How long does it take to build a small business website?
"How long will this take?" is the second question after price. The honest answer is: the build is rarely the slow part.
We tell people most small business sites are ready in two to four weeks after we have the copy and photos. Bigger rebuilds take longer. If you do not have words or pictures yet, add that time on the front.
What a typical project looks like
Week 1. We agree on pages, the offer, and what "done" means. You send the logo, colors if you have them, and a list of services. We send a sitemap, not a 40-page strategy deck.
Weeks 2 to 3. Design and build overlap. Homepage and the two or three money pages first. You look at a staging URL on your phone. We change what is wrong.
Week 4. Forms, redirects if we are replacing an old site, analytics, a last pass on speed. Then it goes live.
That is a five-to-eight page service business. A store with a hundred products, member logins, or three locations is a different schedule. We will say so up front.
What actually slows it down
Waiting on copy. Waiting on photos. Waiting on the owner who is also the plumber and can only look at drafts on Sunday night.
Revision loops are the other one. If four people have to approve the homepage, it will take a month before anyone writes a headline. Pick one person who can say yes.
Scope creep is real and usually our fault if we did not write the list of pages down. If you add a booking system in week three, the calendar moves.
DIY builders vs hiring someone
A Wix or Squarespace site can be up in a weekend if you are comfortable making decisions and you already know what to say. A lot of owners are not, and they spend two months fussing with a template after work.
A freelancer or a shop like us is faster when you want the decisions made for you. You still have to send the facts: hours, service area, insurance, the phone number that should ring.
AI layout tools can spit out a first draft. They do not know which service makes you money or which photo is from the actual shop. Someone still has to write that.
Refresh vs new site
If we are keeping your URLs and rewriting the front, the calendar is shorter. If we are moving off an old builder and redirecting fifty pages, we need a week just for the map. Refresh and rebuild are different jobs.
What we need from you on day one
- The current URL, if there is one
- What you want people to do (call, form, book)
- Services and cities you actually cover
- A logo, even if it is a PNG from 2019
- Who approves the work
You do not need a brand book. You do need answers.
If you want a date attached to a price, request a quote. We usually reply within a day, with a timeline that matches the site you have, not a generic eight-week chart.