This shift started to happen around 2009-10. Three things are at play:
Tooling around building websites has really improved. Web design work for smaller businesses has moved to Squarespace and Themeforest templates created by very talented eastern European designers. Both of these options are "good enough" for most businesses under a certain size.
Large companies have realized that design is a competitive lever. Responding thus, they are either organically building internal agencies, or acquiring small agencies to leverage internally. This trend is causing the leftover small and mid-size agencies to struggle and disappear.
People get their content from vastly different sources than they did 5-6 years ago. Most social proof around the quality of a product or small business is found via social media and aggregators like Yelp. Savvy businesses realize this trend, and are focusing their spending on these properties.
This shift started to happen around 2009-10. Three things are at play:
Tooling around building websites has really improved. Web design work for smaller businesses has moved to Squarespace and Themeforest templates created by very talented eastern European designers. Both of these options are "good enough" for most businesses under a certain size.
Large companies have realized that design is a competitive lever. Responding thus, they are either organically building internal agencies, or acquiring small agencies to leverage internally. This trend is causing the leftover small and mid-size agencies to struggle and disappear.
People get their content from vastly different sources than they did 5-6 years ago. Most social proof around the quality of a product or small business is found via social media and aggregators like Yelp. Savvy businesses realize this trend, and are focusing their spending on these properties.