We always hear scary stories about sending our design, development SEO, PPC etc work to offshore companies, main reason being savings on cost. Indeed many of our existing clients approached us after failing in their endeavours abroad, does this mean that all work sent offshore is doomed to fail? Many will say yes, I however disagree, in many cases I have seen, it is not the offshore company that fails but the expectation & lack of experience of the client themselves!
Individuals / companies that send the work abroad usually think that by simply giving a brief, the offshore company will be able to undertake work to the same exact standards that UK companies can. The problem, in many cases, is that the offshore companies can undertake work to a high standard but this will not be done automatically, the client needs to know exactly what they want & have some experience to be able to effectively communicate this to them & to project manage the whole process. This is simply because; many fail to understand that you are purchasing their technical & design skills, not necessarily the same as being great project managers or indeed understanding the different culture / language differences. The client should expect to project manage all processes of the work, simply thinking that everything will come back as they envisaged is neither viable nor correct.
If you are an experienced in the field of web designing, development or online marketing, then it makes sense to save money, but if you do not have the knowledge nor experience then this is a sure fire way of not getting what you set out to get. Remember by saving money you have to invest your time & if you are someone who wants knows very little about how this all works then deal with a company based in the UK, the charges may be more than those abroad, but this is balanced by saving you time & injecting quality into the project, so it has the best chance of success for your business.