How Long Does It Take To Build A Website?

The overall website development process includes a series of common steps necessary to successfully launch a website:

• Planning (two to three weeks)
• Content creation (four to six weeks)
• Website design (two to three weeks)
• Testing and review (one to two weeks)

In total, you’re looking at 10-14 weeks from ideation to completion. These time frames are estimations, and your process may take more or less time depending on how complex your site is going to be. Let’s dive into the details of each step.

Step 1: Planning

This initial phase lays the groundwork for your website. What is your target demographic? Will your website include a blog? What color scheme and design elements will work? After completing the planning phase, you should thoroughly understand how you or the developer intend to proceed.

The length of time spent in this window of development depends on a few factors:

• The complexity of the website: Is it a single scrolling page or a series of web pages?
• The creator of the website: Are you building it yourself, working with a single developer or hiring a team?
• The purpose of the website: Does building this website help customers understand how your business functions? Is it used to sell products or services?

You want to be sure that the planning phase addresses all of your concerns before moving forward. Although the actionable window of website development gets a lot of attention (i.e. creating a design or writing content), it is also when problems may arise as they were not addressed during the planning phase.

Consider that the average lifespan of a website is two years and seven months. It is highly doubtful that when these sites got created, the plan was to abandon them after a couple of years. That is why when you are planning your website, you need to be mindful of issues that typically contribute to the dissolution and abandonment of websites. Here are some examples:

• A lack of updates and stale content
• Bugs and maintenance issues
• Poor user experience (UX)
• Inability to connect with the target audience
• Poor search engine optimization (SEO)

By addressing common problems during the planning step with a long-term strategy, you could help extend the anticipated lifespan of your website after launch.

Planning Tools

Moving through the planning phase is easier when you have the right tools. You can, for instance, create a sitemap to determine your website’s exact layout and navigation flow before moving ahead to the design phase.

Some popular tools for website planning include monday.com, Trello, or other project management platforms. These tools can help you plot the timetable for your website launch, chart the type of content your site will feature, delegate tasks to team members and more.

Step 2: Content Creation

It hardly bodes well to wait until after a launch to start planning content. It is not enough for a site to appear complete when it goes live; content is part of your long-term strategy. It must get routinely checked for accuracy, and if your website includes a blog, you should have a content calendar that determines when it gets updated.

In terms of the type of content on your website, considerations should go beyond how long or short a blog post is. Can visitors obtain an informative white paper or e-book? Studies also show that video and audio content can increase how long visitors stay on a website. One study showed that up to 57% of website visitors stayed longer when video content was available.

Canva is an excellent tool for creating all sorts of content for the web, whether text, audio or visual. Grammarly, which can help you avoid embarrassing typos, is another solid investment that integrates seamlessly with Google Docs or WordPress. Both of these tools offer free plans and premium access options.

Because of the nature of drafting, recording and editing video or audio for the web, you may need a larger preparation window before launch. But taking the time to create excellent content for your website is an important step when building your website.

Step 3: Web Design

In this phase, your website should begin taking visual shape. Often that means deciding if your website consists of a single scrolling page, a complex system of dozens of responsive pages or perhaps even needs a mobile app.

This stage might seem incredibly daunting if you lack the time or resources for a comprehensive design team. However, web design software options are worth considering, such as mockup tools or website builders.

Creating a Mockup

If you had to explain what a website looked like or how it functioned to someone who had never heard of the Internet, how would you go about doing so? Sometimes words only go so far; a complete visual impression may be the best solution for conveying the intended look.

Enter the mockup. A standard mockup is a webpage creation that accurately conveys the expected final form it will take upon launch. While not the functional and completed version, they help you or others visually understand the intended website. For example, mockups:

• Determine if an idea is realistic or functional before committing, saving time and money if it doesn’t work out
• Assist in selecting the best aesthetic choices for color themes or fonts
• Demonstrate how the website will appear on different devices, letting you make adjustments for ease of use or visual attraction well before launch

Once you settle on a mockup that best reflects the website you want to build, it is time to consider the best method for bringing your site into reality.

