How long does it take to build a website? Real timelines, step by step
At Sonho, allow 4 to 6 weeks, for a website as for a Shopify store. We go through each step and what makes the schedule slip.
The short answer
At Sonho, plan on 4 to 6 weeks to build a professional website, for a website as for a Shopify store, everything included: brief, design, build, launch. The biggest factor is your content and how fast you sign things off.
How long does it take to build a custom website?
Plan on 4 to 6 weeks for a simple custom website: five to eight pages, a custom design, content ready at kickoff.
The number of distinct layouts to design drives the timeline more than the page count. Ten pages sharing three layouts get built faster than five pages that are all unique. The other decisive variable is your content: copy, photos and testimonials gathered upfront save one to two weeks.
Timelines follow the same logic as budget: each extra layout or feature adds time. To put the two side by side, price ranges are detailed in how much does a website cost.
How long does it take to build a Shopify store?
The timeline depends on the level of ambition. A bare-bones store on a standard theme, with no customization, goes up in a few days, which is enough to test an idea but too little to carry a brand. A serious store takes several weeks, more when the theme is deeply customized.
At Sonho, a custom Shopify store is delivered in 4 to 6 weeks, languages, B2B area and specific purchase flows included. Most of the time goes into the product pages to structure, the shipping and payment rules to configure, and the data to migrate from the old platform.
If you're migrating from WooCommerce, Wix or another Shopify store, add the time to port the catalog and set up redirects. Your customers won't see this work, and it protects your existing search rankings.
What are the stages of a website project, and how long does each take?
A website project breaks down into four phases. The table shows our process, with what each phase delivers and who does what, so you know where you stand at any point.
| Stage | Duration | Deliverable | Who does what |
|---|---|---|---|
| Brief | 1 week | Validated scope, page structure, fixed-price quote | You describe the business and the goals; the agency structures and prices it |
| Design | 1 week | Mockups of every page layout | The agency designs; you comment, with revisions included until you sign off |
| Build | 2 to 3 weeks | Working site on a preview link | The agency develops; you follow along live, the link updates with every change |
| Launch and training | 2 to 3 days | Site in production, team trained | The agency connects the domain, checks everything and trains your team |
How do you prepare the project brief for your website?
Two clear pages are enough to start the brief phase without losing a week to back-and-forth questions. A good project brief also lets you compare quotes on the same scope.
It should contain, in order of importance:
- The list of planned pages, even a rough one: home, services, about, contact, plus anything specific to your business.
- Three to five examples of websites you like, with one sentence on what appeals to you in each: the style, the structure, the tone.
- The state of your content: which copy exists, which photos are usable, what still needs producing and by whom.
- Your constraints: hard deadline, languages, tools to connect (booking, payment, CRM), budget envelope.
What delays a website project?
Most delays come from content on the client side. Page copy, photos, product pages, legal notices: each batch of content missing at kickoff delays the project by several days. A site can be technically finished and sit waiting three weeks for the copy to arrive.
The second cause is slow sign-offs. A mockup that waits ten days for feedback is ten calendar days lost, because the next phase can't start. A single decision-maker on the client side and feedback within 48 hours are enough to keep the schedule on track.
The fix is a written split of responsibilities from the brief onwards: the agency delivers the mockups, the site and the announced deadlines; you deliver the content and the sign-offs by the agreed dates. When each side knows what it owes the other and by when, delays become rare, and you see them early enough to catch up.
How long does a website redesign take?
At Sonho, a redesign also takes 4 to 6 weeks. It's often faster than a new build on the content side, since the copy and photos already exist. It takes longer on the technical side: porting the data, page-by-page redirects, preserving the search rankings you've already earned.
The technology you land on weighs directly on the schedule: staying on the same platform, migrating to Shopify or rebuilding on a hand-coded custom site are very different undertakings. The criteria for deciding are detailed in which technology to choose for a redesign.
A classic trap: using the redesign as an excuse to change everything at once, the design, the copy, the structure and the platform. Every added workstream stretches the timeline and makes it harder to measure what's working. A clean redesign followed by improvements in stages keeps both under control.
Can you build a website in one week?
You can put a single presentation page online in a week on an existing base. A site meant to bring in clients needs more time for its positioning, service pages, proofread content and a design that sets you apart.
If you're in a hurry, ship in stages. The critical part goes live first, say a solid homepage and a contact page, then the service pages and the rest follow in waves. You're visible fast, and the rest of the site keeps its quality.
We settle this on a discovery call: what needs to ship first, what can wait, and a fixed-price quote locked in before we start. If your deadline is tight, let's talk directly: we'll tell you what's doable and what isn't.
Frequently asked questions
- How long does a 5-page website take?
- At Sonho, allow 4 to 6 weeks, for a website as for a Shopify store. For a five-page site with a custom design and content ready at kickoff, the brief takes a week, the design a week, then comes the build. On an existing template you can get down to one or two weeks, and the result will look like the thousands of sites built on the same model. The state of your content matters more than the page count.
- How long does it take to put a finished site online?
- One day. The switch covers connecting the domain name, the security certificate, final checks and training your team. Domain propagation can take anywhere from a few hours to 48 hours depending on your domain registrar. For a redesign, add the redirects from the old URLs, prepared ahead of time so the switch stays a formality.
- How long before you're visible on Google?
- According to Google, crawling a page can take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. Rankings on your target queries come after that, at a pace no provider can guarantee, the time it takes Google to assess the site and for the content to do its work. Launch without waiting for SEO results: a site that goes online early builds up history, and you can generate your first leads through your network and existing profiles in the meantime.
- Can a website project be sped up?
- Yes, and the main lever is on your side: content gathered before kickoff, a single decision-maker on the client side and sign-offs within 48 hours keep the project at the short end of the 4 to 6 week range. On the agency side, shipping in stages puts the critical part online first, with the rest following in waves. Compressing the phases themselves usually means rework after launch.
- What happens if my content isn't ready?
- The project starts anyway: the brief and the design move forward with placeholder content sized to the expected final length. The launch, however, waits for your final copy and photos. If writing is what's blocking you, say so at the brief stage: it can be handled within the project, as a priced option in the quote.
