Quick answer: a business website that brings in clients needs four things. It must load in under 3 seconds on mobile, say in one sentence what you do and for whom, lead visitors to a clear action (WhatsApp, quote or booking) and be structured to be found on Google and recommended by AI tools such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. After launch, a low cost monthly maintenance plan keeps all of this working. Agencies and development companies in Brazil charge, on average, from BRL 3k (landing page) to BRL 20k (full corporate website), with a timeline of 2 to 8 weeks.
Many companies have a website that simply exists. It was built years ago, nobody remembers the password, it does not show up on Google and, when someone does land on it, they do not know what to do next. In practice, it works like a business card forgotten in a drawer. This guide shows the difference between a website that takes up space and one that generates clients, based on the projects we build at Salto Solutions.
Why your business still needs a website (even with Instagram and WhatsApp)
Social media and WhatsApp are great for relationships, but they are rented land. The algorithm decides how many people see your content, accounts can be suspended without notice and a profile does not show up when someone searches Google for what you sell. A website is the only digital channel that is 100% yours.
- People who search on Google are ready to buy: someone searching for "guesthouse in Cardoso" or "accountant in Campinas" has clear intent. If your business does not show up, your competitor does.
- AI is the new storefront: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews recommend businesses based on content they can read. An Instagram profile does not feed those answers; a well structured website does.
- No middleman commission: booking platforms and marketplaces charge fees that can reach 20% per sale. A website that sends clients straight to your WhatsApp removes that cost.
- Credibility: before closing a deal, clients do their research. A professional website with company registration, cases and clear information reduces distrust and speeds up the decision.
What type of website does your business need?
Not every business needs the same website. Choosing the right format avoids paying for pages nobody visits or, at the other extreme, having a website that is too small for what the business needs.
- Landing page (single page): ideal for a specific service, a launch or ad campaigns. One page focused on a single action, such as requesting a quote.
- Corporate website: the most common format for service companies, B2B, clinics, firms and hospitality. It presents the company, its services, proof of results and contact channels.
- Website with a blog or content portal: for businesses that want to grow through organic search over the long term. Every article is a new entry point on Google for your clients' real questions.
- Website with features (web app): when the website needs to do more than inform, such as receiving applications, bookings, sign ups, simulations or offering a client area.
What a professional website needs to generate clients
Good design is the bare minimum. What separates a website that sells from a decorative one are the items below, which work as a checklist when hiring a developer or reviewing your current website.
1. Real mobile speed
According to data published by Google on Think with Google, 53% of mobile visits are abandoned when a page takes longer than 3 seconds to load. Speed is also a ranking factor. On the websites we build, the goal is to load in under 1 second on any smartphone, with lean code and optimized images.
2. A clear message in the first 5 seconds
Visitors need to understand immediately what you do, for whom and why they should choose you. Generic phrases like "excellence in solutions" do not sell. Clarity sells.
3. An obvious path to contact
A WhatsApp button with a prefilled message, a short form and calls to action spread throughout the page. Every extra click between interest and conversation is one client less.
4. Technical SEO from the ground up
A unique title and description for each page, readable URLs, semantic HTML, a sitemap, structured data (Schema.org) and Google Search Console setup. Fixing this later costs more than doing it right from the start.
5. Ready for AI search (GEO)
Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) ensures that ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity can read and cite your website. It involves content delivered as plain HTML (not dependent on JavaScript to appear), direct answers to common questions, structured data and files such as llms.txt.
6. Real proof
Cases, original photos, testimonials, numbers and official seals. Generic stock images send the opposite message: that there is nothing real to show.
7. Measurement
Without analytics, you do not know where visitors come from or how many clicked on WhatsApp. A professional website is born tracking the actions that matter to the business.
8. Full ownership
The domain should be registered under your company and you need access to the code and hosting. A website locked to a vendor or platform is a risk many businesses only discover when they try to switch partners.
Wix, WordPress with a template or a custom website?
There is no single answer; there is the right choice for each stage of the business.
- Website builders (Wix, Squarespace and similar): good for getting started on an almost zero budget. Limitations show up over time: lower performance, recurring monthly fees, limited SEO control and no ownership of the code.
- WordPress with a ready made theme: flexible and popular, but it tends to pile up plugins, which slows the website down and demands constant security updates. Many "cheap" websites become heavy for exactly this reason.
- Custom website: lean code, exclusive design, maximum speed and SEO and GEO built into the architecture. The upfront investment is higher, but maintenance costs less, because there are fewer parts that can break, and the website ages more slowly.
A cheap website nobody can find is the most expensive website there is: you pay for it and it gives nothing back.
How much does a professional website cost in 2026?
The figures below are the average charged by agencies and development companies across Brazil and serve as a reference for comparing proposals. They vary with scope, number of pages, content production and integrations:
- Professional landing page: BRL 3,000 to BRL 8,000, delivered in 2 to 3 weeks.
- Custom corporate website (5 to 10 pages): BRL 8,000 to BRL 20,000, delivered in 4 to 6 weeks.
- Website with a blog and SEO strategy: BRL 15,000 to BRL 40,000, delivered in 6 to 10 weeks.
- Website with features (bookings, client area, integrations): from BRL 25,000. For this kind of project, see our guide on how much it costs to build a custom app or platform.
Besides development, consider recurring costs: a .com.br domain (around BRL 40 per year at Registro.br), hosting (BRL 30 to BRL 150 per month for most corporate websites) and a maintenance plan, explained below.
What makes a project more expensive: copywriting and photography, versions in more than one language, integrations with other systems and migrating an old website while keeping its Google rankings (with properly configured 301 redirects).
