How much does a business website cost in France?

Three ways to get a website, three budgets

There are three routes. They suit different situations, and that explains most of the price gap.

• Build it yourself with an online site builder. You pay a subscription and, above all, your own time. It works for testing a business idea or keeping a simple page. The limit: search visibility, speed and polish depend on what you know how to set up.
• Hire a freelancer or a small agency. You pay a fixed-price service, with one contact who designs, writes or edits, then publishes. This is the most common route for a shop, a tradesperson or an independent professional.
• Have it custom-built. This makes sense for specific features: complex booking, a client area, a large catalogue. The budget then moves to another scale.

Averages quoted online vary widely because they do not compare like with like. Compare scopes, not prices.

What really drives the price

• The number of pages. A home page, a services page and a contact page are not the same job as a ten-page site with different layouts.
• Copy and photos. If you supply them ready to use, the price drops. If they have to be written, reworked or shot, that is billable time. This is often the underestimated item.
• Design. A template adapted to your colours costs less than a layout designed for you.
• Search basics. Titles, descriptions, page structure, loading speed: a site can look good and still be invisible on Google if this work is skipped.
• Features. Contact form, booking, an English version, analytics: each feature adds up.
• Rounds of changes. The number of included revisions changes the price. Written into the quote, it also prevents bad surprises.

The costs that come back every year

The build price is not the total cost. A live website has running costs, which should be in writing before you sign.

• The domain name, renewed every year. It should be registered in your name, not your provider’s.
• Hosting, billed monthly or yearly depending on the plan.
• Maintenance: updates, backups, monitoring. Without it, a site ages and eventually becomes a security problem.
• Changes: a new page, new opening hours, a new service. Either you make them yourself or they are billed.

At White Nova, hosting is not included in the website price unless the quote says otherwise, and maintenance starts at €49 per month.

A worked example: White Nova’s three tiers

To give a verifiable reference point, here are the published prices for the Website offer. These are net prices: VAT not applicable under art. 293 B of the French tax code.

These prices match the standard scope. A quote confirms the final scope, and online shops are not part of it.

Seven questions to ask before you sign

1. How many pages are included, and which ones?
2. Who writes the copy and who supplies the photos?
3. How many rounds of revisions are included?
4. Will the domain name and the accounts be in my name?
5. What will hosting and maintenance cost after launch?
6. Will I be able to edit a text or opening hours myself?
7. If we stop working together, do I keep the site?

The mistakes that cost the most

• Choosing on the build price alone, without looking at yearly costs.
• Renting your site without realising it. Some monthly plans are rentals: when the contract ends, the site goes away. That is fine as long as it is clear from the start.
• Forgetting the legal requirements: legal notice, personal data, cookies. They are covered in the legal requirements guide.
• Neglecting your Google listing. For a local business it matters as much as the website. See the Google Business Profile guide.