Using a Website Builder

Thanks to the advancement of code-free software and related tools, practically anyone can develop a website without needing to learn Python or JavaScript. These days there are many powerful website builders that function by letting you “drag and place” virtually every aspect of your site, letting you create it exactly as you visualize it, piece by piece.

Website builders do not only handle the process of creation; some also manage site hosting needs. They can also serve as a vital tool for prepping and finalizing the look of your website before going live.

Some of the most popular website builders that we recommend include:

• Weebly: Weebly is affordable, easy to use and very flexible. It is a great option for smaller businesses and individuals and also provides e-commerce options.
• Squarespace: One of the best-known website builders, Squarespace pairs award-winning templates with a user-friendly drag-and-drop editor.
• GoDaddy: Who knew creating a website could be as easy as answering a few simple questions? In addition to domains and web hosting, GoDaddy provides customers with a straightforward web builder to put them on the path to a quick and easy website launch.

If you would like to learn more and locate the best option for your needs, read our full comparison of the best website builders.

What About Discovery?

Whether working with a single developer or dev team, you must set aside time for discovery. This crucial initial phase involves research and data analysis that will answer the dev’s questions about how best to set up the website according to the business and customer’s needs. The dev may ask questions or raise concerns about potential user experience issues.

Depending on your website’s complexity, the process could take anywhere from a few weeks to half a year. By the end, everyone should have a concrete understanding of the intended design and site function.

Step 4: Testing and Review

Once you build a website, a period between its completion and intended launch should get reserved for review and testing. Items to check before letting the site go live:

• Site speed. One study found that a website loading time of four seconds or less is ideal for e-commerce conversion. That said, Google determined that bounce rates increased by 32% when websites look longer than three seconds to load.
• User experience (UX). Does your website include navigation tools such as a menu or “return to top” feature? Is the font too light or small and so hard to read? Do you use AI chatbots or can a customer reach a live human being during business hours? It is crucial to ensure that when you design a website, you are doing so with visitor ease and comfort in mind.
• Content quality. Businesses with persistent website typos lose out on twice as many customers as their more grammar-minded competitors. Before launching your website, check back through for writing errors. If you lack confidence in your ability, consider hiring an editor or using a tool, such as Grammarly.
• Plugins. One crucial reason to be mindful of website plugins is that incompatibility can cause various issues. Your webpage might not load correctly due to a plugin error. Run all necessary checks to ensure any plugins are compatible and up to date.

After testing and making necessary changes, you can finally move on to the most exciting part—a successful website launch.

For many businesses and entrepreneurs, the biggest roadblock to building a website is simply not having the time to do it themselves. In this case, hiring a developer or team might make sense. Going this route comes with advantages and drawbacks.

Pros and Cons of Hiring a Website Developer

Pros	Cons
They understand the website building process and are far less prone to mistakes	The process could become more expensive than your budget allows
They are capable of delivering a streamlined final product	You are not directly in control of the process as you now rely on the developer’s schedule and speed of work
You are free to focus on running your business while they handle website building	The developer might not be able to deliver the product you had in mind, but you may still have to pay them
They are capable of creating a complex and professional website

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As you can see, working with a developer could be a sound decision that takes the website building process to a higher level. That said, the negatives may outweigh the positives for some users—especially if the concept is difficult to relay and the final product risks failing to meet expectations.

Budgeting for a Developer

Before hiring a developer, make sure that you have a concise web design budget in mind and make sure that you have a binding agreement as to the expected timeline of work. As part of the discovery process, be sure to explain your exact vision and ensure that the meeting ends when they have an accurate idea of what you require for your website.

As for payment, you might receive an upfront charge or agree to make a series of payments for each reached milestone. Building your website through a developer can cost hundreds and tens of thousands of dollars. Team size, website complexity and various functions will factor into the total cost.

Bottom Line

While it is undoubtedly essential to have a launch timeline and stay on schedule, ensuring you build a great website is far more important. In other words, the time used to create a website is not as important as ensuring that the process produces an efficient and optimal end product. Often, this focus saves time in the long run because it reduces complications and errors.

If you build the website yourself, be prepared to plan appropriately and avoid rushing. Hiring a website developer or using a website builder can save time and energy. Be sure your budget allows whichever option you choose.

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