How long does it take to build a website?

• Brochure or service site (5 to 10 pages): 3 to 6 weeks.
• Larger content site (blog, guides, multiple locations): 6 to 10 weeks.
• Online store: 8 to 14 weeks, longer if products need photography, descriptions and variants entered.
• Custom web application or software: 3 to 6 months or more, usually delivered in stages.
• Redesign of an existing site: often similar to a new build, because the design, pages and content are all remade; the migration of old content adds time.

These are working timelines for a developer or small team that starts promptly. A large agency with a queue may quote longer because of scheduling, not because the work is bigger.

A website project has four stages: planning (sitemap, goals, what each page must do), design (layout and look), build (the actual pages, forms, integrations) and launch (testing, domain and hosting setup, redirects, analytics). The build itself is often the shortest stage. Design review and content collection take the most calendar time, because they depend on decisions from the business owner.

Launch day is also rarely the end. Expect a week or two of small fixes as real visitors use the site, and plan SEO work as something that continues after launch rather than a box ticked at the end. See how long SEO takes to work.

• Missing content. Text, photos, logos and testimonials that were promised 'next week'. Most projects that run long are waiting on content, not code.
• Slow feedback. Each design round that waits ten days for a reply adds ten days to the launch.
• Scope changes. Adding a booking system or a store halfway through restarts part of the design.
• Access problems. Nobody can find the login for the domain registrar or the old host. Sort this out before kickoff; the guide on what to prepare before building a website lists exactly what to gather.

A developer who gives you a written schedule with the decision points marked, and tells you plainly when a delay is on your side, is doing you a favour.