And at Salto? These numbers reflect what the market usually charges, including the overhead of a traditional agency. At Salto, you talk directly to the person who plans and builds your website, with no account management layers and no handoffs between teams. That allows us to deliver differentiated work, with an investment adjusted to the reality of your business. See how this closeness works ↓
Maintenance: the low cost that protects your investment
A website is not a project that ends at launch. Without maintenance, it degrades silently: the security certificate expires, the contact form stops sending messages, an outdated library opens the door to attacks, a link breaks and nobody notices. Google notices, and starts showing the website less prominently, and so do clients, who give up halfway.
That is why we recommend that every website has a low cost monthly maintenance plan covering four areas:
- Bug fixing: any error found is fixed quickly, before it costs you clients.
- Component updates: libraries, dependencies and server always on secure versions, with no build up of technical debt.
- Integrity checks: monitoring of uptime, speed, SSL certificate, backups, broken links and errors reported by Google Search Console.
- Content updates: new copy, photos, prices, services and cases published without you having to touch anything.
This is where the choice of technology makes a difference to your budget. A custom website with lean code has few parts that can break, so it costs little to maintain. A website built on dozens of plugins needs constant updates, and each one is a risk of something breaking.
An example of our own: during a routine check on the Salto blog itself, we found internal links that had broken after a change in the page structure. No visitor had complained, but every broken link is a negative signal for Google. The fix took minutes. Without the check, the problem would have stayed live for months.
How long does it take to build a website?
A custom corporate website takes, on average, 4 to 6 weeks, split into four phases:
- Discovery (1 week): understanding the business, the audience, competitors and the words your clients use when searching.
- Strategy and content (1 to 2 weeks): page architecture, persuasive copy and an SEO plan.
- Design and development (2 to 3 weeks): exclusive layout, coding, speed optimization and testing on different devices.
- Launch and indexing (a few days): domain, hosting, Search Console, analytics and submission for indexing.
Real examples of websites we have built
A few projects that show, in practice, what this guide stands for:
Clients
HospitalityRancho em CardosoA high end website that loads in under 1 second and sends bookings straight to WhatsApp, with no platform commissions.View case →
Education and social impactInstituto TrampolimAn institutional portal with mobile scholarship applications and a section for supporting companies. In partnership with the ZMES agency.View case →
Content portalAquele DropMore than 500 pages with organic presence on Google and Bing, supported by ongoing SEO and a dedicated server.View case →
Web appVote CertoAn ultra fast civic tool with no sign up, built to handle traffic spikes on election day.View case →Besides client projects, Salto builds and runs its own digital products. In other words, everything we recommend in this guide is tested first in our own business.
Own products
TourismTurista Por AíStays and itineraries across inland Brazil, with a smart trip planner and direct contact with hosts, without 15% to 20% commissions.View project →
AI SaaSProLeapAI powered LinkedIn profile diagnosis: a score and an action plan in minutes, no sign up and a one time payment.View project →The Salto Solutions website itself, the one you are reading, follows the same recipe: lightweight static code, a complete Portuguese and English version, structured data and content prepared for search engines and AI.
Closeness: how Salto works with each client
Salto Solutions is led by Erick Inoue, with more than a decade of experience in digital strategy and website development at major players such as General Motors (Chevrolet and Cadillac), DM9DDB and Dentsu. Unlike a traditional agency, there are no layers of account management: you talk directly to the person who plans, designs and builds your website, from the first diagnosis to maintenance.
- Direct conversation, no middlemen: questions and adjustments are handled by someone who knows your project end to end, including over WhatsApp.
- Nothing gets lost along the way: the person who builds your website is the one who listened to you during the diagnosis. No briefing passed from hand to hand.
- Investment where it matters: no account manager and no agency overhead built into the budget. Your money goes into the website.
- Ongoing partnership: after launch, maintenance and evolution are handled by the person who built the website and knows every detail of it.
Every project goes through three moves:
- Diagnosis: we understand how your clients search, what your competitors do and where your current website is missing opportunities.
- Strategy: we define the pages, messages and keywords that will attract the right client.
- Execution and scale: design, development, launch and results tracking, with continuous adjustments driven by data.
After launch, the maintenance plan keeps the website secure, fast and up to date for a low monthly fee. You get a fast website that is truly yours and built to sell, not just to exist.
Segment guides
Each type of business has its own priorities. These guides go deeper into what a website needs in each segment:
Frequently asked questions about business websites
Do I need a website if I already have Instagram?
Yes. Instagram helps with relationships, but it does not show up in Google searches for what you sell and it is not read by the AI tools that recommend businesses. A website is the channel you control and it works for you 24 hours a day.
How long does it take for my website to show up on Google?
With a well structured website submitted to Google Search Console, indexing usually happens within days. Top positions for competitive terms generally take 3 to 6 months and come faster with useful content published regularly.
How much does it cost to keep a website running?
Besides the domain and hosting, we recommend a low cost monthly maintenance plan covering fixes, component updates, integrity checks and content updates. Custom websites with lean code are the cheapest to maintain.
Will I be able to update the content myself?
In most cases you will not need to: content updates are already part of the maintenance plan, just ask. If your business needs to publish very often, we build a custom editing panel for text, images and blog posts.
Will the website and domain be in my name?
Yes. The domain is registered under your company and you have access to the code and hosting. Nothing is locked to Salto.
Do you build websites in Portuguese and English?
Yes. We build bilingual websites with the correct technical structure (hreflang and native URLs in each language) to rank both in Brazil and abroad.
Ready for a website that brings in clients?
If your current website does not show up on Google, loads slowly or does not generate leads, or if your business does not have one yet, let's talk. Explore our On-Demand Solutions service, see the cases we have delivered or get in touch with Salto for a diagnosis of what your website needs to deliver results.