The honest answer: it depends on what you need. But I know that’s not particularly helpful when you’re trying to plan a project, set a launch date, or work out when your new website will actually be live.
So here are real timelines from someone who builds websites every day. I’ve delivered over 55 WordPress websites across every kind of business, from five-page starter sites to full ecommerce builds. These timelines are based on what actually happens, not what looks good in a pitch deck.
The Quick Answer: Website Timelines by Project Type
If you’re short on time and just need a ballpark, here’s the breakdown:
- Starter website (up to 5 pages): 2–3 weeks
- Professional website (10+ pages): 4–6 weeks
- Ecommerce website: 6–8 weeks
Those are total timelines from our initial discovery call through to launch day. They assume reasonably prompt feedback from you and content that’s ready or nearly ready to go. More on that later — because content readiness is the single biggest factor in whether a project runs to schedule.
If you’re also wondering about pricing alongside timelines, I’ve written a separate guide on how much a website costs in 2026 that covers budgets for each project type.
What Affects the Website Development Timeline
No two website projects are identical. A five-page brochure site for a local plumber and a 40-product ecommerce store for a fashion brand are completely different animals. Here’s what moves the needle on timescale:
Number of Pages
This is the most obvious factor. A five-page site with a homepage, about page, services page, portfolio, and contact page is straightforward. A 15-page site with individual service pages, team profiles, case studies, and a blog needs more planning, more design, and more development time.
Custom Design vs Template
Every site I build through my WordPress web design service is custom-designed for the client. That means bespoke layouts, typography, and visual direction — not a premade template with your logo swapped in. Custom design takes longer than picking a template off the shelf, but the result is a website that actually reflects your business and stands apart from competitors.
Ecommerce Complexity
An ecommerce website adds layers of complexity that a standard brochure site doesn’t have. Product catalogues, payment gateway integration, shipping calculations, tax settings, stock management, customer accounts — each of these needs configuring and testing properly. A 10-product shop is quicker than a 200-product shop with variable pricing and multiple shipping zones.
Content Readiness
This is the big one. If you come to me with your copy written, your photos taken, and your brand assets ready, we can move fast. If we’re waiting three weeks for you to write your about page, that’s three weeks added to the project. I’ll cover this in detail further down because it’s the number one reason projects overrun.
Third-Party Integrations
Need a booking system? A payment gateway? Integration with your CRM, mailing list, or accounting software? Each integration adds time — not just for setup, but for testing. A booking system like Calendly or SimplyBook.me might take half a day. A custom integration with a specialist industry tool might take several days.
Revision Rounds and Feedback Speed
I build revision rounds into every project, and they’re important — you should have the opportunity to review the design and request changes. But how quickly you provide feedback directly affects the timeline. If I send you a design concept on Monday and you respond on Tuesday, we keep momentum. If it sits in your inbox for a fortnight, we’ve lost two weeks.
My Typical Project Timeline: Week by Week
Here’s what a standard professional website project (10+ pages) looks like when I’m working on it. This is the 4–6 week timeline in practice:
Week 1: Discovery and Planning
We start with a discovery call — typically 30 to 45 minutes — where I learn about your business, your customers, your goals for the website, and any specific features you need. I’ll ask about competitors you admire, design styles you’re drawn to, and functionality that’s non-negotiable.
From that call, I put together a project brief and sitemap. This is the blueprint for the entire build. We agree on the page structure, the key features, and the timeline before any design work begins.
This is also when I’ll send you a content checklist — everything I need from you in terms of text, images, logos, and brand guidelines. The sooner this comes back, the smoother everything that follows will be.
Weeks 2–3: Design Concepts and Wireframes
I design the homepage and one or two key interior pages first. These set the visual direction for the entire site — the colour palette, typography, layout patterns, and overall feel. You’ll see full design concepts, not vague wireframes, so you know exactly what the finished site will look like.
We’ll go through a round of revisions here. Most clients need one or two tweaks at this stage — adjusting a colour, reworking a section layout, or refining the navigation structure. Once the design direction is approved, I move into development.
Weeks 3–5: Development and Build
This is where the approved designs become a functioning WordPress website. I build every site on a staging environment — a private development server — so you can review progress without anything being public. During this phase I’m building out page templates, setting up SEO foundations, configuring contact forms, integrating any third-party tools, and ensuring the site is fast and mobile-responsive.
For ecommerce builds, this phase includes setting up WooCommerce, configuring payment gateways, building product pages, and testing the full checkout flow.
Weeks 5–6: Content Population, Testing, and Revisions
With the build complete, I populate the site with your final content — the approved copy, images, videos, and any downloadable resources. Then comes thorough testing: every page on desktop and mobile, every form submission, every link, every button. I test across Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Edge. I check page speed scores and fix anything that isn’t performing.
You’ll get access to the staging site to review everything. This is your chance to check the content, test the user journey, and flag anything that needs adjusting before we go live.
Weeks 6–7: Final Review and Launch
Once you’ve signed off, I handle the full launch process. That includes DNS configuration, SSL certificate setup, final speed optimisation, setting up Google Analytics and Search Console, submitting your sitemap, and running a final round of checks to make sure everything is working perfectly on the live server.
