Strategy
7 min
How long a website actually takes to build
What makes up the four-to-ten-week range, what runs in parallel versus strictly in sequence, and why schedules usually slip on the client side.
Where the weeks go
A turnkey launch typically runs four to ten weeks. The spread comes from the number of decisions, not typing speed: a small site with finished copy lands in a month, while a corporate site with a catalogue, integrations and fresh positioning sits near ten weeks. An audit, when a product already exists, is a separate two weeks that precedes the build.
Parallel versus sequential
More runs in parallel than people expect: while design works through inner pages, engineering is already standing up infrastructure and an editor is assembling copy. Only two handoffs are strictly sequential — structure to design, and approved design to build. Starting the build on an unapproved mockup saves a week and costs two.
What actually slips
Three things, and all three sit with the client: copy that will be ready on Friday, domain and analytics access being chased through a former contractor, and approval where five people review in turn instead of meeting once. None is an engineering problem, and each adds a week.
When faster is not better
A schedule can be compressed, but through scope rather than quality. The sound approach is to name what genuinely has to work on launch day and move the rest into a second iteration. The unsound one is cutting testing and review, because both return after release and cost more then.