Learning Hub | Planning a Website Design Project

How Much Time Should it Take to Design and Build a Website?

December 16, 2016 | Jon Teodoro

How Much Time is Too Much Time to Design a Website?

Inevitably, one of the first questions you are going to ask your web designer, other than, “How much is this going to cost me?” is “How long is this going to take?”

The answer to this question will vary depending on things like your wants, needs, goals, etc. Every project is different and demands different resources to complete.

Regardless of your specifications, we want you to know that it is okay, preferable in fact, for your new site to take some time to design and build.

A design firm that doesn’t have a lot on its project plate will most likely be able to devote more time to your site, proposing a quicker launch date than others that have more clients. When shopping around, we encourage you to be weary of a designer that quotes a deliverable timeline that is much sooner than others.

As the old cliche goes, most things that seem too good to be true, are. Web design is no different. A fabulous product is going to take expertise, time and appropriate resources. You’ll do yourself a favor if you make sure your chosen designer has all three.

How Can You Help Your Designer Meet the Launch Date?

With tons of software downloads and design how-tos available online today, anyone with an Internet connection can access them.

Though this makes it easier for people to design a site on their own, it also allows for self-proclaimed web designers to quote a high price for a “unique” site, only to slightly customize a template site not much different from one that you could have easily made yourself.

To avoid this scenario, we suggest that you do some research on your designers by meeting with them and/or taking a look at their portfolios. Keep in mind that if you like what you see and they have experience under their belt, chances are they’ll be working on projects other than yours.

This may mean they’ll quote you a longer timeline for the site that you want, but we think it will be worth the wait in the end. Of course, any good designer will include you every step of the way as there are some things that only you can do to get your new website up and running.

Help out your design team and keep your launch date by:

• Collecting all existing content that you wish to use on your site.
  • This includes pictures, PDFs, employee bios, company background information, specific details about products/services, current catalogues, etc.
• Keeping communication frequent and on schedule.
  • Ask and answer questions in a timely manner.
  • Review deliverables by the deadline dictated by the designer.
  • Hold the designer to their promised deadlines.
• Understanding that they’re just as busy as you.
  • Try to be as flexible as possible without sacrificing your overall timeline.
  • Forgive moved deadlines here and there and keep up on your end as much as possible to make the most of your relationship.

Just remember that building a custom site is intensive, only becoming more so with added specifications. To save time and keep an optimal work relationship with your design team, remember that your designers are most likely as busy as you are.

Chances are that you aren’t choosing to have a website built because your business is stagnant. You’re probably experiencing growth and are as busy as ever. Because of this, there will definitely be times when your designer is waiting on you to move forward with your project.

It will help the entire process run smoothly if you and your design team can be flexible without disregarding the goals/desires of each other.

So, How Long Does it Take to Build a Custom Website?

Despite knowing that each project timeline depends on several moving parts, most experienced web designers should be able to give you a reliable launch date after dictating what all will go into building your site.

This should account for unexpected hurdles that are almost always certain to pop up on one side or the other. An experienced designer will always consider this when proposing a deadline.

Because of some uncertainty about how smooth the project will go, he/she may give you a window of time rather than a specific date – at least in the beginning.

From the design (and service) perspective, it is better to factor extra time into the timeline, accounting for unseen delays, and move the launch date forward than to not prepare time for these circumstances and push the date back.

Though we are wary of stating a norm, it is our experience that most custom site builds take anywhere from 12 to 16 weeks to complete. We’ve delivered completed projects in less time, while others have taken closer to six months.

The good thing is that we will be clear with you from the start about how much you can expect to spend on your site and how long you can expect to wait until your launch date. Should anything change unexpectedly along the way, you will be our first call.

Would You Like a Quote in 3 Minutes or Less?

Because we know how frustrating it can be for our clients when they don’t know much about the web design process, we operate with full transparency into the way we work and the decisions that we make.

One of our favorite parts of any project is getting to know our customers.

We enjoy discussing their passion for work as well as learning more about their desires (both practical and fantastical), what they want their new website to represent and the backstory of the company.

Our clients are an integral part of what we do here at Verde Media so we keep them in the loop every step of the way by scheduling regular calls or meetings to address questions and make sure that we are all on the same page.

(We also just like to show off our office dog and mascot, Beamer, from time to time!)

In light of our desire to be transparent and trustworthy to our clients, we have built a unique quote calculator that anyone can use to get an estimate. This is unique because most boutique web design companies won’t divulge their estimate until after meeting the client (sometimes more than once).

We do want to meet you, but only if you want to. So, we designed this calculator to help you get an idea of what you would be spending with us. We are certain that our fair estimates and diverse portfolio can persuade you to set up a face-to-face meeting with us….and maybe even to meet Beamer.

Get Your Free Estimate!