How much does a custom-built showcase website cost for an SME?

At Sonho, a custom-built showcase website costs from €2,500 excl. VAT. The exact quote is set after a discovery call, once the number of pages, the features and the search work are defined. What moves the final price above that floor is mostly the number of pages, how much of the architecture is built around search intent, and how much content needs writing from scratch. The difference with a lower price elsewhere comes down to method: the code is written directly for the business at hand, with no purchased theme and no stack of extensions. A showcase website generally takes 4 to 6 weeks to build. That timeline forces the scope to be defined before starting, which avoids the schedule slips common on projects with no initial scoping.

Why can a site with traffic generate no leads at all?

Because traffic and conversion are two different problems, and mixing them up wastes time on the wrong fix. A site can get visitors and stay silent if the design doesn't set the offer apart, if no call to action is visible without scrolling, if loading drags on mobile, if no page targets the area it serves, if the “About” page reassures no one, or if the architecture only covers a handful of search intents. These seven causes come up, almost every time, on SME sites that stall despite regular visits. Check whether the site converts what it already gets before buying more traffic (advertising, paid search). A structured, page-by-page audit usually shows where the buying journey breaks down, before even thinking about acquisition budget.

Is classic SEO still enough to generate leads?

No, not on its own anymore. Google remains the largest traffic source for the vast majority of French sites, but a growing share of searches now go through AI assistants that summarise and directly recommend providers, without ever showing a classic results page. A site built only for traditional SEO risks becoming invisible on this channel as it keeps growing. The criteria that get a page ranked well on Google (clear content, logical structure, fast site) are largely the same ones that make it citable by an AI. Adding direct answers to common questions, structured data and one page per search intent serves both channels at once: it is classic SEO work taken a little further.

How do I know if my site has a conversion problem rather than a traffic problem?

Open your analytics and compare two numbers: the number of sessions and the number of enquiries received (form, call, email) over the last three months. If sessions exist but enquiries stay close to zero, the problem lies in the site's structure. Then check, in a few seconds each, the most common points: is there an action button visible without scrolling on the homepage? Does the site load quickly on mobile, with no noticeable delay before content appears? Does the “About” page show a real face and a real background? Is there a page dedicated to your area? If the answer is no to several of these, fixing the structure will do more for leads than another ad campaign pointed at the same site.

What happens after delivery if I want to edit a page myself?

The goal is for the client to manage everyday content independently after launch: changing a text, a photo, a price, without depending on a support ticket for every minor edit. That principle is set in the initial brief, and sections are coded so the client's team can edit them directly. A short training session is scheduled at launch to show where and how to edit each section, text as well as images. After launch, bugs get a response within one business day, and anything beyond a simple content edit (a new page, a feature) is handled by fixed quote or by ticket, whichever fits the client's volume of requests.

SME website generating no leads: 7 causes and how to fix them

An SME website can stay online for years without ever generating a single lead, and the cause almost always lies in how the site is built. This guide covers the 7 most common causes, with the fix for each.

The short answer

Most SME websites that generate no leads suffer from a problem in how the site is built. Seven causes come up almost every time: a generic design with no differentiation, no clear call to action, a site that's too slow, no local SEO, an “About” page that reassures no one, zero preparation for AI engines, and an incomplete page architecture. Fixing these points turns a passive showcase website into a tool that captures enquiries, without necessarily increasing traffic.

The design looks like every competitor's

The most common move for a busy owner: pick a WordPress theme or a no-code template, swap in the logo and colours, and publish. The result looks like hundreds of other sites in the same industry: the same three-column “Our services” blocks, the same stock photo. A visitor sees just another site like all the others, and leaves.

The fix starts before any mockup, with one question: what sets this business apart from three competitors one click away? Once that answer is clear, the homepage gets built around that positioning, with sections coded for it. That choice also plays out in the technology behind the site: the criteria are covered in this guide.

Visitors can't see what to do next

The decisive moment plays out in a few seconds: the visitor arrives, they're interested, and they look for the next action to take. If they don't immediately find a clear button (“Request a quote”, “Book a call”, “Call the office”), they leave, still interested, because nothing tells them what to do next.

The opposite problem is just as common: pages with five different calls to action (newsletter, social media, contact, PDF brochure, chat) that split attention. The fix is one rule: one goal per page, one button visible without scrolling, one clear promise of what happens after the click. An “Accounting services” page leads to “Request a quote” and nowhere else.

Your site is too slow for visitors to wait

SME sites built on page builders loaded with plugins, uncompressed images and third-party scripts pile up a slowness that costs money, especially on mobile, where patience runs shorter than anywhere else. Google has used Core Web Vitals as a ranking signal since 2021: a slow site loses on two fronts at once, visitors abandoning it and its position in search results.

A site coded directly, without a pile of plugins accumulated over the years, starts with a structural advantage: less code loaded for nothing, fewer requests, fewer dependencies to maintain. On the Payot Property showcase website, built in Next.js, the mobile PageSpeed score reaches 98 for performance, 100 for accessibility and 100 for SEO: speed is decided by the initial technical choice.

The site has no local SEO strategy

A service-based SME lives off its catchment area: a neighbourhood, a town, a precise service radius. If the site never mentions the areas it covers, if the Google Business Profile listing stays incomplete, and if no page is dedicated to a specific town or neighbourhood, it becomes invisible on local searches, often among the most qualified since they come from people already close to deciding.

