Prospecting among the websites that need you means, for a web agency or a freelance developer, finding businesses whose website has measurable flaws, then writing to them through the contact form on that same website, citing those flaws. The message does not sell “a new website” in general: it starts from a finding the recipient can check for themselves in a few seconds.
murmur equips both steps: finding the websites and their forms, then turning their flaws into a message. As of 26 October 2026, its database holds 25,212,171 active, verified websites and 4,689,755 confirmed contact or quote forms. This page explains the method, shows an example message and gives the figures that matter to an agency.
Why is finding clients so hard for a web agency?
Your network, referrals and past clients keep an agency going, but none of them can be switched on at will: enquiries arrive when they arrive. Freelance marketplaces turn the problem around without solving it: the demand exists, but it is already written up, public, and every provider answers it at the same time as everyone else.
manc&dandy, which has spent twelve years finding clients for creative agencies in the UK, describes the vicious circle: new business rests on the founder, so it only happens when the order book empties, which is the worst possible moment.
That leaves direct outreach, which runs into two questions: who to write to, and why. A generic message (“your website deserves better”) tells the recipient nothing. A precise finding, measured on their own website, gives them a reason to read on.
How do you spot a website that needs rebuilding?
murmur’s technical analysis looks at a website’s homepage and records four findings. Each can be checked from the outside, without access to the site’s back office, and each matches work an agency knows how to do.
1. A mobile PageSpeed score below 50
PageSpeed Insights (Google, accessed 26 October 2026) scores a page’s performance from 0 to 100 on mobile. Below 50 the score shows in red, the lowest band on its scale: a sign of a page that is slow to load on a phone. The score is only cited when a measurement could be taken.
2. No H1 heading
The H1 is a page’s main heading in its HTML code. Without one, neither search engines nor screen readers get a clear signal of what the page is about. The fix is quick; you just need to know it is missing.
3. No viewport tag
The viewport tag tells a phone’s browser to fit the page to the width of the screen. Without it, a page may display as it would on a computer, scaled down. It is a technical signal, not proof: check the actual display on a phone before raising it with the business.
4. No legal notice or privacy policy
Neither a link to a legal notice nor one to a privacy policy was found on the page. For the business, it is a compliance point worth checking; for an agency, it is a simple fix and an argument that is easy to grasp.
These findings cover only the page analysed: they are not a complete website audit. They open the conversation; they do not close it.
What does a message built on these findings look like?
You tick the findings your message should mention; the message draws only on those. Here is the example shown on the Personalisation page, for a fictional website with two findings selected:
Hello,
While looking at your homepage, I noticed the following points:
- The mobile PageSpeed test returned a score of 36/100 for the analysed page.
- No H1 heading was found on the analysed page.
I’m a web developer. Would you like me to suggest the priority fixes for this page?
In a real campaign, each message is written for one business, in its language, from the findings recorded on its own website. It carries your name and your reply address, and replies come straight to you. Before launch, you review real examples and adjust the approach; a follow-up comes after the first message.
How many businesses can an agency target?
As of 26 October 2026, murmur’s database contains:
- 25,212,171 active, verified websites worldwide;
- 4,689,755 confirmed contact or quote forms, across 24,388,970 websites analysed so far;
- 3,437,728 businesses listed in France (geolocated establishment listings).
In France, the 2,890,151 listings whose address includes a postcode break down as follows across the top eight regions:
| Region | Listings | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Île-de-France | 442,029 | 15.3% |
| Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes | 408,376 | 14.1% |
| Occitanie | 320,349 | 11.1% |
| Nouvelle-Aquitaine | 316,633 | 11.0% |
| Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur | 301,695 | 10.4% |
| Grand Est | 206,397 | 7.1% |
| Hauts-de-France | 187,407 | 6.5% |
| Pays de la Loire | 170,686 | 5.9% |
On the trade side, six of the ten most frequent activity codes (NAF) among French listings matched to a SIRENE establishment are local shops and services:
| Activity (NAF code) | Listings |
|---|---|
| Traditional restaurants (56.10A) | 35,317 |
| Fast-food restaurants (56.10C) | 24,939 |
| Hairdressing (96.02A) | 22,660 |
| Beauty care (96.02B) | 20,333 |
| Estate agencies (68.31Z) | 16,636 |
| Maintenance and repair of light motor vehicles (45.20A) | 14,529 |
These counts do not yet say how many of these websites score below 50 on mobile or have a confirmed form: forms are not yet published by country or by trade. The 2026 contact forms study sets out the method and what comes next.
What is the “20 websites to rebuild” sample?
Before committing, you can ask murmur for a sample: twenty business websites from a trade or an area you choose (roofers in one département, osteopaths in one town…), ranked from most to least degraded.
For each website, the sample shows:
- a desktop screenshot and a mobile screenshot;
- the findings recorded by the analysis;
- where the business is located.
The first five websites are identified, name and link included. For the other fifteen, the audit, screenshots and location remain visible but the name and link are withheld: you judge the quality of the targeting on your own market before any campaign. The sample contains no Google rating, reviews, email address or phone number.
To request one, go to the Get started page and say which trade or area interests you.
What does it cost, and how do you start?
Your first 600 contacts are free, follow-up included, no credit card required; during the launch offer, the trial has no time limit. After that, four monthly plans with no commitment:
| Plan | Credits per month | Monthly price excl. VAT |
|---|---|---|
| Starter | 300 | €89 |
| Standard | 1,000 | €289 |
| Pro | 2,600 | €689 |
| Scale | 4,600 | €989 |
Each contact uses between 0.1 and 3 credits depending on the segment of the target business. The cost is shown before launch, and credits are only debited on proof of sending: a message whose submission is not established is not charged. Details are on the Pricing page.
On the platform, France is open today and the United Kingdom will be the next country. To prospect elsewhere, murmur agency prepares and runs the campaigns, on a custom quote. To begin: Get started.
Case study: manc&dandy, an agency that finds clients for agencies
manc&dandy provides outsourced new business for UK creative agencies. Its campaign delivered 2,669 messages to founder-led creative agencies across the UK, after analysing 26,802 web addresses, for about 40 minutes of setup. The case study publishes volumes and verifiable replies, not a response rate. Read the manc&dandy case study
Frequently asked questions
Is it legal to approach a business through its contact form?
In France, prior consent only covers natural persons: prospecting a legal entity through an impersonal contact point such as a form falls under the opt-out regime (Article L.34-5 of the French Postal and Electronic Communications Code). Sole traders are treated separately. Any request to stop applies across all murmur clients and is confirmed within 48 hours. This is murmur’s reading, not legal advice: the full framework, country by country, is on the Compliance page, and the method is explained in Contact form outreach.
Does the message go out under my name?
Yes. murmur submits the message through the form the business publishes, under your name and with your reply address. The business knows who is writing and replies to you directly.
What happens if a form cannot be filled in?
If the submission fails (form missing, broken or unreachable), the message is not sent and you are not charged: credits are only debited on proof of sending.
Can I target a specific trade or town?
Yes. The list is built by activity and by area: region, département, town or postcode. That is also how a “20 websites to rebuild” sample is defined.
Can the same business receive my message twice?
murmur works to prevent it at two levels. At collection, listings for the same establishment are merged. At sending, an identity fingerprint (shared phone number, email address or company number) helps spot a business that appears under several domains, so it is not contacted twice in the same campaign. And a business that has asked to stop is no longer contacted, whichever client is writing.