When building a website, one of the first questions that clients have, aside from cost, is the time that it takes to launch. Since most people don’t have experience with building a website, they are unsure of the time, work and effort that actually goes into creating a well-rounded site. Some say days, others say weeks, but you can actually swing the pendulum over to months. That’s right – on average, small websites take 4-7 weeks, and medium websites take 8-10 months, or at least they do when you work with us.

Here at SEMGeeks, we think that 4-7 weeks is a realistic starting point, and one that clients should prepare for. There are some web developers that claim that they can get a website up and running in about 1-2 weeks, but what they don’t tell clients is that they need to have every detail in its place: content written, photographs selected, layout chosen, pages arranged in order and so on. Yet even so, 1-2 weeks is a very tight timeframe to work on, and it will impact the quality of the site.

Even small sites – those that are 20 pages or less – require plenty of attention, as it takes trial and error to have the design, development and cohesiveness of the site at a high level. It takes time to put a solid website together, and it takes additional time to carefully choose content, photographs and a layout that accommodates the target audience’s interests and needs. Naturally, larger websites will require more attention because of the additional pages as well as custom features that may be added.

Most clients do understand that websites take time to build, especially when starting from scratch, and they are willing to wait for them. Sometimes, though, time isn’t on anyone’s side. Maybe there’s a specific launch date in mind based on a new product or trade show, and the website needs to be up and ready. In this case, it may be possible to get the website done in a shorter amount of time, but keep in mind that something will have to be sacrificed for the speed – perhaps a higher cost or lower quality site.

At the end of the day, a tasteful design that includes a user-friendly layout, original content and bright images goes a long way in positively representing your brand. Working with a team like SEMGeeks ensures that you get the best of both worlds: a comprehensive and smartly designed website that aligns with your business goals and timeline.