How Long Does It Take to Build a Website?
After experiencing the Wix editor's ease firsthand, we can all agree that its ability to help us effectively create websites effortlessly is one reason we love the platform. That goes without saying that every project is different, and some can take weeks, if not months, to complete due to their complexity.
Some of the most frequently asked questions I am asked revolve around project timelines. How long does it take to build a website? What are some of the reasons behind website launch delays?
Creating websites in one day is not something I would recommend, although we have the cases when we were able to complete landing page in a day and a classic website in 2-3 days.
Usually, I prepare our clients for at least 1 month of standard website development (up to 15 pages):
a week to study the client's business in detail, building out the main page and sitemap structure
2-3 weeks to visualize it, set up all required features, and review it with client.
Once we have an approval, we test all links/buttons and features to finalize the launch date.
If it were up to us, most of the projects would meet this timeline, but this is not always the case. To be more precise, it is never the case 🙃. What are the main reasons behind this?
1. Website complexity
The timeline for a web development project depends entirely on its complexity. Although at times, it's hard to pinpoint which part may be missing. We don't want the situations when in the middle of web designing we realize that a client wanted an "Amazon-like" website and not just a store :).
Wix features can facilitate and accelerate the implementation of quite complex functionality. When building your site, we choose apps and products that provide solutions and are easy to manage because you will need to manage it :) and you want to do this without hassles (that's why you chose Wix after all).
We don't need to reinvent the wheel thanks to the ready niche solutions (Wix Store, Wix Events, Bookings, Restaurants, etc.). But in some cases, standard solutions are not enough. Full customization is needed, which significantly increases the time to work on a project. We always guide our clients to choose the right path for website development.
2. Website content is not ready
We can count on both hands the number of projects delivered to us where the website's content was well prepared and structured. I've always wanted to hug those clients 🤣. It speeds up the site creation process dramatically. But let's face it, this rarely happens, especially when we work with small businesses who have a very vague understanding of what content should go on their homepage or what pages they need. It's our job to help guide them; otherwise, we'll be waiting a long time for the right content we need.
We always start with an interview. These Q&A sessions help us see the bigger picture. We need to know everything about your products, services, market, industry, competitors, concepts, achievements, clients, testimonials, etc. We keep asking questions until the picture is clear. All your responses will be the drafts for final texts. We then analyse and structure the received information to come up with clear architecture of your website.
3. The team of decision-makers
When working with a business where a corporate system regulates individual decisions or needs to provide their approval, it is next to impossible to speed up a project's timeline. What can be just as bad, if not worse, is a small team that requires everyone's input before being approved😣. This process is a time consuming and bad practice unless the whole team represents a potential audience of the future website.
A dedicated person must coordinate the site. Ideally, a marketing specialist, but often it is done directly by the business owner. A situation where everyone gradually requests their adjustments is unacceptable
Client's level of anxiety
It happens so often that I am ready to write a dissertation on the topic "impact of the level of anxiety on the website building timeline." Some clients choose between pink and pink (this is not a typo) for months. They have a hard time making decisions. They can't decide between two similar fonts; they are not sure about a hero image. It is as if the business’s success depends entirely on choosing the correct shade of green. Yes, they want to make everything perfect, but it is never perfect.
I understand the excitement and importance of colors and fonts, but you need to decide to move forward with the design process. If a font or color is not to their liking, we are open to reviews, allowing changes down the line. To simply put it, never prolong a project based on simple aesthetics.