Web Agencies & Freelancers in France: Results of Our 2024 Study

In 2024, France’s web agencies and freelancers had to constantly adapt their strategies to keep up with the ever-changing digital market. Weglot and WP Umbrella have partnered to analyze these dynamics, revealing trends about processes, organization, working practices, and challenges faced by web professionals. Here are the key takeaways from this study.

Organization of Agencies and Freelancers: Adapting to the Market

Agencies tend to have a longer track record, with many operating for several years. Their teams are often small, focusing on delivering a personalized approach, ensuring flexibility and better responsiveness to client needs.

An increasing number of web experts are turning to freelancing, demonstrating an adaptability that allows them to quickly meet the specific demands of their clients.

Remote work has become the new norm, with a large majority of professionals working from home. This shift, accelerated by recent developments, has transformed how agencies and freelancers manage their projects and communicate with clients, allowing for greater flexibility in their daily operations.

Work Methods and Client Relations: Towards Easier Collaboration

Project management approaches differ between agencies and freelancers, with agencies often managing a higher volume of projects. However, this distinction is fading as freelancers increasingly collaborate with each other or agencies, forming ad hoc teams to address complex requirements.

Website maintenance remains a core service for both freelancers and agencies. However, freelancers distinguish themselves through consulting services, taking a more strategic approach to supporting clients, especially small businesses and entrepreneurs.

AI: A Nearly Daily Tool for All

Artificial intelligence has become an essential tool for web professionals, used to automate repetitive tasks, optimize SEO, translate projects, and improve user experience. AI is now integrated into the daily practices of many agencies and freelancers, demonstrating a commitment to staying at the forefront of emerging technologies and enhancing efficiency. This adoption of AI is evident across both agencies and freelancers.

Results and Trajectories of Agencies and Freelancers

In 2024, France’s web agency and freelancer sector has experienced moderate growth compared to previous years. While most agencies continue to grow, fewer report significant expansion than in 2022. Freelancers face a similar trend, with a slight drop in those identifying as expanding. This slowdown is linked to economic uncertainty, rising competition, and a gradually saturating market.

Revenue disparities between agencies and freelancers remain notable. Agencies often surpass €100,000 annually, while most freelancers earn under €50,000, reflecting smaller-scale projects and lower pricing. Despite this, freelancers demonstrate resilience by maintaining stable activity despite market fluctuations and quickly adapting to evolving client demands.

Project Pricing: Clear Price Gaps Between Agencies and Freelancers

Web project pricing continues to vary significantly between agencies and freelancers, depending on the complexity and scale of the work. For a showcase website, agencies generally charge higher amounts, with most pricing between €5,000 and €20,000. This pricing reflects a more comprehensive service offering and deeper involvement in meeting client needs.

Freelancers, on the other hand, offer more affordable rates, typically between €2,500 and €10,000, suited to small businesses and individual entrepreneurs. The lower rate is due to their reduced operational costs and a lighter structure, enabling them to remain competitive on smaller-scale projects.

However, with the evolving needs and expectations of clients, prices are generally trending upward compared to previous years, both for showcase sites and e-commerce projects.

When it comes to billing, the majority of agencies and freelancers prefer a fixed pricing model per project, offering clients better cost predictability and an easier time securing partnerships. Freelancers, in particular, favor this model due to the occasional nature of their work.

Internationalization: A Strategic Opportunity

While most clients are based in France, a growing number of professionals are expanding internationally to diversify their portfolios and access new markets. Tools like Weglot make this easier by simplifying the multilingual management of websites, a key asset for reaching a global audience.

CMS, Builders, Fleet Management: Favorite Tools for Agencies and Freelancers

WordPress remains by far the most widely used CMS largely due to its flexibility and vast ecosystem of plugins. Among page builders, Elementor dominates, followed by Gutenberg and Divi, allowing site creators to design custom interfaces without deep coding knowledge.

For these WordPress users, the most commonly used fleet management solution is WP Umbrella.

Web professionals also rely on third-party solutions, mainly for digital marketing, SEO, and translation, with many working with Weglot.

Client Acquisition: The Daily Challenge for Web Professionals

Finding new clients is the biggest challenge for both agencies and freelancers. Fiercer competition from freelance platforms and the global market pushes web professionals to diversify their outreach strategies. For agencies, managing time and resources is equally critical, especially when juggling multiple projects at once.

Visibility and marketing remain challenges, especially for freelancers competing with more established players. Specialized tools like Weglot for multilingual translation and WP Umbrella for site maintenance are becoming essential for boosting their value and standing out.

The 2024 trends study highlights a fast-changing web sector. Here, agencies and freelancers must innovate while being flexible in rapidly-moving market conditions stay competitive. Adopting new technologies and diversifying services are essential here, with tools like Weglot and WP Umbrella allowing professionals to optimize their operations and prepare to face the challenges of an increasingly demanding market.

To conduct this study, we gathered responses from 156 individuals. 34% were agencies, and 66% were freelancers. This study was aimed at French freelancers and agency members, and the survey was publicly accessible. However, we noticed that respondents are primarily linked to WordPress, due to the Weglot and WP Umbrella community.