One of the questions we always get from potential customers is, “How long will it take to build my site?” It can be a tough one to answer until we do some deeper digging. A website is never one-size-fits-all. Some take as little as six weeks, while others take up to 24 months. Today we will look at some of the factors that affect the length of time it takes to get from Kickoff to the day the site goes live.
Subscription vs. Custom Sites
When we build a subscription site, we put content unique to your business on a framework that we have used many times before. It’s similar to how every adult has about 206 bones in their body, laid out the same way, yet we all look different on the outside.
When we build a custom site, many details have to come together in new ways. Often the process can be complicated. Because of this, subscription sites take far less time than custom sites.
The Time it Takes to Write Content
Before we can send your project to the developer, we need to assemble the content. It takes much less time for us to write your content than it does for you to do it. That’s because we do this every day. We’re experts at writing content that converts!
The first thing we do is schedule a content interview. That’s when we ask you about your business and decide how to communicate your passion to your customers. About five days later, we send you the first draft of your website content. You make any changes you would like, and after we edit the content, we go through the process again. After those two revisions, the content goes to design and development.
Some people choose to have us consult rather than write the content. This often means several rounds of revisions, so it takes longer.
The Time it Takes to Gather Assets
Assets are things that will give your site visual appeal, like photographs, logos, and custom graphics. Do you have professional quality photos ready, or do you need to hire a photographer? We have a photographer that can usually get the photos taken and edited within two to three weeks. If you employ -your own, the time it takes will depend on their schedule and speed.
Logos usually take about two weeks since there is a questionnaire, revision, and design consultation. Custom graphics will take more than a week. Of course, these things are done concurrently rather than consecutively.
The Time it Takes to Design and Develop Your Site
The basic design of your site will take about a week. During this time, we create a home page and an interior page. The time it takes beyond that will depend on how complex the design is and how many revisions are needed.
After approval of the mockup, the site will go into development. The development of a basic site without features takes about five to twenty business days.
Other Factors that Affect the Time it Takes to Build Your Website
The overall size of a custom site makes a big difference. If you need twenty pages, it will be more time consuming than a ten-page site.
Features will also add time—especially if we create unique custom features for your site.
E-commerce sites are time-consuming. Just how much time they take will depend on the number of products you want to be listed. Sixty products will take less time than 6,000. A small e-commerce site will typically take at least 6-months.
You have much control over how long it takes to get your site live. Revisions, changes, options, and delivering assets late will cause your project to take longer.
We are Experts at This
Our tried-and-true process will keep your project moving forward while focusing on its unique needs. We’ve built hundreds of websites, and we do it well. If you are looking for a professional web developer, contact us today.
