Custom web development: fast, search-friendly websites
Custom web development means coding a website from your actual requirements rather than adapting a purchased theme. Budget €900 to €1,500 for an essential build, €1,500 to €5,000 for a custom brochure site and €4,500 to €13,000 for e-commerce, with three to eight weeks of delivery. You own the code. Firm quote within 24 hours.
What custom web development actually means
A custom website is written line by line from your specification instead of being assembled on a bought theme or a visual page builder. Page structure, features, design and code are shaped around your business rather than adapted from a template designed for everyone.
The difference shows up in three places. Performance first: a custom site ships only the code it needs, where a WordPress theme carries dozens of features you will never switch on. Search visibility next: clean HTML structure, structured data, sub-second loading. Room to grow last: adding a client area, an accounting integration or a booking funnel does not mean stacking plugins that eventually fight each other.
This way of building suits companies whose website is a commercial tool rather than a business card, and agencies that outsource production. If your need is five presentation pages with no particular constraint, WordPress remains a perfectly reasonable answer — and we will tell you so.
What we build
Every project starts from a written, signed-off specification. You own the code and the repositories on delivery, with no subscription and no dependency on our studio.
Brochure and corporate websites
Five to twenty pages built for conversion: search-ready structure, qualified forms, content you can edit without us. Delivered in three to five weeks.
Custom e-commerce
Catalogue, cart, Stripe or headless Shopify checkout, order and stock management, invoicing. For catalogues with real business-specific rules.
Platforms and client portals
Authenticated areas: case tracking, document upload, dashboards, roles and permissions. The line where a website becomes a web application.
Campaign landing pages
Conversion pages for Google Ads or LinkedIn: instant loading, A/B testing, conversion tracking wired into your analytics.
Website redesign
Taking over a slow or dated site: new architecture, content migration, page-by-page 301 redirects so you keep the rankings you already earned.
Maintenance and iterations
Security updates, backups, fixes and new features as you need them, on a monthly contract or on demand.
How much does a custom website cost?
Price depends on the number of page templates, the features and the depth of design work. These are our real ranges, set against French market rates. Amounts are in euros excluding tax, for a project delivered to production.
| Service | French agency | French freelancer | Externalize |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essential brochure website (4–5 pages) | 2 000 – 5 000 € | 1 200 – 3 000 € | 900 – 1 500 € |
| Custom brochure website (5–8 pages) | 6 000 – 15 000 € | 3 000 – 8 000 € | 1 500 – 5 000 € |
| Custom e-commerce website | 15 000 – 40 000 € | 8 000 – 20 000 € | 4 500 – 13 000 € |
| Website redesign | 5 000 – 20 000 € | 2 500 – 10 000 € | 1 500 – 6 000 € |
| Monthly maintenance | 300 – 1 500 €/month | 150 – 600 €/month | 90 – 400 €/month |
These ranges cover design, development, testing and go-live. Copywriting and photography are optional extras. Request a firm quote within 24 hours.
Our five-step process
- 1
Scoping and specification
One or two video workshops to understand your business, your audience and your constraints. We produce a costed specification stating exactly what is in scope and what is not. That document governs the whole project.
- 2
Wireframes and sign-off
Wireframes, then Figma mockups of every template, desktop and mobile. You approve screen by screen before a single line of code: fixing a mockup costs hours, fixing a built site costs days.
- 3
Development in batches
We ship in one to two week batches, with a staging URL available at all times. You watch progress live and flag gaps as they appear rather than at the end.
- 4
Testing and optimisation
Testing on real browsers and real phones, form checks, Core Web Vitals and technical SEO: tags, structured data, sitemap, redirects.
- 5
Go-live and handover
Deployment, hosting and Search Console setup, repository transfer and training on the admin interface. Monthly maintenance afterwards if you want it.
Technologies we use
We work with the same stack as leading European studios. Nothing proprietary: any competent agency can take over maintenance.
Why a team in Madagascar?
Our studio is in Antananarivo. Madagascar sits at GMT+3, one to two hours ahead of Western Europe depending on the season, so working days overlap almost entirely. You call at 10am and we are there; a fix requested at the end of your day is handled the next morning.
The team works in French and English. For European clients that removes the translation layer on content, interface copy and acceptance testing — the single biggest practical difference with an offshore team several time zones away.
Then there is cost. Local living costs let us charge 50 to 70 percent less than a Western European agency at the same level of seniority. You are not paying for less experience, you are paying for lower overheads.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a custom site and WordPress?
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How long does a custom website take?
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Do I really own the site?
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Do you handle hosting and maintenance?
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Do you work with agencies?
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Can you take over a site built by someone else?
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Ready to outsource your next software project?
Web app, internal tool or website — tell us about your project and get a free quote within 24 hours. Offshore rates, senior-level quality, no commitment.