The Web Done Differently

I’ve been busy with my usual work over the last year. We (my partner and I) have spent a lot of time perfecting a new system for web design. The design and results are the same, but what’s new is the management and costing. In an era where we expect a service like a website to be always on and always available, we extended that premise to match the costing with the lifespan of the website. The end result is a service that is more affordable, better supported and lacks the sticker-shock tradition of web design.

There are two models for sales: the purchase and the subscription. The purchase: you order it and it’s yours. The subscription: you pay every month or year and renew your subscription — your access.

Since the inception of the web, websites have been purchased. The features of the website are crafted. A team builds out the look, the functionality, and the content. After the site launches, lots of subscription elements come into play: hosting, domain names and routine maintenance. Putting a website online is a lot more like setting up a communications system: it’s more like a phone line. It stays in service and a team makes sure it’s connected to the world. Why then is a purchase at the front end of that?

Subscriptions are common in the economy: rent, mortgages, utilities, gym memberships, cell phone bills, even steak-of-the-month clubs. They imply the need for constancy. To the vendor, they create regularity. Money comes in every month, so the business stays afloat to satisfy the services. To the consumer, they can spread capital costs out over the lifespan of the relationship. When a homeowner breaks ground on a new project, they don’t need to pay for every worker, every tool and every stick of wood in the construction project. The mortgage takes care of that and amortizes the expenses over years. The property is intended to be there for years, so the expense is considered fair.

Domain name, web hosting and web support are only necessary if there is a functioning and effective website present. It needs to stay in the game throughout the lifespan of the business and the lifespan of the domain name and site hosting. If the website utility is present for years, then why not amortize the design fees?

The design fees are a touchy topic for designers. They like the big payday, but it creates anxiety. There is real pressure to finish this work and hop on to the next payday. Deposits mitigate that, but what if a designer doesn’t deliver? What if the client doesn’t follow through after the work is complete and pay the remainder? Like it or not, some of the steep design fees come from the loss prevention aspect of web design. For every ten good clients; one client was a beast to deal with. Designers recoup some of that pain through dollar cost averaging.

The front loaded design fees for a utility don’t work. It’s uncommon that a website is a static thing. If the business grows, varies its products or varies its behaviour, the website needs to follow in-step. There needs to be an always maintained aspect to a web presence. The design fees are the start of that message building, but the changes along the way are critical. That calls back to the need to treat the design and the maintenance as two parts of the same concept: a well built, well maintained website.

What if all of the fees and the headaches were bundled?

• Design
• Domain name
• Hosting
• Maintenance
• Updates
• Renewal dates.
• Technicalities.

What if all of that was bundled into one package?

• A design that works. It follows the best rules to connecting with users: a balance of images, text, layout and design decisions.
• Hosting. Solid hosting that will be there day-in day-out.
• Maintenance. Websites are often a composite of different applications: content management, plugins, scripts, etc. It works best when all of that is kept in good working order.
• Updates. Businesses need a clear way to push new information onto their website.
• Important dates (domain renewals, license renewals, newsletter releases)

What if all of that was done for a single predictable price of $321 per month? Peace of mind and good results in one package. A business needs its website long term. A designer needs to know that there is a revenue plan in place to keep the doors open one month, one year and several years out. The Web321 plan is that system: predictability, stability and quality results. For more information, check out Web321.

I summed up the cost differences between DIY and Web321: