You’re sifting through a lot of conflicting advice on how long it takes to build a website. Some say it takes a few days, others say weeks. So, who’s right?
The truth is, most website development timelines are just guesstimates.
These generic timeframes don’t factor in variables that could make or break your development process.
That’s why we spoke to our partners at WordPress.com to get realistic timelines for building a website. Drawing on their years of experience, our website development experts also share key factors to consider when estimating these timelines.
TL;DR: Here’s how long it takes to build common types of websites
- Small site (five pages or less): ≤ 1 week
- Dropshipping ecommerce site (<1000 products): 2-4 weeks
- Large education website (school/university): 3-4 weeks
- Government website: 4-6 weeks
- Large media website: 6-8 weeks
- Enterprise website: Several months to over a year
The site you’re reading right now would likely take 6-10 weeks to build.
Note: These estimates cover how long it takes to launch a site, and don’t include considerations for future content creation or maintenance.
Key factors that affect your website design timeline
There’s no universal timeline for building a website. Some sites go live in weeks, others stretch across months.
But you don’t have to rely on guesswork for your website design timeline. Here are the three factors that will determine whether your project stays on track or spirals into delays.
Planning and strategy
The planning phase sets everything in motion.
Start by identifying:
- Core purpose: Do you want to show your work, generate leads, sell products, or something else?
- Target audience: Who exactly do you want to reach? And what can they expect to get from your site?
- Essential functionality: What are the must-have features of your site, like lead capture forms, payment gateways, dynamic content, and more?
A week spent planning all these details upfront can save you months of revisions (and frustration) later. The goal is to keep everyone aligned on what success looks like and prevent scope creep or backtracking later.
Defining the scope
Scope defines the size and complexity of your site.
Scope creep can start with something as small as adding a new page, and suddenly, you’re two months behind schedule.
That’s why you want to finalize specifics like:
- Number of pages
- Type of features/integrations
- Level of design and animation
The more pages, integrations, or custom features you add, the more development time it takes.
As a best practice, you can divide your site’s scope into different phases. Phase 1 can include all essential features you need for the main launch, and the next phases can cover additional details.
Stakeholder alignment
Nothing kills momentum like conflicting feedback from different stakeholders. It can stall your progress for weeks.
The solution: Align your key decision-makers before you start building.
Make sure all stakeholders agree on:
- Overall vision and goals
- Target audience and messaging
- Budget and timeline expectations
- Who has final approval on which aspects of the site
Experts at rtCamp, an enterprise WordPress solutions provider, emphasized the importance of these factors for realistically determining website development timelines.
Once there is clarity on scope and decisions, a competent agency can go faster than even the times mentioned above. If clarity and alignment are still being worked out after kicking off the project, it can significantly stretch the project. However, sometimes that is required too. In many cases, clarity & alignment only happen once you get started.
– rtCamp
Put simply, this alignment ensures that everyone is working toward the same vision.
Note: Not familiar with business terminology like “stakeholder”? It’s just a term referring to anyone whose input is required to get a website launched. If you’re building a website for yourself, you’ve got nothing to worry about.
How long does it take to build a website using different methods
Once this legwork is complete, it’s time to start building.
We’ll break down two common methods for creating a website to help you determine your development timelines.
Here’s what our experts say about the timeframe for creating websites of different sizes:
| Site size/scope | DIY site builder | WordPress.com AI website builder | Professional agency / in-house team |
| Small | Few hours-2 weeks | <2 days | 2-4 days |
| Medium | 1-4 weeks | 3-7 days | 2-4 weeks |
| Large | — | — | 6-10 weeks |
| Extra-large | — | — | 6 months-1 year + |
Looking to build a simple website with five pages or fewer? Use our website design service to get a professionally designed website in four days.
And if you want to create a more complex custom website, we can match you with a web design agency suited to your business, budget, timeline, and expectations.
1. Do-it-yourself approach
- Best for: Small business, side project owners, hobbyists
- Type of websites: Personal portfolios, simple brochure sites, small blogs
WordPress.com lets you build a professional website entirely on your own, even if you don’t have any coding or design skills.
With this approach, you’re investing your hours learning a platform and creating a site one block at a time. It’s a trade-off between time and money, but it’s ideal for those with tight budgets and a desire to learn.
Tip: WordPress.com lets you create sites of all kinds. Check out the different types of websites you can build with this platform.
Here’s how you might get started with WordPress.com. After you create an account, you’ll need a theme that matches your vision for your website.
Choose from thousands of options available in WordPress.com’s library. Browse by specific use cases and industries, like real estate, health and wellness, music, and more. Plus, every WordPress.com theme is mobile-friendly by default, so you don’t have to spend more time making your site responsive.
After landing on the perfect theme, you can customize it to match your style.
