How long does it take to build a website?

Where the weeks actually go

A typical project runs through a short discovery phase, then design, then development, then review and launch. Discovery takes a few days. Design usually takes a week or so, because the homepage sets the direction for everything else. Development and content population take another one to two weeks. The last stretch is testing on real phones, fixing small things, setting up redirects and going live.

None of these steps is especially slow on its own. The calendar gets long when they wait on each other.

What makes a project take longer

The biggest delay I see is content. If the copy isn’t written and the photos don’t exist yet, design can’t be finished honestly, because layouts are shaped by what goes in them. Other common causes:

• Several decision-makers who each need to approve every round.
• Features added halfway through, like booking, a member area or a second language.
• A migration with years of old pages that all need redirects.
• Third-party systems, such as a CRM or booking tool, with their own setup quirks.

How to keep it on schedule

Decide who signs off before the project starts, and make it one person if you can. Gather logos, photos, testimonials and service details early. If writing isn’t your thing, plan for copywriting help from day one rather than discovering the gap in week three.

It also helps to separate “must have at launch” from “nice to have later”. A clean five-page site that launches on time can grow. A twelve-page site that waits on a calculator nobody has specified tends to drift. If you’re not sure what belongs in the first version, the pre-project checklist is a good place to start.

I quote a timeline at the start and build the schedule around the content, not the other way round. For most clients that means three to four weeks, and five to six when there’s a store, a lot of pages or a migration. I ask for content early, show the homepage design first so we agree on direction, and keep feedback rounds short and specific. If something new comes up mid-project, I’d rather launch on time and add it in a second pass than push the whole site back. A working site that’s live beats a perfect one that isn’t.