Winning new business can be challenging, which is one of many reasons why we love helping web agencies generate recurring revenue.
Everyone knows selling to existing customers is easier than finding new ones. That works great for ecommerce sites selling T-shirts, but what about web agencies? How many websites can you build for one client? What else can you sell to keep the relationship going?
Keep reading to learn about our top ideas for adding recurring revenue for web agencies.
Why is Recurring Revenue Important for Web Agencies?
Large website projects are great when you have them. They’re high-dollar projects that keep your entire team busy. The problem is that they have a set beginning and end. At some point, you finish the website and collect the final payment.
Unless you have another project ready to go, you’re stuck footing the bill for your team while you secure the next client. Recurring revenue streams help even out your income, so you have cash coming in between major website builds.
Most of the ways a web agency can generate recurring revenue have the bonus of keeping you in contact with your clients. It’s easy to pick up referral business or new projects while maintaining an ongoing business relationship with existing clients.
Ideas to Create Recurring Revenue for Web Agencies
Adding a recurring revenue stream to a web agency is surprisingly simple. Many of these ideas are a natural extension of the work you already do.
Offer Hosting Packages
Offering managed WordPress hosting is a way to build recurring revenue for your business. It makes you a one-stop shop for your clients. And they’ll rest easy knowing you’re always there to meet their needs.
Most clients probably rely on you to make a hosting recommendation anyway. And your customers want fewer bills and more value.
Some agencies join affiliate programs, so they get a commission for referring their clients to a hosting company. These are almost always one-time payouts, but some can bring big bucks.
Longer term, you may make even more money if you host clients’ sites yourself. Hosting packages allow you to leverage bulk pricing for sites to offer fair prices for hosting in addition to your expert services or products.
Agencies can offer Pressable’s lightning-fast hosting and expert support to clients. If needed, you can also add clients as collaborators to the account. They can access their site but not view any other sites on your Pressable account. This service allows you to benefit from bulk pricing while offering your clients a full hosting experience.
Selling Pressable hosting also prevents site performance issues. There’s nothing worse than seeing all your hard work ruined when the client selects the cheapest and slowest hosting possible. With Pressable, you can trust the site will perform as you expected.
Add Maintenance and Support Packages
WordPress maintenance seems simple to you. After all, you built the site. But to your clients, updating and maintaining a website can seem daunting.
Part of launching a new site for a client should include telling them how to keep the site safe and operational. If the client fails to update the WordPress software, plugins, or themes, their site performance could suffer. It also makes the site more vulnerable to attack.
Most clients won’t want to take the risk and will welcome help maintaining their site.
Offering a monthly subscription for maintenance is good customer service. You can create different tiers based on the client’s needs. If the client doesn’t make many changes to their site, they might need a simple package that only includes regular backups and software updates.
Clients that frequently update their site might want a plan that includes a set number of development hours each month. They can use these hours for content and other small changes to their site.
To streamline things for your clients, consider combining hosting and maintenance packages. You get more recurring revenue, and the client gets one simple bill for all their website needs.
If you didn’t offer maintenance packages when you built a website or if a client declined a package, it’s never too late to start. Check in with your clients to see how their site is performing. Run a site audit and illustrate how maintenance could improve their site’s loading speed.
Every major WordPress release is a chance to check in with clients and let them know about your maintenance packages to help them navigate the latest changes.
Sell SEO and Content Packages
Clients build websites so customers can find them. Clients don’t want a site that no one looks at. Offering search engine optimization and content creation services helps your clients get more value from their website investment.
You probably already have the resources in-house to handle technical SEO work. Content creation might require hiring additional staff or partnering with a content marketing agency or freelancer.
If you have the resources, adding Google ad management or social media marketing to content packages can increase recurring revenue for web agencies.
Why Pressable is the Best Partner for Web Agencies
Agencies love Pressable because we offer the performance, scalability, security, and support to make growing monthly recurring revenue easy.
Pressable offers an intuitive dashboard that makes managing multiple sites painless. We also automate a lot of the work for you. We handle WordPress updates and backups and deploy the best security monitoring available. In the event one of your sites is breached, we offer malware removal services.
Your team will spend less time managing websites hosted on Pressable, which means your margins for hosting and maintenance packages will be higher.
Choose a WordPress hosting plan today or request more information about our Agency partner program.
Amanda Nadhir
Amanda serves as the Head of Sales and Enablement for Pressable. She's worked in the tech space for well over a decade and has spent the majority of that time building/training/leading teams. She loves travel and adventure and when she's not working, you can find her spending time with her family, lounging pool/beach-side, playing tennis, working out, and meeting people/making friends all along the way!
