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

At Sonho, a custom-built showcase website starts at €4,500 excl. VAT, and a complete site with several pages, search work and an architecture built around search intent generally runs between €6,500 and €12,000 excl. VAT. The exact quote is set after a discovery call, once the number of pages, the features and the search work are defined: never a generic package applied blindly. The difference with a lower price elsewhere comes down to method: no theme bought then dressed up in the client's colours, no stack of extensions, the code is written directly for the business at hand. A showcase website generally takes four to six weeks to build. That timeline isn't a shortcut: it 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. The right move isn't to buy more traffic (advertising, paid search) before checking whether the site converts what it already gets. 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 good news: 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 isn't separate work from classic SEO, it's the same 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 is structural, not a lack of visibility. 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's a principle set from the initial brief, not an option added afterwards. Sections are coded to be edited directly by the client's team, not just delivered “nice-looking” then frozen after launch. A short training session is scheduled at launch to show where and how to edit each section, text as well as images. For anything beyond a simple content edit (a new page, a feature), bugs after launch get a response within 48 hours, and bigger changes are 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 it's almost never a matter of luck or traffic. Here are the 7 most common structural causes, with the concrete fix for each.

The short answer

Most SME websites that generate no leads suffer from a structural problem, not a lack of traffic. 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.

Your design doesn't set your SME apart from its competitors

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 never thinks “this firm looks different”, they think “just another site like all the others”, and they leave.

The fix doesn't start with a new mockup: it starts with answering a simple question, what actually 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, not stacked from a generic template. That choice also plays out in the technology behind the site: the criteria are covered in this guide.

Your site has no clear call to action

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, not for lack of interest but for lack of knowing 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 dilute attention instead of focusing it. The fix is one simple 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”, not to five competing destinations.

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 real 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, not tuned in afterwards.

Your 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 isn't a box to tick once and forget: it's 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). It's work built directly into the site from the start, not bolted on afterwards: 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. And doubt kills conversion more reliably than a high price.

By contrast, 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, one or two concrete pieces of proof are enough: no need for a long text, just a true one.

Your site isn't prepared for ChatGPT and other AI engines

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.

This isn't a distant threat: roughly 44% of working French adults already use generative AI (source: francenum.gouv.fr), often before even contacting a provider or comparing offers. The concrete mechanics, indexing, citable answers, third-party mentions, are covered in our guide on ChatGPT visibility.

Your site has an incomplete page 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.

Building this architecture takes upfront thinking, before the first mockup screen, not pages added over the years with no overall plan. It's work done systematically before coding the first section: listing the industry's actual search intents, then giving each one its own page. The method is detailed on /services/site-vitrine.

What we do differently at Sonho

We built Sonho around one simple principle: a custom-built showcase website, delivered in four to six weeks, with a quote set after a discovery call. No recycled theme dressed up in the client's colours, no no-code tool, 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. But the question stays the same for every SME owner: keep hoping traffic improves on its own, or go through these 7 points one by one to 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, never a generic package applied blindly.
A hand-coded site. No theme bought then dressed up, no stack of paid extensions that slow 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 starts at €4,500 excl. VAT, and a complete site with several pages, search work and an architecture built around search intent generally runs between €6,500 and €12,000 excl. VAT. The exact quote is set after a discovery call, once the number of pages, the features and the search work are defined: never a generic package applied blindly. The difference with a lower price elsewhere comes down to method: no theme bought then dressed up in the client's colours, no stack of extensions, the code is written directly for the business at hand. A showcase website generally takes four to six weeks to build. That timeline isn't a shortcut: it 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. The right move isn't to buy more traffic (advertising, paid search) before checking whether the site converts what it already gets. 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 good news: 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 isn't separate work from classic SEO, it's the same 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 is structural, not a lack of visibility. 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's a principle set from the initial brief, not an option added afterwards. Sections are coded to be edited directly by the client's team, not just delivered “nice-looking” then frozen after launch. A short training session is scheduled at launch to show where and how to edit each section, text as well as images. For anything beyond a simple content edit (a new page, a feature), bugs after launch get a response within 48 hours, and bigger changes are handled by fixed quote or by ticket, whichever fits the client's volume of requests.