When clients ask how long a website will take, they often have a number in their head based on what they have heard from someone else. "My friend's site was done in two weeks." Maybe it was. But the timeline for a website depends on what kind of site is being built, how decisions are made during the process, and how quickly content arrives. Here is an honest breakdown.
Simple brochure sites: three to six weeks
A site with five to eight pages covering home, about, services, and contact, with no e-commerce and no custom functionality, can typically be built in three to six weeks from the point of project kick-off to launch. That assumes a clear brief, reasonably prompt feedback from the client, and content (text and images) that is either provided by the client or commissioned early.
The three-week end of this range is achievable only with a client who responds to design drafts within a day or two and comes to the project with their content ready. The six-week end is more realistic for most clients, who have other things going on and need a little more time at each stage.
Mid-size business websites: six to ten weeks
A more substantial site with ten or more pages, custom design work, multiple content types, blog setup, SEO configuration, and integration with third-party tools like a booking system or CRM will typically take six to ten weeks. This allows time for a proper discovery phase, multiple design iterations, development, testing across devices and browsers, and a handover process.
E-commerce sites: eight to fourteen weeks
Adding a shop introduces product management, payment integration, order confirmation logic, potentially tax and shipping configuration, and more thorough testing. A Shopify-based store where much of the infrastructure is pre-built can come in at the lower end. A WooCommerce build with custom functionality or a bespoke e-commerce system takes longer.
Web applications: three to six months or more
Custom web applications with user accounts, dashboards, data logic, and integrations are a different category entirely. These are software projects that happen to run in a browser, and they should be scoped and managed accordingly. Eight to twelve weeks is realistic only for a very focused initial version. More complex applications take six months to a year.
Where time actually goes
Many clients assume most of the time is spent in the design phase. In practice, the distribution is roughly:
Discovery and briefing: one to two weeks. This is the phase where the agency understands your business, your goals, your target audience, and the technical requirements. Design: two to four weeks, covering wireframes or page layouts, visual design, and revision rounds. Development: two to six weeks depending on complexity. Content integration and testing: one to two weeks. Launch preparation and handover: a few days to a week.
What slows projects down most reliably is the content problem. Agencies can design and develop at a consistent pace, but if the client has not provided text, images, and other content by the time it is needed, the project stalls. If you are starting a website project, treat getting your content ready as a parallel task that starts immediately, not something to deal with once the design is done.
Feedback and decision-making speed also affects timelines significantly. A client who takes two weeks to review a design draft at every stage will double the length of a project compared to one who reviews and responds within two to three working days.
How to set realistic expectations
When you receive a quote and timeline from an agency, ask what assumptions the timeline is based on. Ask when they will need content from you and in what format. Ask how many rounds of revisions are included and what happens if you need more. Clarify what "launch" means: is it when the site goes live, or when all handover documentation and training has been completed?
A realistic timeline agreed upfront, with clear milestones and responsibilities, produces better outcomes than an optimistic one that slips repeatedly.
At Ramdex, we set clear project timelines at the start and keep clients informed throughout. If you want to discuss a project and get a realistic sense of what it would involve, email us at info@ramdex.co.uk or message us on WhatsApp at +44 7931 272489.