A simple business website takes three to four weeks, a site with service and local pages six to eight, and an online shop eight weeks or more. These timescales assume a project that runs without stoppages, and stoppages almost always come from waiting for materials from the client, not from the developer's work.
A business website, week by week
| Week | What happens | What we need from you |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conversation, keyword map, site architecture | An hour's conversation, access to your analytics if you have it |
| 2-3 | Design of the home page and a template page | Approval or comments within three days |
| 3-5 | Writing the content: home page, services, local pages, FAQ | Photos of past work, business details, customer reviews |
| 4-6 | Build, structured data, contact form, mobile version | Nothing |
| 6-7 | Testing, fixes, Google Business Profile, redirects from old addresses | Access to the domain and the Google Business Profile |
| 7-8 | Launch, submission to Google, training on how to use it | An hour for the training |
What really delays projects
- Photos. The most common cause. If there are no good photos, they have to be prepared first, and that adds two to three weeks.
- Approvals. A week of silence after we send a design is a week's delay. The timescales assume a reply within three working days.
- Expanding the scope along the way. "Let's add a blog as well" in week five isn't a small thing.
- Access. Passwords for the domain, hosting and Google Business Profile are sometimes held by a former developer nobody can reach. It's worth checking this in week one, not week six.
- Decisions by several people. If three people have to approve the project, add a week.
What shortens a project the most
Getting your photos ready before the project starts. It's the only element that can take two weeks off the schedule and doesn't depend on the developer.
Why the first results come later than the website
Launching a website and its visibility in search are two different dates. In our experience, the first movement in the results usually shows six to ten weeks after launch, and real results after four to six months.
A Google Business Profile and reviews work faster: there, the first calls, direction requests and Maps views show up within a few weeks. That's why, on projects where time matters, we start with the Google Business Profile, in parallel with building the website.
If someone promises you first place in Google within a month, they're selling advertising, not SEO. Google itself warns that no one can guarantee a #1 ranking. Advertising makes sense too, but it stops working the day you stop paying.
When to plan for longer
- A website in several languages. The content for each market is prepared separately, not translated word for word. Add two to three weeks per language.
- Migrating from a large website. Redirects from the old addresses are a separate piece of work, and skipping it costs you Google rankings.
- A shop with integrations. Payments, shipping, warehouse and accounting are four separate connections, each with its own testing.