At this stage, it’s tempting to tweak every color, button, and font till you find the best combination. But what really moves the needle is creating a proper structure and layout for your site. Think of this step as setting the foundation before the real work begins.
Instead of jumping straight into design edits, you should define:
Tip: Want to learn how to build a website with WordPress, step by step? Our free video course will show you how.
How long should you expect this work to take? We chatted with Mike Ilsley, Solutions Architect for our website design service, to see how long this DIY approach takes. He shared:
For first-time WordPress users, building a five-page site can take anywhere from a few hours to several days or even weeks, depending on how comfortable they are with the tools. That includes time spent learning the platform, choosing a theme, customizing content and design, and troubleshooting along the way.
– Mike Ilsley, Solutions Architect @ WordPress.com
WordPress.com’s AI Website Builder can slash this timeline from weeks to days (or even hours).
Simply add a prompt describing the type of website you want to build. Something like: “I’m launching a freelance photography business.” Then, answer a few questions about your business and goals.
In a few minutes, you’ll get a full-fledged website designed to meet your preferences. Edit this first draft to add your creative touches and roll it out when you’re happy with the result.
2. Working with professionals
- Best for: In-house teams, mid-to-large businesses
- Type of websites: Enterprise sites, government or education sites, media or news platforms, large ecommerce sites
If you want to build a custom website that truly stands out but don’t have months to master design tools, working with professionals can be a smarter move.
Think of it this way: you could learn to rewire your house, but you’d probably rather call an electrician to save yourself all the hassle.
When hiring a professional, you have two main options:
- Freelancers: They’re perfect when you need quality work without a hefty price tag. You can hire specialists for design, development, and copywriting.
- Agencies: They bring an entire team to cover all bases for your website design project. Work with an agency for complex sites with tight deadlines. You can choose a small or a big agency based on your budget.
Unlike the DIY approach, working with professionals involves a few different steps before you can get to the final product. Plan for these phases if you take this route.
Vetting and hiring
You can expect to spend anywhere from a few days to weeks finding the right vendor to build your website. This search involves browsing portfolios, interviewing shortlisted candidates, and comparing prices.
Onboarding and briefing
Once you’ve selected a designer or agency, you want to take a week or two to clearly outline your expectations.
Create a detailed creative brief covering your goals, target audience, must-have features, and brand guidelines. Curate helpful references to share your creative vision with the designer.
The bottom line: You want to provide clarity and show what success looks like for you. The more clarity you can offer at this stage, the fewer revisions you’ll need later.
Setting timelines
From there, you can establish communication channels and align on milestone-based timelines. For example, week 1-2 can be about wireframing, and week 3-4 can be about creating the first draft for the homepage.
Map out clear milestones for both sides to stay accountable and prevent any delays in the web design process.
Tip: Stay involved in the process without becoming overbearing. You can plan weekly check-ins or status reports to keep tabs on your site’s progress.
Design and development
Now, it’s time for you to take a step back and let the professionals work their magic. The timelines for this phase depend on the scope and complexity of your site.
In the design phase, you’ll see static/interactive mockups of every page.
These wireframes give you a sense of the site’s look and feel. Typically with large website design projects, you can request iterations based on your creative preferences and align on the designs before starting the development cycle.
In other words, think of it like working on your dream house.
You review detailed blueprints, request changes, and only start construction once you love the plans. Much easier to make changes on paper than after the foundation is poured.
Once the designs are final, the development phase turns these layouts into live, functional pages.
In our chat with Mike Ilsley, he highlighted that build time depends on the site’s complexity, integrations, and the amount of content involved. Talking specifically about enterprise sites, he explained how it can take several months to complete projects of such scale:
Enterprise websites can take anywhere from several months to over a year to fully build and launch. Even for experienced teams, projects at that scale typically involve multiple stakeholders, custom development, ongoing QA, and a phased rollout. It’s not uncommon for large organizations to work with dedicated teams over many months to get everything in place.
– Mike Ilsley, Solutions Architect @ WordPress.com
Testing and review
Finally, your site goes through several rounds of testing and review before you give the final approval.
Professionals often send a checklist or staging site for you to review. You should thoroughly check every detail on every page. Test on different devices and browsers to find any bugs or areas of friction in the user experience.
Remember that it’s much easier to fix issues before launch than after.
Ready, set, launch on schedule
Building a website can be messy. And you’re bound to lose time without proper planning.
Use this guide to map out everything you need to go from idea to launch and plan your timelines realistically. Remember to build in buffer time at every stage.
Want to fast-track this process?
WordPress.com’s AI website builder does the heavy lifting for you. In minutes, you’ll have a complete, professional site that would normally take weeks to create from scratch. Customize it to match your vision, and you’re ready to launch!
Try WordPress.com’s AI website builder and see how quickly you can roll out your website.
