Websites for new Florida businesses
Just filed your Articles of Organization on Sunbiz? The state now knows your business exists — your customers don't yet. Here is what a new Florida business usually does in the weeks after filing, which deadlines bite in the first year, and what your website should show. We build that website as a working draft within 48 hours.
Where Florida businesses register
Florida LLCs and corporations are registered with the Department of State, Division of Corporations, through its online system Sunbiz. For an LLC the document is the Articles of Organization, and the required fees are $100 for the filing plus $25 for designating a registered agent — $125 in total (LLC fee schedule). A certified copy ($30) and a certificate of status ($5) are optional extras.
Every Florida LLC needs a registered agent with a physical street address in Florida — a P.O. box does not count. The business cannot be its own agent, but one of its owners can serve as the agent personally.
The first weeks after Sunbiz
- EIN. Apply with the IRS online; it is free — the IRS states you never have to pay a fee for one (IRS). You need it for a business bank account, sales tax registration and hiring.
- Fictitious name, if you trade under another name. In Florida a "doing business as" name is filed with the state on Sunbiz, not with the county: $50, valid for five years, and it must be advertised once in a newspaper in the county of your principal place of business (fictitious name registration). Trading under the LLC's own legal name needs no fictitious name.
- Sales tax registration. If you sell taxable goods or services, register with the Florida Department of Revenue through the online Florida Business Tax Application. Each location registers, and the department allows about three business days to process it (Florida Department of Revenue).
- State licence, for licensed trades. Contractors, electricians, cosmetologists, barbers, real estate and restaurants are licensed through the Department of Business and Professional Regulation — for example, the Construction Industry Licensing Board licenses the construction industry (DBPR).
- Local business tax receipt. Florida counties and cities may levy a local business tax on anyone doing business there, under Chapter 205 of the Florida Statutes; when you apply you show your fictitious name registration or a statement that you don't need one (Chapter 205). Ask both your county and your city.
- Domain, website and Google Business Profile. The part people actually see — covered below and in our step-by-step Google profile guide.
The Florida deadline new owners miss: the annual report
Every Florida LLC files an annual report each year to stay active — even when nothing has changed. For an LLC it costs $138.75; filed after May 1 it costs $538.75, because a $400 late fee is added. An LLC that still hasn't filed by the third Friday of September is administratively dissolved (Sunbiz annual report). Put May 1 in your calendar the day you form the company.
What a Florida business website should show
- Your licence number, if your trade is licensed by DBPR. A number on the page answers a careful customer's first question before they ask it.
- The exact name you trade under — the LLC's name or your registered fictitious name — so the site, your invoices and your Google profile match.
- Your service area: the counties and cities you cover, written out. In a state this long, "South Florida" means nothing to Google; "Broward and Palm Beach counties" does.
- Season and hours, if they change through the year, kept the same on the site and on your Google profile.
- A quote or booking form that works on a phone — most people will find you on one.
Prices
The same two options wherever you are in Florida, everything by email:
| Full professional website | |
|---|---|
| Price | $390 one-time, paid after you have seen your draft |
| Pages | All pages |
| Domain and email | Your own domain + one business email for the first year |
| Google Business Profile | Setup included |
| Hosting | Included for the first 3 months |
| Changes | Before you pay: the draft plus one round of changes (further rounds after payment). At launch: one round of fixes within 14 days. |
| Care | $149/year for a full site, $99/year for a one-page site — hosting, security, backups and 4 small text/photo updates a year. Extra updates $20 each. |
Full details: pricing.
FAQ
- Do I need a fictitious name for my Florida LLC?
Only if you trade under a name that is different from the LLC's legal name. Then it is filed on Sunbiz for $50 and advertised once in a county newspaper.
- When is the Florida annual report due?
By May 1 each year. After May 1 a $400 late fee is added, and an LLC that has not filed by the third Friday of September is administratively dissolved.
- Do I need a street address for Google Maps?
Not if customers don't come to you. A service-area business lists the counties or cities it serves instead, and that is how we set your profile up.
- How soon can my Florida business be online?
You see a working draft of your website within 48 hours of telling us your idea, and it goes live as soon as you are happy with it — $390 one-time.
Sources
A plain-English summary, not legal or tax advice. Fees and deadlines are as published on the official pages linked below on 19 October 2026 — check them before you file.
- Florida Division of Corporations — Florida LLC (Sunbiz)
- Sunbiz — LLC fees
- Sunbiz — annual report
- Sunbiz — fictitious name registration
- Florida Department of Revenue — registration
- Florida DBPR — licensing and regulation
- Florida Statutes, Chapter 205 — Local Business Taxes
- IRS — Get an Employer Identification Number
See your draft first — pay only if you want it live
Tell us what your business does. Within 48 hours you get a working draft of your website; you pay only when you want it live — $390 one-time. We reply the same day.