How Long Does it Take to Build a Website?
In the world of website development, there is a lot that goes into building a website. You need to have a plan in order to create a website that will attract clients, bring you business, and ultimately give you big returns on your investment.
When done right, your website will work for you, not the other way around!
If you've found yourself wondering how long it takes to build a website, I don’t blame you! Diving into a new web design project can be intimidating. Maybe it’s been a long time coming and you’re dying to get a new site up and running as soon as possible.
We'll go over what goes into making effective websites and how long each part takes so you know where your time and money should be invested.
Standard Websites Take Between 2-4 Months on Average to Build
There are many elements that are involved in building a quality and efficient website. But it all depends on what stage of the process you’re in.
Think of it like you’re building or remodeling a house. Building a new house is going to look differently than remodeling an old one. With a new house, you need to lay foundation, collect materials, hire all of the different contractors, and plan it out in order to successfully execure the project.
For a new website, planning means:
Defining and creating your brand voice, colors, and imagery (think logo, color palette, font styles, etc.). This is often know as branding.
Collecting the content for your site that appeals to your ideal clients (your services, about your company, pictures of your staff, etc.). This is too often an overlooked element of effective web design and one I recommend you don’t skip out on. Consider hiring a professional copywriter to bring out your company’s voice and really wow your readers!
Establishing the technical elements like creating a professional email, buying a domain name (ex. www.yoursite.com), and a hosting service for your new website. That may sound overwhelming, but this is a part of the process your website designer can definitely assist with.
Taking professional photos or videos of your company, team, and the services you provide. Professional photos make a world of difference in how a website looks. Not to mention, using your pictures over stock images brings a more personal touch, which builds trust with people who visit your site.
If you're not careful and intentional with the planning process, then the design and development of your site could be compromised or take a lot longer than it needs to.
You will want to make sure that all parties involved are on the same page about what needs to get done and when it will be finished by. If there's no timeline set for completion, then things can fall behind schedule which means they'll take longer than expected.
The more complex the site, the longer planning and web development will take.
At Katlyn Slocum Design, we are proud to offer website designs in 4-6 weeks!
This is because before we even begin on a web design project, we’ve made sure the planning and the content collection is done beforehand. This makes the actual design process go smoothly, allowing your site to get launched quickly.
Learn more about our Vancouver web design services!
SEO is a Must with Any Website You're Building
A successful website is more than just a nice looking site. In fact, a website won’t serve you if you’re not being found online. The process of getting your website found online is through search engine optimization (SEO).
Any quality website designer will be focused on creating an SEO-friendly site. Our goal is to make sure we do what we can on our end to increase your visibility by making sure images are sized correctly, keywords are used in valuable places like headings, and so on.
When you focus on SEO, you’re investing in getting more people to your site, which leads to more customers.
Even if potential customers don't buy right away, an effective website will make a lasting impression and lead people to come back later. An unoptimized site won’t be found or may be so outdated that it actually repels people from the site.
You can’t afford to not invest in SEO.
If you’re looking to grow your business, an investment in SEO means investing in getting more customers for the long term. Paid ads work for a time, but the minute you stop paying for ads, you stop getting calls. Organic search engine optimization takes time, but it pays off in the long run.
eCommerce Websites Take Longer to Build
If you're looking to create an eCommerce site, be prepared for it to take longer to build than a standard website. An eCommerce site involves a lot more setup, including adding products, variations of products, pricing, setting up shipping information, making sure notifications go out correctly when someone purchases your products, and so on.
There are also security issues that have to be considered with these types of websites, since they hold people's personal information and transactions.
You can't afford any risks when selling items online so this is why there need to be extra precautions in place before launch.
Is it time for your business to invest in effective website design?
It can take a great deal of time to prepare and launch a website. We’re here to make that process as simple as possible. We’d love to chat about your web design project and support you through the process.