After launch, I’m still available for any tweaks or issues that come up in the first few weeks. Things like typo fixes, minor layout adjustments, or adding a piece of content that wasn’t ready in time.
The Biggest Delay? It’s Usually Content
I need to be honest about this because it catches people off guard: the number one reason website projects take longer than expected is content. Not design complexity. Not development challenges. Content.
Specifically, clients underestimate how long it takes to write the copy for their own website. You know your business inside out, but putting that knowledge into clear, concise website copy is a different skill. It’s not unusual for the “I’ll have the content to you by Friday” email to arrive three weeks later.
Photos are another common bottleneck. If you need professional photography — headshots, team photos, premises shots, product images — that needs to be arranged, scheduled, shot, and edited before it reaches me. That can easily add two to three weeks if it’s not planned in advance.
How to Avoid Content Delays
Here’s what I recommend to every client before we start:
- Start writing early. Don’t wait until the design phase begins. The moment you decide to build a website, start drafting your page content. It doesn’t need to be perfect — rough drafts give me something to work with.
- Hire a copywriter if needed. If writing isn’t your strength or you simply don’t have time, investing in a professional copywriter is worth every penny. A good one will produce clear, SEO-friendly copy that I can drop straight into the build.
- Book photography early. If you need new photos, get them scheduled as soon as possible. Don’t wait until I ask for images during the build phase.
- Gather existing assets. Logos (in high resolution, ideally vector format), brand colour codes, existing marketing materials, any content from your current website that you want to keep — put it all in a shared folder before we start.
- Designate a decision-maker. If your business has multiple stakeholders, agree upfront on who has final sign-off. Nothing stalls a project faster than conflicting feedback from three different partners.
When clients come to me with content ready to go, their projects run faster, smoother, and often come in under the quoted timeline. The build itself is rarely the bottleneck — I’ve been doing this for over a decade and my process is dialled in. It’s the content gathering that determines whether your site launches in four weeks or eight.
Can You Rush a Website?
Yes — with caveats.
For a straightforward starter site (five pages or fewer, content ready, no complex integrations), I can work to an expedited timeline of around 10 days. I’ve done it plenty of times for clients with a hard launch date — a new business opening, an event, a rebrand that’s already been announced.
But rushing a complex project is a different story. A 20-page website with ecommerce, booking integrations, and custom functionality cannot be compressed into two weeks without cutting corners. And cutting corners means skipping proper testing, rushing the design process, or launching with placeholder content that never gets replaced.
My advice: if you know you need a website by a specific date, get in touch early. The more lead time I have, the better the result. A website isn’t just a project to finish — it’s a tool your business will rely on for years.
DIY Builders Are Faster — But There’s a Catch
I’d be misleading you if I didn’t mention this. Platforms like Wix, Squarespace, and Shopify let you set up a website in a weekend. Drag and drop, pick a template, add your text, hit publish. If you need something live by Monday, a DIY builder will get you there faster than any web designer.
But there’s a significant trade-off.
A template website does what the template allows and nothing more. You’re limited to the layouts, features, and design options the platform provides. Your site will look similar to thousands of others using the same template. The SEO capabilities are restricted. The performance is often sluggish. And you’re locked into that platform’s ecosystem — if you want to move later, you’re essentially starting from scratch.
A custom WordPress website takes longer to build, but it works harder for your business in the long run. It’s designed specifically around your brand and your customers. It’s built with proper search engine optimisation from the ground up. It loads fast, performs well on mobile, and can be extended with any functionality you need as your business grows.
The question isn’t really “which is faster?” — it’s “which gives you a better return on your investment over the next three to five years?” For most businesses I work with, the answer is clear.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does it take to redesign an existing website?
Roughly the same as building from scratch, because in most cases that’s effectively what I’m doing. The advantage of a redesign is that you usually have existing content, which means fewer delays in the content-gathering phase. A redesign of a 10-page site typically takes 4–5 weeks.
Do you work on multiple projects at once?
Yes, I typically have two or three projects running in parallel at different stages. This doesn’t slow your project down — it actually helps, because while I’m waiting for your feedback on a design concept, I’m progressing another client’s build rather than sitting idle.
What happens if I’m slow with feedback?
The project pauses until I hear from you. I won’t chase you relentlessly, but I will send reminders. If a project stalls for more than two weeks due to unresponsive feedback, I may need to reschedule your remaining work around other bookings. The timeline I quote assumes reasonable response times — typically within a few working days.
How far in advance should I book?
I’m usually booked two to four weeks ahead. If you have a specific launch date in mind, reach out as early as possible so I can reserve your slot. For large projects — particularly ecommerce builds — booking six to eight weeks ahead gives us plenty of breathing room.
Ready to Get Started?
If you’re planning a new website or a redesign, the best first step is to see what’s possible. I offer a free, no-obligation mockup — a custom homepage design concept based on your business, with no commitment required. It gives you a real sense of what your website could look like and how long the full project would take.
Take a look at my portfolio to see recent projects, or get in touch if you’d like to discuss timelines for your specific project. I’m a freelance web designer based in Brighton with 51 five-star reviews and over a decade of experience — no agency overheads, no account managers, just direct communication and a website that gets built properly.
