How it is currently

Developing a website can cost a lot and many people thinking of launching their business underestimate this cost. The result? They end up getting cheap websites from Fiverr that, instead of driving customers towards them, drive them away. What happens next? They give up on the greatest way of getting customers, the Internet.

It’s crazy how in 2021, there are still local businesses with no website. You may wonder why is that? The answer is simple, lack of budget. A local business does not always make millions a year and does it have the funds to build a suitable professional website? Absolutely not. The idea of WaaS solves all their problems.

Many people think about their website as a product they buy and let it float there for clients to find. Wiser people know the importance of having a website so they buy one (or develop it if they have the skills to do so) and then subscribe to a service that offers maintenance and marketing for it. The problem with the latest approach is the initial cost of the website that not everyone has. WaaS solves all of that.

But what is WaaS?

WaaS, or Website as a Service, is the idea of “buying” a website not as a product but as a service instead. What’s the difference, you may ask. Well, the difference is the starting cost, when you subscribe to a Website as a service, you don’t need the initial $12k – $500k to build it. All you need is to “start your subscription”. Of course, most WaaS providers require you to sign contracts of a certain length to cover their development and design charges, but that is completely normal otherwise people would simply buy for a month and get a website for a couple of hundred dollars.

You may have heard about SaaS, which is the same but very popular concept for software-based applications. Instead of having to pay hundreds (sometimes thousands) of dollars for software such as Office 2021, you pay the Office365 subscription that gives you access to all future updates. I remember when I first came across Unity3d in 2013. If you wanted to buy the best game engine, you had to pay a one-time fee of $1500USD. With the purchase, they offered software updates for a year. After that, you would need to buy the engine again to stay up to date. Today, they completely changed their way of marketing their software. The company now offers subscriptions of 75$ per month and realized that nobody bought the one-time fee option, so they removed it.

Why is it the future of Web Development?

It’s simple. Instead of paying a large amount of money for a website then pay maintenance fees, you basically just pay the maintenance fees and get the website for free with unlimited upgrades on it. It’s amazing how that simple formula will change the way we make websites.

This will help people who:

• have low starting budget;
• want a professional website that might change or expand in the future;
• are used to SaaS services such as Shopify or Wix.

The idea is still new and Wikipedia does not even have a page for it at the time this article is being written. Will people get used to it? It all depends on us and how it is adopted. Service providers must do their best to offer the most appealing and professional services to their clients. No new service or technology succeeded in its launch so adjustments will be needed. At Novem, we open the path to this technology and hope others will join us!

What do you get with WaaS?

So what more do you end up getting? A subscription means you get what you are paying for as long as you are paying for it. That means that your website is never in its final state, you want to update it, you can – at least at Novem. Want to add a new page to your website, it’s part of the service. Want your blog articles to be written for you, it’s often offered too. Of course, support is part of the agreement and it makes it so easy when you face a crash or a bug on your website when you have a team of professionals to count on.

Here’s what you commonly get from current WaaS providers

• Website Building
• A certain number of initial pages
• Domain
• Hosting
• Logo designs (when the company is known)
• SEO
• Some hours of updates
• A number of blog article written by the team
• A number of updates (unlimited at Novem)
• Control over your website depending on the plans you choose
• Maintenance
• Full Support

Let’s be honest here, you eventually end up paying more money than a one-time fee, but you are getting a lot more than just a website, you get unlimited upgrades on it and a lot of other advantages. And don’t forget that you’re actually paying just a bit more than maintenance. The service provider takes care of your website while you take care of your business. This ensures your greater success and your peace of mind.

Something to add ?

Please let me know in the comments what are your thoughts about WaaS. What could we add to the long list of features included in each package? What do you want to know more about?