How Long Does It Take to Build a Website?

This is the first question almost every client asks me, usually before they've told me anything about their business. It is a fair question. If you are paying for a website, you want to know when you get it.

Most agencies will dodge this one. They will tell you it depends, send you a vague three-month estimate, and then blow past it by another two. Here is the straight answer.

"Time, cost, and quality form a triangle. You can fix any two of the three; the third will move to keep the project realistic."

— Project Management Institute, The Iron Triangle of Project Management

That triangle is why a tight scope and locked-in price means I can guarantee the timelines below. Move any leg of the triangle mid-project (more pages, lower budget, faster turnaround) and another leg has to give.

A properly scoped website should take anywhere from one week to two months to build, depending on what you are actually buying. The ranges below are what I ship to real clients.

Landing page: 5 to 10 business days

A single-page site is the fastest thing I build. A good landing page answers three questions — who are you, what do you sell, and why should I hire you — and gives one clear next step. That is it.

Timeline breakdown:

• Day 1: Kickoff call. I learn about your business, your audience, and the one thing you want visitors to do on this page.
• Days 2–4: I design the first draft and send you a live preview link. No mockups, no Figma, a real working page.
• Days 5–7: Revisions. Usually one or two rounds of tweaks on copy, layout, or imagery.
• Days 8–10: Final polish, SEO setup, analytics wiring, and deployment to your domain.

A landing page starts at $750 and goes live in under two weeks. That is the full scope — design, build, launch.

Full website: 2 to 4 weeks

A five-to-seven-page site takes longer because there is more to write, more to design, and more places for edge cases to hide. Typical pages: Home, Services, About, Work or Portfolio, Contact, plus a Pricing or FAQ page.

Timeline breakdown:

• Week 1: Discovery, sitemap, content planning. I write or refine the copy with you. This is the step most designers skip and it's why most sites sound like ChatGPT wrote them.
• Week 2: Design and build. I work section by section on a live preview URL so you see progress daily, not after a month of silence.
• Week 3: Revisions. Typically two full rounds. By this point everything is close to final.
• Week 4: SEO, accessibility, schema, speed optimization, and launch. See examples of full sites I've built here.

Shopify store: 3 to 6 weeks

Shopify takes longer because you are not just building a site, you are wiring up an entire e-commerce system. Product photography, inventory, tax settings, shipping zones, payment processors, and email automations all have to work before you go live.

Timeline breakdown:

• Weeks 1–2: Store architecture, theme design, homepage and collection page builds.
• Weeks 3–4: Product pages, cart, checkout flow, email templates, shipping and tax configuration.
• Week 5: App integrations (reviews, upsell, abandoned cart), mobile optimization, SEO.
• Week 6: Quality testing across devices, payment testing, and launch.

Shopify stores start at $2,500. Complex stores with hundreds of SKUs, custom functionality, or third-party integrations can push six weeks into eight. I tell you that upfront.

What actually delays a website project

When a website runs late, nine times out of ten it is not because of the designer. It is one of these:

1. Waiting on content

The client intended to write the About page over the weekend. That was six weeks ago. No copy, no design. This is why I now refuse to start a project without at least a rough draft of content on day one. It is kinder to both of us.

2. Unclear scope

"Can you also add a booking system?" "Oh, and a blog." "Could we integrate with our CRM?" Every mid-project addition adds a week. A tight scope locked in before work starts keeps everyone honest.

3. Too many decision-makers

One client, one designer, two weeks. Three owners, a marketing committee, and a cousin who "knows web stuff" — two months minimum, and the final site looks like a Frankenstein.

4. Slow feedback

If I send a preview on Monday and you get back to me the following Friday, that is a four-day delay per revision round. Across three rounds that is almost two weeks lost to email inboxes. Quick feedback is the cheapest way to ship on time.

How to get your site done faster

Four things that cut a timeline in half:

• Send content on day one. Rough drafts are fine — I will help refine them. But I cannot design around a blank page.
• Pick one decision-maker. Even if you consult others, one person needs final say on design and copy.
• Reply to preview links within 48 hours. That single habit can shave a week off the project.
• Commit to a scope. Save the "would be cool if" ideas for a Phase 2. It is faster and cheaper to ship a tight site now and iterate later than to keep expanding mid-build.

What happens if I miss a deadline

I quote a date, I hit it. If I miss a milestone because something on my end takes longer than planned, I tell you immediately, explain why, and work evenings or weekends to catch up. You should not be paying for my slow week.

If the project gets delayed on your end — content isn't ready, feedback took two weeks, scope changed — I will tell you the new timeline before I keep going. No surprise bills, no surprise delays. That transparency is the whole reason I work the way I do.