Compare: general digital agencies
A general agency, or one that only works in care?
Many care providers work with a local web agency that also builds sites for solicitors, garages and restaurants. Some of those sites are very good.
A specialist is not automatically better. What changes is how much of the project is spent learning your sector, and who carries that cost. Here is an even handed look, including when a general agency is the better choice.
Scorecard
A care specialist vs a general agency
A dash means it depends on the agency. Ask to see care work they have done.
Side by side
A tick means it is a strength of that option, a dash means it depends on who does the work, a cross means it is usually missing.
| Care specialist | General agency | |
|---|---|---|
Design and build quality Plenty of general agencies build beautiful, fast websites. | ||
Understands how families choose care Funding worries, guilt, the late night search on a phone. It shapes every page. | ||
Knows CQC and what you must show The rating widget, registered details, how to talk about a report. Rarely in a general brief unless you raise it. | ||
Tools families use, ready built Funding calculators, availability, fee explainers. A general agency would build them from scratch. | ||
Ranks for care searches in your town Good SEO agencies know local search. Care searches have their own patterns and competitors. | ||
Carer recruitment pages Recruitment in care is its own market, with its own searches and job boards. | ||
Wider creative services Large agencies may offer a wider range of creative work, such as video production, under one roof. | ||
Experience across many sectors We only work in care. If you run other businesses too, a generalist can serve them all. |
What a good general agency does well
A capable general agency brings solid design, a proper build process and project management. Many are local, which makes meeting in person easy. Larger ones may offer branding, video, print and advertising under one roof, which is convenient if you want one supplier for everything.
Their breadth can be a strength too. An agency that has worked in retail or hospitality may bring ideas that care websites have not tried. If they are willing to learn your sector properly, the result can be very good.
Where the care knowledge gap shows
The gap is rarely about skill. It is about how much the agency has to learn before the site starts working, and whose budget pays for it.
How families actually choose care
A family looking for care is often under pressure, worried about money and reading on a phone. They want fees, funding, the CQC rating, photos of real rooms and a person to call. A general agency will usually find this out eventually. A specialist starts there.
CQC and Regulation 20A
Your current rating must be shown clearly on your website. It is simple to do and easy to miss if nobody on the project has run a care service. Check any site with our free CQC rating display checker.
Accessibility for older visitors
Design trends favour light grey text and small type. Care websites need the opposite: large, high contrast text, simple menus and big buttons. See how we approach accessible websites.
Local search for care
Care searches in most towns are crowded with directories and large groups. Winning "care homes in [town]" takes local service pages, a strong Google Business Profile and content that answers family questions. It is a different job from ranking a shop. Our competitor snapshot shows the local picture in a few minutes.
Care data and GDPR
Family enquiries often include a relative’s health details, which is special category data under UK GDPR. A general agency will know GDPR, but may not have thought about what a care enquiry form should and should not ask.
What a specialist gives up
We only work in care, so we cannot also build the website for your other business.
Our founder has more than 20 years in digital and years working inside care. That shapes how we build, but it is fair to judge us on the work rather than the claim. You can see the sites we have built and test them with the same tools we use.
When a general agency is the right choice
If you already have a good relationship with an agency that has built care sites before and can show you how they perform, there may be no reason to change.
If care is one part of a wider group, with a hotel, a nursery or a retail business alongside it, one agency for everything may be simpler and cheaper to manage.
Before you sign with any agency
- Show us care websites you have built, and how they perform.
- Who will own the domain, hosting and every login?
- How will you protect our current Google rankings?
- What will you report each month: enquiries, or just visits?
- How will the CQC rating be shown and kept current?
- Who will we actually speak to week to week?
Ask us the same questions, and hold us to the answers. See our commitment page.
Common questions
Can a general agency build a good care website?
Is a care specialist always more expensive?
We already have an agency. Should we switch?
Can a specialist work alongside our existing agency?
Free buyer's guide
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