Whether you are thinking about a website for a new project or business, or looking to freshen up an existing website, one of the first questions you will want answered is “How long is it going to take to design and build my new website?”.
The simplest, shortest answer is: it depends.
Overall there are 5 factors that will affect the development time of your website. Below we will go through them one by one.
For everyone who does not want to read until the end, we created a quick table for reference.
Since you kept scrolling until here, you obviously want to know more. As shown in the picture the 4 main factors affecting the development time of your website are:
- Content
- Number of Pages
- Unique Page Designs
- Additional Functionality
Content
The first thing that will affect the time it will take to deliver your website is whether or not the content and sitemap are ready.
The sitemap is essentially the high level diagram of your site and the various pages it will have. This is the first step to the web design process. Some clients know exactly what pages they want/need and others have no idea. If your project is in the very early stages, and you are not sure of the pages your website requires, we can help you develop this but it will push the delivery time as little as a day or two to a few weeks depending on the complexity of the project.
Once the sitemap is developed, the next step is figuring out what content (text, images, videos, links etc.) will go on each of your pages.Once again depending on the stage your project is at, you may or may not have developed the content. Once again, we are happy to help you develop your content but this will also push back the delivery time of your project.
Note: These two steps are easy ways to cut some costs and end up with a superior result. By doing these steps yourself (with or without our guidance), your website will best reflect you and your business. Nobody knows your business like you do!
Number of Pages
This one is self explanatory. The more pages your site has, the longer it will take to build.
Although the basic design should already be done, creating each page still takes time. We have to put in the content, pictures and videos and then optimize the meta tags for SEO.
If your site has over 20 pages, add 1-2 weeks to the project. For larger sites such as 50 page sites or 100 page sites you will need to add 2-4 weeks and 4-8 weeks respectively to the project timeline.
Unique Page Designs
In the same vein as the number of pages, the number of unique page designs will also increase the amount of time it takes to complete your project.
A basic site usually has between 3 to 5 unique page designs. A unique page design for the homepage, inside pages, contact us and the blog page are some of the most common ones.
If your project is more complex than a standard website, and requires additional unique page designs, it will tend to lengthen the time it will take to build your website.
If your project has more than 5 unique page designs add 1-2 weeks, and if it has more than 10 unique designs add 2-6 weeks to the timeline.
Additional Functionality
Most websites are a collection of similar features. Media, images, text, sliders, contact forms etc.
Certain websites/projects require additional front end (on the website) or back end (think admin panel) functionality such as animations or custom integrations.
Depending on the additional functionality your project requires, it could add anywhere from 1 to 8 weeks to the timeline of your project.
