Quick Summary: A custom-designed website will typically require anywhere from 4 to 16 weeks depending upon how complex it is; for example, simple WordPress websites usually take about 4 to 6 weeks, a typical business website generally takes about 6 to 10 weeks, an ecommerce site (with payment processing etc.) usually requires about 8 to 12 weeks, while completely custom web applications or mobile applications may take as long as 10 to 16 weeks. Some of the largest contributors to project delay include; content that has not yet been prepared, when clients add new elements to their original plan (“scope creep”), when there are many people providing input for decisions (slow client feedback), and when there is no clear definition of what the final product should be. You can expedite your website development project by completing content ahead of time, having all decisions made by one person, and planning to roll out portions of the website in stages.
Honestly the best way to answer “how long does it take?” is always “it depends,” and that doesn’t provide much in the way of planning. Below are some realistic timetables for different types of projects. Additionally, there’s a phase-by-phase breakdown of how your time will be utilized, as well as — and this is critical — what contributes to delays and how you might prevent those delays from occurring.
Timeline by Project Type
brochure-style WordPress website (5-10 pages): 4-6 weeks. Custom-designed, responsively developed website that includes a home page, an about page, services pages, a contact form and up to several other pages. The project will also include basic search engine optimization setup for your website.
full-Business website with content management system (CMS) (10-25 pages): 6-10 weeks. Custom-designed and developed Business website that may have additional features such as custom post types, blog posts, multiple service pages, a team section, portfolio or case studies, CRM, email marketing etc. Development of this full-Business website may include assisting you in developing your content strategy.
E-commerce Store WooCommerce: 8-12 weeks for product catalog set up, payment gateways, shipping options, custom product pages, & optimizing the checkout process. This time frame will scale based on the number of products & level of customization required.
Custom Web Application Laravel: 10-16 weeks to include user authentication, custom dashboard(s), data base design, API connections, & application specific business logic. Custom applications that have a large number of users, require real-time functionality, etc., may exceed this time frame.
Mobile App Flutter: 10-16 weeks. The cross platform mobile application is developed for both IOS & Android platforms. It includes integrating an API, using the devices hardware features (i.e. camera, GPS, etc.) & submitting the app to each respective app store. A complex app that uses real-time features (such as live chat) or has a very advanced backend may also be longer than 16 weeks.
Phase-by-Phase Breakdown
Discovery and strategy (1–2 weeks). This phase will determine all aspects of what comes next. Allowing this phase to be skipped does not save you time. It simply delays when the “questions” are asked and as a result; the answers are more costly in Phase III.
UX and wireframing (1–2 weeks). Site map, User flow, key page template wireframes. Interactive prototype(s) for complex projects. The goal of this phase is to catch most structural issues prior to beginning Visual Design.
Visual design (2–3 weeks). an implementation of the brand identity in all templates, and responsive breakpoints. Generally there are 1 to 3 iterations of revisions. Time of the project will largely be dependent upon how fast the client can provide us with their feedback.
Development (3–8 weeks). The largest scope of time for this stage is because this is when the most amount of influence from the complexity of the project will occur. For example a five page WordPress website should take 2 to 3 weeks to develop. In contrast a Laravel application which includes many custom elements such as user role management, dashboards, and third party applications could require 6 to 8 weeks.
Populating content (1-2 weeks). Finalizing content, images, and media on the developed site. Content population is typically the bottleneck for many sites and should be planned out well ahead of time.
Testing and QA (1–2 weeks). Testing on different browsers, mobile devices, forms, optimizing performance, checking accessibility compliance, and fixing bugs. Do NOT shorten this phase – it will cost you less money to find bugs in your QA/Testing Phase vs. finding them from your customers.
Launch (1 week). Migrating DNS, configuring SSL certificates, verifying analytics, test redirects, and monitoring post-launch. Consider planning for at least 2-4 weeks of continuous monitoring of your new website after launch.
What Causes Delays and How to Avoid Them
Content not ready. it is the #1 reason for project delays throughout the construction industry. As long as the site is built before the content is developed, every day of delay will cost you both time and money. Solution: start developing your content during the design phase and not after your project has been completed. Any draft content beats empty pages with “final” pending.
Scope creep. mid-project addition of new features can lengthen the timeline and increase the budget. “can we just add a booking feature?” seems like an easy ask in a meeting but it could take 2-4 additional weeks to develop. Solution: clearly define the Scope of work at the beginning of your project through your discovery process. Use a formal change request process for all additions made to the original Scope of work.
Too Much Time Elapses for Feedback. Clients have to sign off on various iterations of a project. Therefore if it normally takes three days for your client to get back to you about the wire frame of their site, then every subsequent phase will be delayed as well. Use this time wisely by having all clients choose a single person to make decisions. This will help to avoid “design by committee,” which can be very difficult when several stakeholders are providing the same type of input but from different perspectives.
Requirements Are Not Clear. A vague RFP produces a misunderstanding of the objective. “We want something modern” could mean many different things depending on who is defining it. The solution to this problem is to spend sufficient money to obtain clear documentation in writing of all project objectives so there is no confusion as to what each party wants.
Unexpected Technical Issues. Unexpected issues related to third party APIs, hosting environments, etc., become apparent during the development process. The solution to these types of problems is for an agency that has experience to understand and mitigate technical risks early in the Discovery Phase. This allows adequate buffer time to be built into the schedule for these unexpected events.
How to Speed Things Up Without Sacrificing Quality
Have all content prepared prior to starting on your web site’s design. There isn’t anything you can do as a client that will have a bigger impact on how long it takes to develop your web site than providing content for the designers and developers at an early stage. Providing even 80% of what is needed lets both the design and development stages begin immediately and allows them to avoid having to wait for either phase to start.
Identify one person who can be responsible for making decisions on your project. Having someone (one person) who has the ability to approve your web site designs, give feedback and define the scope of your project means that you will avoid having to deal with committee reviews and delays associated with trying to get everyone on the same page.
Don’t try to rush through the process. Rushing past wireframe development so that you can “get this done faster” will create issues that will end up taking longer to resolve when developing your web site. Each phase exists to prevent problems from occurring in the next phase. Experience has shown us that the process of completing each phase provides for a faster overall process than skipping some of the phases.
Think about launching your web site in phases. Develop enough of your core pages and basic functionality to get your web site launched first. Then, in a second phase, develop additional secondary functionality and content. Getting your web site launched quickly allows you to generate real traffic to your site and actual data that can help guide your decisions for your second phase.
Let us map out your project timeline. We will give you a realistic scope, budget, and timeline based on your specific needs. Get a free project estimate →
For the full technology overview, read our Web Development Technology Stack Guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Simple pages or minor redesigns they can probably do. But a full custom site that goes through proper discovery, design, development and testing? No way. Any agency promising to build complex sites in two weeks is cutting corners that you will regret paying for later.
You may be able to get a quicker delivery than our standard time frames for an additional fee. In general, we see customers willing to pay a premium to have their projects delivered on a shorter timeline. We’ve seen reductions in timelines of 20-30% when the customer is willing to accept reduced scope (i.e., launch with 6 instead of 12 pages and build out the remaining 6 pages after launch). Expedited review turnaround times (same day or next day) will also help reduce timelines.
The project is expected to take up approximately 2-4 hours of your time each week throughout the different phases of this project, including; participating in kick-off and milestone meetings with the design and development team, giving reviews and input on all work produced by the design and development teams, creating and submitting content as needed, and responding to any questions you may have from the design or development teams. Your largest time commitment will be when we are in Discovery (finding out what we can do) and Content Preparation (creating all content).
