Project timelines
How long does it take to build a business website?
The honest answer is that it depends mainly on size, content readiness, functionality, decision-making speed, revisions and integrations. Anyone promising a single universal number without knowing your scope is guessing.
What actually decides it
Six factors, not a fixed number.
- Size — how many pages and sections the site actually needs.
- Content readiness — whether copy and images exist or still need creating.
- Functionality — forms, bookings, integrations and anything custom.
- Decision-making speed — how quickly feedback and approvals come back.
- Revisions — how many rounds of changes are needed and how large they are.
- Integrations — connecting to other systems, which adds coordination time.
By project type
What tends to affect each kind of project.
| Project | What affects it |
|---|---|
| Simple small-business site | Tends to move quicker when the scope is clearly defined from the start, content is ready before design begins, there's one clear decision-maker, and there's no complex integration work involved. |
| Larger growth site | Takes longer because there's more ground to cover — more services and pages, a proper SEO architecture, content that needs developing rather than just placing, case studies to write up, and more testing before launch. |
| Custom project | Timelines aren't set upfront because the scope isn't standard. A discovery phase comes first, and the timeline is agreed once that scope is actually understood. |
Our own packages — Launch, Growth and Scale — sit roughly along this spectrum; see pricing for what's included in each.
The real bottleneck
The biggest delays are usually not technical.
| What causes it | How to avoid it |
|---|---|
| Waiting for copy. | Draft content before design starts, even roughly — see our web design brief for what's needed. |
| Waiting for photos. | Book photography early or agree on stock imagery upfront rather than mid-project. |
| Multiple decision-makers. | Agree who has final sign-off before the project starts, not partway through. |
| Scope changes mid-project. | Note new ideas for a later phase rather than folding them into the current one. |
| Delayed approvals. | Set a turnaround expectation for feedback at the start, so it doesn't stall silently. |
Speeding things up
What you can do to help the project move.
- Have your content brief ready before the project starts.
- Agree on one point of contact for decisions and feedback.
- Turn feedback around promptly rather than batching it up.
- Keep the scope fixed once the project has started.
- Flag integrations and special requirements early, not at the end.
Ready to prepare? See our web design brief and what a web designer needs from you. For the wider checklist, see the website project checklist and website content checklist. Pricing sits on its own page at pricing.
Before you ask
Website timeline questions, answered honestly.
Want a realistic timeline for your project? Get in touch.
Next step
Want a realistic answer, not a guess?
Tell us what you need — we'll tell you honestly.
Send us a rough idea of your project and we'll give you a realistic sense of scope and timeline.