The accepted wisdom is that all businesses need a website in the e-commerce era. Despite this, a shocking percentage of small businesses don’t maintain a website.

Even if you want a website, you’ll likely ask a basic question. How long does it take to create a website?

It’s a deceptively simple question. Yet, business owners get a dizzying array of answers about the website timeline.

If you’ve gotten unclear answers about the timeline for creating a website, keep reading. We’ll throw some light into why the answer proves so elusive.

Developer Workload

Solid website developers are a little like solid mechanics or plumbers. They’re in demand.

Deoending on how good they prove, a developer might have weeks or months of scheduled work in front of them. Even agencies that employ full-time developers often schedule new works months in advance.

That puts you at the back of the line for any future work. You might wait three months before any work begins.

Type of Website

Websites some in a couple of flavors. Some businesses opt for a business website built on WordPress.

In this case, the building process goes fast. The developer only modified a theme for a specific look.

A custom website is a whole different kind of animal. There are several steps involved.

There is an initial meeting about what you want on the website. You also cover the look of the site.

You typically get mock-ups of the site for approval. That can take a couple weeks.

After approval, the developers write the actual code for the site. Once they finish the code, you must approve the final version of the site or ask for changes. Any changes add time to the process.

You may also discuss additional web services with the developer or company.

Website Complexity

The overall complexity of your site will also play a role in website timeline. For example, let’s say you want a six-page six that covers the essentials about your business. The site will include mostly static content and a contact form.

You can expect a fairly short build time for that site.

Let’s say that you want a 40-page site with real-time updates direct from your inventory control system. You also want an on-site shopping cart and payment processing. Integrating and testing all of those features adds work and time to the process.

How Long to Create a Website? It Varies

Answering how long a developer needs for them to create a website depends on your needs. 

If you need a basic site with a custom look, the process may prove fairly fast. If you need or want a truly custom site, the process gets much longer. 

The bigger and more complex the site, the longer you should plan on waiting for the final version.

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