What exactly is meant by web agency?

Simply put, a web agency or digital agency is an advertising agency that has evolved to meet the rapidly changing marketing demands of the digital age. Web agencies combine design and content with new technologies and modern marketing techniques. The result is a highly creative fusion of art, science and technology to find solutions in a rapidly changing environment. Based on client needs, the core principles of brand strategy often remain the same, but are no longer the domain of traditional agencies. It takes a deep understanding of media to successfully manage and grow a brand through digital channels. Successful brands use digital means to create additional customer value and new customers.

What kind of services do digital agencies offer?

There are countless services which a web agency can offer, probably the most well-known are: Consulting, website design and development, apps, web applications, search engine marketing, SEO, rebranding, logo design and so on.

Web development

I would like to use this time to take a closer look at the field of web development, digital agencies. For the layman, web development is very opaque, there are dozens of technical terms and different paths lead to the goal. How should also recognize someone aussenstehendes whether the proposed solution is the best for him, it remains no choice but to trust the experts of the web agency.

Web agency !== Web agency

Let's assume that "Alice" needs a website for her hobby club. She searches the internet for web agencies in her city and contacts two reputable looking digital agencies. Both offer her a website with a specific design including hosting. Both are in the same price segment, plus or minus. Alice can not decide and can be advised by both and then decides for an agency that appealed to her better. 
Has Alice made the right decision for her club or she may have been guided by the sharp salesman, which sounded quite convincing? The following characteristics should bring light into the darkness, so that Alice can decide with good conscience for a, for her association, suitable solution.

No Code Vs. High Code

Under No Code one understands systems which allow to set up applications without writing a program line by hand. It is a higher abstraction that requires no or little programming experience. On the other hand, High Code means that the implemented solution was programmed by hand. The currently very trendy modular systems such as Webflow, Wix or Wordpress are classic no code systems. They have the decisive advantage that anyone with the appropriate motivation can click together a simple website without external help in a very short time. The modular systems are designed so that the created page runs fast by default and search engines are optimized. 
In turn, the layman has no way to implement the website, using high code, in a comparable quality without previously months, if not years to deal with web development.

Why should one then nowadays still program a website from scratch, if there are website construction kit systems? Not everything is as nice as it seems, the modular systems have their raison d'être for a very specific target audience. Let's contrast the two approaches with their advantages and disadvantages, so we get a more accurate picture.

Baukastensysteme (Webflow, Wordpress, Wix, etc..)

Advantages:

• Little to no expertise needed
• Implementation time of a few hours
• In-house optimized (Core Web Vitals, SEO)
• Good integration possibilities (Newsletter/Blog/E-Commerce)
• Fix ready mobile optimized design templates
• Cost-effective hosting (running costs)
• The layman can manage the layout independently

Disadvantages:

• Limited possibilities (design/functionalities)
• Interesting target for hackers
• Zero design, looks like every other page
• Functionality extensions expensive to impossible
• Very limited design customizations
• Creating a custom theme requires expertise
• Animations, Transitions and 3D models not or only conditionally realizable
• Extensions can slow down the page

Programming frameworks (Angular, Vue, React, etc.)

Advantages:

• Every design wish can be mapped
• Tailored and customized functionalities
• Customized design across the entire website
• Can be extended at will and at low cost
• Is less interesting for hackers
• Animations, Transitions and 3D models easily integrated
• All the advantages of a Single Page Application

Disadvantages:

• The layman has no possibility to customize the design of the website independently
• Needs a professional hosting (running costs)
• For the implementation it needs programming experience

Conclusion

Building block systems are for people who need a cheap web presence and are satisfied with the standard. The design, uniqueness and special features are not important to them. The website building systems are the first place to go if you have a small budget. Good for very small websites to start. Over time, the requirements for a website grow, so the building block systems such as Webflow or Wix eventually reach their limit. So two possible scenarios arise, either you invest a lot of money and time in an agency, which extends the modular system as far as it is possible until they get everything out or you decide for an agency, which implements the complete site from scratch. To implement a website from scratch can be with the right tools quickly times cheaper and more sustainable.

Back to the statement web agency is not equal to web agency

There are the classic web agencies that offer websites based on such modular systems. Depending on the requirements of the website and the design, the agency can click together a website within a very short time. Already during the design process with the customer, care is taken to ensure that the design or layout can be implemented relatively easily with the modular system, since a deviation from the standard is difficult and time-consuming to implement. Thus, a standard layout is unconsciously forced on the customer. Apart from that, extensions of the page will be more complex and more expensive than one that was programmed from scratch itself.

In practice, classic web agencies offer these modular solutions almost as high as digital agencies which program the page completely themselves. Either they earn good money with it or they need extremely long time to bend these modular systems in such a way as discussed in the design process. In both cases, the customer pulls the longer.

I would like to talk here the classic web agencies not bad. It may well be that the focus of the agency is not on web development or they simply do not know better. Finally, the Internet continues to develop rapidly and always stay up to date is difficult but just in the keyword digitalization so important.

Ida Approach

We of Ida have deliberately decided against a modular system to ensure the originality of the design, the professionalism of the website and the appreciation of our customers. 

Modern established approaches like the Single Page Application or the Headless CMS System give us the possibility to design an internet presence of the future.