The 2020s have been tough on North American digital agencies. First COVID wreaked havoc on staffing and revenue streams. Then inflation in both the US and Canada continued to hurt small businesses through the end of 2024. This year’s political events have threatened to make things even worse.
- According to a Constant Contact survey, 46% of US SMBs cut back spending to mitigate the impact of inflation, and 39% increased prices
- The Government of Canada reported that 50.2% of Canadian small businesses cited inflation as the biggest obstacle they faced going into Q4
When it comes to winning bids for website projects, potential clients are looking at your proof of work—but they’re still going to be tempted by the bidder that can launch the site fastest and for the best price.
How the heck are you supposed to meet that challenge? The answer is low-code web development. Low-code/no-code has been on the rise for several years, but it really took off in 2023 according to ColorWhistle. And for good reason!
Here are the nine best things about low-code development for agencies.
1. Faster Builds and Faster Launches
Low-code tools like Refoundry make it possible for developers to build the same websites they’ve been building, at the same level of quality, but over 70% faster. That’s because writing code from scratch is only required for a small portion of each site, depending on complexity and customizations.
Refoundry renders SEO-friendly code as developers (or other users) work in the WordPress visual editor. What you see is launch-ready. WordPress includes responsive previews that allow you to see how everything will look on desktop, mobile, and tablet devices. Refoundry takes it one step further with responsive block settings, which can reduce or even eliminate the need for post-build responsive design fixes.
And because no coding experience is required to do basic tasks like add or remove blocks, edit styles, tweak menus, or adjust simple settings, there’s no need for a backlog of developer tickets holding up launches on small tasks.
Anyone on the agency team can perform these edits to address client requests, which is especially significant when it comes to addressing late-stage change requests that potentially delay launches.
2. Improved Cost Efficiency
Adopting a low-code platform for your web development means agencies don’t have to hire more developers to promise quicker launches, nor do they have to raise prices.
You can keep up your current team size and competitive pricing, and use the hours saved to either take on more work (hello, profit!), or to invest time back into the developers’ and agency’s growth. Meanwhile, your developers can focus on more challenging work, like full site builds, customizations, interactions, and integrations.
3. Flexibility for Client Needs
You may have heard that low-code platforms aren’t as flexible as custom web development. There are some low-code platforms with limited flexibility, this is true. But tools like Refoundry are every bit as flexible as custom development.
Refoundry is a plugin that was engineered specifically to enhance WordPress. It’s open source, and can be combined with custom code for as much flexibility as you need. Developers can expand Refoundry with SCSS, CSS, JavaScript, PHP functions, React, and more, the same way they would on a fully custom site. It can also be combined with any other plugin or integration that works with Gutenberg.
This makes it suitable for the unique needs of any project size or complexity. It can also be easier to adapt a low-code site to WordPress updates, ensuring long-term stability.
4. Better Collaboration
Adopting low-code isn’t about replacing developers, or putting untrained ‘citizen developers’ in the role of building your agency’s websites. Low-code tools still require developers to finish coding websites, especially more complex ones. It’s also highly unlikely that a web agency would have anyone other than developers doing initial builds on low-code platforms.
But what low-code development does is make it so that anyone on the agency team can work on a website. An SEO can easily install plugins and make on-page content adjustments. A designer can adjust padding or swap background images while doing reviews. A project manager can change the color of a button or the style of a heading while on a call with the client.
This speeds up the time to launch, and more importantly, it improves team members’ understanding of the final product and everyone’s roles in the outcome. It can increase productivity, skills development, communication, and innovation.
5. Scalability for Growth
Your clients expect a website that can be easily adapted as their offering or team grows, if they undergo a rebrand, or if they pivot and need to remove products or services. And they don’t want to have to hire a developer and wait in a queue every time they need to make those types of changes.
Low-code/no-code tools are the only way to satisfy that particular client demand.
Refoundry can be used to build websites that are every bit as scalable as sites that are entirely custom-coded. Anything a developer can build in WordPress, they can build with Refoundry—faster, and easier. At the same time, Refoundry’s pro features enable developers to build a library of Reusable Component Blocks that clients can easily use in the visual editor to modify their own pages.
6. Low Barrier to Entry
Low-code tools are a great way for new or small agencies to get started. Most are reasonably affordable, and the benefit is worth the investment—Refoundry’s first agency reported a 20% profit margin increase and a 25% increase in project capacity, two years in a row.
Many low-code platforms have self-serve resource libraries to help your team learn the ropes and hit the ground running. Refoundry also has an Accelerator Program for agencies, which includes live, real-time support for your first build.
7. Staying Competitive
One of the biggest challenges for agencies to stay in business is keeping a steady flow of new clients. That requires maintaining a great reputation, showcasing your work, and of course, winning bids against other agencies.
Low-code tools help agencies compete in a crowded market by making it possible to offer quicker launches at competitive prices, without sacrificing the quality of your work. It’s really that simple. Do everything you’re already doing with custom-coded projects, but do it quicker and without hiring more developers.
Low-code development also aligns with the industry’s shift toward JavaScript-based frameworks, block-based editors, and AI automations. It’s a much more sustainable solution for improving scalability and performance than headless web development, which requires even more developer time and custom coding than traditional development.
8. Accessibility
If a big focus of your website projects is accessibility compliance—as it should be—you might be worried that any method other than traditional development will hurt accessibility.
Building an accessible website doesn’t come down to just the tool or even the developer. It starts at the earliest stages, with creating an information architecture and UX designs that support navigation and interaction on assistive technology. It relies heavily on UI designs for critical points like compliant color contrast and discernable link text. Content is also a factor; accessibility compliance requires strong heading structures and alt text for all descriptive images.
As long as your designers, developers, and content strategists are all trained on accessibility standards, you’ll have no problem launching smooth, accessible websites built on a low-code tool.
9. Improved Client Satisfaction
There are many other smaller benefits to agencies besides the ones on this list. The most important, though, is how low-code tools can make your clients happier. Satisfied clients leave great reviews and become referrals. This fuels more work, and sustains your business.
Here’s how low-code development can make your clients happier:
- Competitive project pricing
- Shorter time to launch
- Less chance of launch delays
- Easy for clients to edit their own sites
Refoundry has additional benefits that not every low-code tool can claim:
- It’s themeless, so your clients get full creative control over elements usually locked into the theme and requiring a developer to edit
- It’s SEO-friendly
- It has a library of pre-built blocks and responsive UX templates that are all editable in the visual editor and fully customizable
- It’s an extension of WordPress and uses open source code, so your clients aren’t locked into a proprietary platform and can easily hire a developer if needed
As you can see, there are so many great benefits of low-code for agencies. But we know that you need to see it to believe it. You can learn more about Refoundry’s offering for agencies, read our case studies and case studies from Forge and Smith, and reach out with any questions you have.
