Recurring revenue in web design: the models agencies use

How do web designers make recurring revenue?

Web designers make recurring revenue by selling work the client needs every month once the site is live. The site doesn't stop needing care at launch, so you sell the care itself: looking after the site for a set fee.

Models a small agency can offer:

Questions to answer before you offer any of them:

1. What exactly is in the fee, and what costs extra?
2. How does the client ask for work, and how do you track it?
3. Who does the work each month: you, your staff or a partner?
4. What does the client keep if they stop paying?

A monthly site plan also changes how the build itself is paid for. For the model where the site itself is sold by the month, see how website as a service works.

What's an example of recurring revenue?

An example of recurring revenue in web design is a monthly care plan: the client pays a set fee each month, and you update the site's software, keep backups, check its security and fix small problems. The fee comes in every month whether or not anything breaks.

Another example is a change retainer. A client who adds new pages, events or offers can pay a monthly fee for a set amount of edits, instead of a new quote each time.

If a partner does the upkeep, ask what its plan lists. DeskTeam360's websites page says website maintenance is included in its plan: keeping WordPress, its plugins and its theme up to date, security monitoring, malware scanning, speed work, backups and uptime monitoring. Its white label work runs on every plan, so the name your client sees is yours.

What does a web design agency retainer cover?

A web design agency retainer covers a set amount of ongoing work each month for one client, agreed in advance. What it includes is up to you and the client, so write it down before the first request comes in.

Points a retainer agreement can cover:

• the kinds of work included, such as edits, new pages, landing pages or updates
• how much work fits in a month, set as a number of requests or a list of tasks
• what happens to work the client doesn't use that month
• how requests come in, and who on the client's side can send them
• what counts as a new project, with its own quote
• how either side ends the retainer, and with how much notice

Send a short note each month listing what was done, so the client can see what the fee bought.

Monthly work means monthly invoices. For billing each month, see how to bill for a website.