Local SEO is a structure to maintain, page by page, with content anchored in the area you operate in (neighbourhoods covered, how far you travel, local specifics of the trade). We build it into the site from the start: the details are on /services/seo-aeo-geo.

Your “About” page doesn't reassure anyone

According to the Stanford Web Credibility Project, a large share of visitors judge a company's credibility from the site's structure and presentation before reading a single line of text (source). An “About” page empty of substance, with no face, no history, no proof of skill, leaves the visitor in doubt.

A page that explains who handles the work, for how long, and with what method, turns a stranger into a named point of contact. It's often the most-read page right before someone reaches out, and yet one of the most neglected. A face, a real background and one or two pieces of proof are enough, and the text can stay short.

ChatGPT and other AI engines can't make sense of the site

Classic SEO remains essential, but it's no longer enough on its own. A growing share of searches now go through conversational assistants that summarise, compare and recommend providers without ever returning a list of links. If the site isn't structured to be understood and cited by these tools (clear content, direct answers to common questions, clean semantic structure), it becomes invisible on a channel that keeps carrying more weight.

According to the 2026 Digital Barometer by Arcep and CRÉDOC, 48% of French people surveyed used generative AI in 2025, often before even contacting a provider or comparing offers. The mechanics (indexing, citable answers, third-party mentions) are covered in our guide on ChatGPT visibility.

Whole pages are missing from the site's architecture

An effective showcase website is more than a homepage and a contact form. Every search intent, a specific service, a geographic area, a common question, deserves its own page, built to answer exactly what the visitor is looking for at that moment. Without this granularity, the site only captures searches on the company's own name, never the discovery searches that bring in new leads.

This architecture gets planned before the first mockup screen. We list the industry's actual search intents, then give each one its own page. The method is detailed on /services/site-vitrine.

What we do differently at Sonho

Sonho builds custom showcase websites in 4 to 6 weeks, with a quote set after a discovery call. We use no recycled theme dressed up in the client's colours, no no-code tool and no stack of paid apps. One team handles design, development and search, SEO as well as AEO, from the first brief to launch.

This model doesn't suit every project: the details are in building a professional showcase website in six weeks. For an SME owner, the alternative to hoping traffic improves on its own is to go through these 7 points one by one and find where the site loses leads. The first step is often a 30-minute call via /contact, including when the right answer is to change nothing.

A quote set after the discovery call. The price depends on the number of pages and the search work included.
A hand-coded site. Written for the business, with no purchased theme and no paid extensions slowing the site down over time.
One team, one point of contact. From the first brief to launch, with no handoffs between a salesperson, a project manager and a developer.
Independence after delivery. Sections are designed to be edited without a developer: text, photos, colours, in a few minutes.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a custom-built showcase website cost for an SME?: At Sonho, a custom-built showcase website costs from €2,500 excl. VAT. The exact quote is set after a discovery call, once the number of pages, the features and the search work are defined. What moves the final price above that floor is mostly the number of pages, how much of the architecture is built around search intent, and how much content needs writing from scratch. The difference with a lower price elsewhere comes down to method: the code is written directly for the business at hand, with no purchased theme and no stack of extensions. A showcase website generally takes 4 to 6 weeks to build. That timeline forces the scope to be defined before starting, which avoids the schedule slips common on projects with no initial scoping.
Why can a site with traffic generate no leads at all?: Because traffic and conversion are two different problems, and mixing them up wastes time on the wrong fix. A site can get visitors and stay silent if the design doesn't set the offer apart, if no call to action is visible without scrolling, if loading drags on mobile, if no page targets the area it serves, if the “About” page reassures no one, or if the architecture only covers a handful of search intents. These seven causes come up, almost every time, on SME sites that stall despite regular visits. Check whether the site converts what it already gets before buying more traffic (advertising, paid search). A structured, page-by-page audit usually shows where the buying journey breaks down, before even thinking about acquisition budget.
Is classic SEO still enough to generate leads?: No, not on its own anymore. Google remains the largest traffic source for the vast majority of French sites, but a growing share of searches now go through AI assistants that summarise and directly recommend providers, without ever showing a classic results page. A site built only for traditional SEO risks becoming invisible on this channel as it keeps growing. The criteria that get a page ranked well on Google (clear content, logical structure, fast site) are largely the same ones that make it citable by an AI. Adding direct answers to common questions, structured data and one page per search intent serves both channels at once: it is classic SEO work taken a little further.
How do I know if my site has a conversion problem rather than a traffic problem?: Open your analytics and compare two numbers: the number of sessions and the number of enquiries received (form, call, email) over the last three months. If sessions exist but enquiries stay close to zero, the problem lies in the site's structure. Then check, in a few seconds each, the most common points: is there an action button visible without scrolling on the homepage? Does the site load quickly on mobile, with no noticeable delay before content appears? Does the “About” page show a real face and a real background? Is there a page dedicated to your area? If the answer is no to several of these, fixing the structure will do more for leads than another ad campaign pointed at the same site.
What happens after delivery if I want to edit a page myself?: The goal is for the client to manage everyday content independently after launch: changing a text, a photo, a price, without depending on a support ticket for every minor edit. That principle is set in the initial brief, and sections are coded so the client's team can edit them directly. A short training session is scheduled at launch to show where and how to edit each section, text as well as images. After launch, bugs get a response within one business day, and anything beyond a simple content edit (a new page, a feature) is handled by fixed quote or by ticket, whichever fits the client's volume of requests.