | A flat monthly rate | $1,497, $2,994 or $4,491 a month, by how many tasks run at once |
For choosing one firm to build the site, see how to choose a web development outsourcing company.
Before you compare, ask what each price buys: whose time, how many people, and who checks the work. Each DeskTeam360 plan comes with the full team and every service, and you choose a plan by how many of your tasks the team works on side by side. For what agencies charge their own clients for design, see web design pricing.
If you'd like to see how a monthly team would handle your design list, you can book a call with DeskTeam360.
How do you brief an outside web designer?
Write it down once, in one place, with examples. A designer who's never met your client can only work from what you send.
- Say what the page is for. One line: who visits it and what they should do next.
- Send the brand files. Logo, colors, fonts and any style rules.
- Send two or three examples. Pages you like, and one you don't, with a line on why.
- List the content. The words, images and links, or say who'll supply them.
- Name the sizes that matter. Phone, tablet and desktop, at least.
- Set the deadline and the review step. Say when you'll look at the first version and how you'll send changes.
You can also send a short screen recording of you clicking through a page you like.
How do you keep design quality steady when you outsource?
Use the same people, one checker, and one place for feedback. Ask who'll do each job, and who checks it before your client sees it.
- Ask for the same people. DeskTeam360 keeps the same people on a client's work every month, so they learn the brand and its standards.
- Make one person check the work. DeskTeam360 puts a North American account manager on each account to hand out tasks and review each one before it reaches your client.
- Keep the brand in front. For resold work, ask for unbranded files. DeskTeam360 works for agencies under the agency's brand, so the agency's clients never see DeskTeam360.
- Update the brief as you go. When a change comes up twice, add it to your brand notes.
"With DeskTeam360, I’ve Been Able To Actually Delegate Instead Of Doing Everything Myself."
Sidecar Marketing Solutions
More on white label and delegation
Book a call to show DeskTeam360 the design jobs you'd send out first. For the full handoff from start to finish, see how to outsource, step by step.
Sources
- Upwork, web developer cost
- Clutch, design agency pricing
- GoodFirms, website construction cost survey
- Codeable, outsource web development
- Devox Software, outsource web development
- DeskTeam360, home page, web design and development page and white label page (deskteam360.com)
- DeskTeam360 case study: Sidecar Marketing Solutions (deskteam360.com/case-studies)
Upwork, Clutch and GoodFirms were checked October 1, 2026. Codeable, Devox Software, DeskTeam360's pages and the case study were checked September 25, 2026.
What changed
- October 19, 2026: First version of this page.