A focused marketing website takes me about five days of build time in either WordPress or Next.js, once the design and content are ready. A one-page launch site can go live overnight, while a WooCommerce store, a marketplace or a custom platform usually runs for several months from kickoff to launch. Calendar time is usually set by content, feedback and integrations, not by code.
How long do different types of website take?
These are real windows from my projects. Some are build time, some are the whole engagement including feedback and follow-up changes.
| Project type | Example | Timeline |
|---|---|---|
| One-page launch site | Raasa, coming-soon page | Overnight, 8 to 9 April 2025 |
| Repair of an existing site | Magpie Retreat | A few days, March 2023 |
| New homepage on an existing site | Cyprianis, Warren House | Within September 2025 |
| Theme-based community site | Easy Parenting Hub | Demo in two days, refined August to November 2025 |
| Services site from a Figma draft | Taxocity | Built in August 2025 |
| Finishing a half-built corporate site | Samko Holdings | March 2025, migrated on 24 and 25 March |
| Hotel site rebuild | Crowne Plaza London Kingston | Rebuilt on staging in June 2025, live 17 June |
| Agency site moved from Framer | Aura Clips | June to August 2025 |
| Lead generation site with custom plugins | PropAlert | July to August 2024 |
| Corporate site and course portal | CyberVie | Main build January to March 2023 |
| Enterprise WordPress microsite | Janssen Neuroscience | October to December 2022 |
| Corporate site with a calculator | Orilite | June to October 2023 |
| Publication with custom post types | IIID Inscape | August to December 2023 |
| WooCommerce store and corporate site | IPL Biologicals | Main build September to December 2023 |
| Large WooCommerce catalogue | Nortek LED | April to October 2023 |
The pattern: simple sites take days, sites with structured content take weeks to a few months, and stores with operations behind them take months.
What happens in each phase of a website project?
- 1
Scope
Agree pages, features, integrations and what is out of scope, in writing.
- 2
Design
A Figma design, a purchased theme to adapt, or a design system already in place.
- 3
Build
Templates, pages, forms and integrations on a staging site you can click through.
- 4
Content
Final copy, images and products go in. This is the phase that most often waits on the client.
- 5
Review rounds
Structured feedback, fixes and a final check on desktop and mobile.
- 6
Launch
Move to the live domain, set redirects, connect analytics and check forms and email.
What makes a website project take longer?
- Content arrives late. The build can be done while the site waits for copy, product data or photos.
- Feedback comes in many small pieces. A UK grocery marketplace I built in 2025 had three structured client change rounds between July and September 2025. Structured rounds are fine. Scattered single comments are what drag.
- Integrations. Each one needs accounts, keys and testing: Xero on that grocery marketplace, HubSpot on Ravens Ait, OTP verification on PropAlert, Stripe and PrintNode on Whitfield Service Station.
- Access. Waiting for a hosting login, a DNS panel or an API key can stall a launch for days.
- Migrations with email on the domain. Moving that grocery store meant mapping every Microsoft 365 record before touching DNS. Worth doing slowly.
- Scope growth. New pages and features halfway through. Sometimes right, but they move the date.
How can you speed up a website build?
- Have content ready before the build starts, or at least the structure of it. Easy Parenting Hub moved quickly because the client sent desktop and mobile structure documents.
- Start from a theme or system where it fits. A purchased theme is what made Easy Parenting Hub's two-day demo possible.
- Use templates for repeated pages. On Ravens Ait, twenty event and seasonal pages come from one Bricks template, so each new occasion is a content task.
- Revamp in place instead of rebuilding. Cyprianis got a new homepage, events listing and private dining template without a migration.
- Launch a smaller first version. Warren House started with a new homepage and key fixes while the wider redesign waited. Raasa started as a coming-soon page on a WordPress base that can grow into a full restaurant site.
- Name one decision maker on your side.
Does Next.js take longer to build than WordPress?
For a focused marketing site, not really. Both take me about five days, as I explain in Next.js or WordPress for a marketing site. Headless WordPress, with Next.js on the front, adds a week or more because previews, forms, redirects and metadata need wiring up. See headless WordPress with Next.js.
Big rebuilds are different. When a live site moves to a new stack, the old site has to keep working until the switch, so the timeline should be set by the business, not by a deadline that risks the main sales channel.
Is a website ever really finished?
Not if the business is active. Ravens Ait added revenue pages for Wimbledon, Christmas and ticketed nights after launch. Crowne Plaza gained a blog and promo popups in the months after going live. IPL Biologicals has had a developer on retainer since 2025. Plan for a launch date and for the changes after it.
How do you get a realistic timeline for your project?
Write a scope first. The free Project Scope Generator turns a short description into pages, ranked features and build phases, which is enough for any developer to give you a real estimate. Then send it to me and I will reply with how long I think it will take and why.
