So you have decided to set up a website for your business – congratulations! Now that you have started to visualise how your business website will look and all the benefits it will bring, chances are you’ll also want to know when it will be up and running. So how long should you expect your new website to take?
As with getting building work done, unfortunately the answer is ‘it depends.’ With a good and clear brief and a relatively simple website in terms of functionality and content, a complete ground-up redesign and rebuild should be completed within 2-4 months. There are three common types of business website:
1) Brochure-style websites are those that offer information but don’t have products listed.
2) Catalogue-style websites have a list or description of available products - but they cannot be bought online.
3) E-commerce websites are online stores where customers can view products, add them to their cart, and make purchases online.
These three website types involve different levels of complexity in terms of their design and construction, so this affects the timescale. Brochure sites are the least complex, since the number of images is limited and their layout is pretty straightforward, whereas catalogue and e-commerce sites require a higher number of images, categories, and pages.
Client Approval
An important thing to note is that all page designs must be approved by the client before moving onto the website construction stage. This means that the more fluid communication is with the client, the faster the project will move along. Requesting changes in layout or other design aspects will also add to the total timescale.
Website Platform
Technical aspects are another thing that affects time frame, which will be shorter or longer depending on which platform the website is going to be built on. WordPress, Magento, and OpenCart are some of the most common e-commerce platforms, but each platform is slightly different. Some platforms require more time and effort in terms of set up and personalisation.
Functionality
There’s also the issue of functionality. Multilingual sites and those that need 3rd party integrations or payment gateways are more complex and time consuming to develop. If the functionality of your new website requires custom development work this is also a major factor.
Content
If the new website requires lots of new content, for example if you plan to add 20 new pages to the site and need copy to be written for each of these pages, then this can also be a source of a hold-up. Whether you write it in-house or have it written for you, getting the content just right can take time. In terms of content, another common source of delays with website is sourcing images, photography or video content.
Project Management & Working Together
When choosing a web design company, it is important to find out if there will be a dedicated project manager for your new website design project – and it is also important to realise that you will need to be actively involved in the project in order to make it happen quickly. Web designers need clear direction, quick feedback and a proactive & collaborative approach from you – and without this, timescales can also easily slip.
Hopefully, this helps you get an idea of how long it may take for your website to be ready. To discuss a new website design project of your own, don’t hesitate to get in touch and speak to one of our web design team.
