Guide · Hiring
Freelance CRO consultant or agency: which do you need?
I'm a freelancer, so I'm obviously not neutral here. But an agency really is the better choice for some companies, and I'd rather you pick the right fit.
The main differences
| Freelance consultant | Agency | |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | The person you hired | A team, and the senior people who sell aren't always the ones doing the work |
| Cost | Usually lower, with no agency overhead | Higher, but design and development are often included |
| Capacity | One person | Many tests at the same time |
| Skills | Strategy, analysis and research. Design and development usually come from your team or partners | Strategy, design, development and QA in one place |
| Flexibility | Easy to start small and adjust | Often fixed packages and longer contracts |
When a freelancer makes more sense
- You already have designers or developers and need someone to lead the testing.
- You want a senior person doing the actual work, not just showing up to the pitch.
- You're just getting started and want an audit or a few months of testing before committing to more.
- You want your own team to learn, so the knowledge stays after the project ends.
When an agency makes more sense
- You have a lot of traffic and want many tests running at once.
- You have no designers or developers and need everything built for you.
- You run a big programme and need someone covering holidays and sick days.
Questions I'd ask either one
- Who exactly will work on our account, and what have they done before?
- How do you check our tracking before testing?
- How do you decide sample size and test length? (A good answer: we work it out before launch.)
- Can you show me a test that lost, and what you learned from it?
- What happens to the documentation when we stop working together?
I'd be careful with anyone who promises a specific uplift before seeing your data, or who can't explain their statistics in plain words.
You can also mix them
Plenty of companies do both. A freelance consultant sets up the strategy, research and process, and an agency or the internal team builds the tests. Or they start with a freelancer and bring in an agency once the number of tests grows.
Not sure what fits you? Have a look at how I work, or book a free call. If I'm not the right fit, I'll tell you.
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