How Long Does It Take to Build a Website — The Honest Answer
A landing page in 3 days or a corporate site in 3 months? We break down what actually drives timelines and why most agencies quote the wrong numbers.
When clients ask 'how long will it take to build my website?' most agencies say '4 to 12 weeks'. That's a useless answer. Here's the real breakdown.
What actually drives timelines
- Number of unique pages and templates
- Whether content is ready (copy, photos, logo)
- Complexity of features (brochure site vs. user accounts + integrations)
- How fast you approve work
- Stack choice: template vs. custom Next.js build
Real timelines by project type
Landing page (1 page)
1–7 days. If you have copy and a logo ready, we can ship in 1–2 days. Without content — 5–7 days. This includes design, build, form, analytics, and deployment.
Corporate website (5–15 pages)
7–21 days. This is the real number when you have a brief and content ready. Most agencies quote 6–8 weeks because they build in bureaucracy, not work. We deliver in sprints: you see live progress every 3–5 days.
E-commerce (catalog + checkout)
14–30 days. Depends on category count, integrations (payments, CRM, shipping), and product volume. 500+ products? Add a week for import.
Web app / SaaS
30–90 days. This is full product development with roles, auth, database, and business logic. Discovery matters here: 1–3 days for architecture before writing code.
Why projects run late — honestly
- Client disappears for 2 weeks during review
- Content not ready until development is almost done
- Scope changes mid-project
- No clear definition of done — 'keep going until we like it'
Golden rule: lock scope BEFORE starting. List of pages, features, and done criteria. This cuts timelines in half.
How we work at SolidWeb
Before we start, we lock: deliverables list, milestone dates, and done criteria. After that, you always know what's coming and when — no 'we're working on it'.
Typical cycle: brief (day 1) → structure and design (days 2–4) → build (days 5–14) → QA and deploy (days 15–21). For a landing page — all of this in 3–5 days.
"We don't start development until scope is locked. It sounds bureaucratic — but that's exactly what lets us ship landing pages in 2 days."