Short answer: A simple business website takes 48 hours to 2 weeks with a professional. Agency projects run 4–12 weeks. The biggest variable isn't the builder — it's how prepared you are when you start.
Business owners planning a new website often underestimate the timeline and then feel frustrated when it takes longer than expected. The truth is that "how long" has a completely different answer depending on who's building it and what "built" means to you.
Timeline: DIY Website Builders — 1 to 4 Weeks
Building your own site on Wix, Squarespace, or WordPress takes as long as you can give it. The platform is instant; the work is not. Realistically:
- Learning the platform: 4–8 hours
- Choosing and customising a template: 4–12 hours
- Writing and adding your content: 6–20 hours
- Testing and fixing on mobile: 2–4 hours
Most people fitting this around a busy workday take 2–4 weeks to reach a site they're happy to share. The result will look like a template — because it is — but it works.
Timeline: Freelance Developers — 2 to 6 Weeks
A freelancer builds around your brief, their other clients, and the back-and-forth of revisions. A realistic breakdown:
A well-prepared client with content and branding ready can compress this significantly. An unprepared client waiting to source photos or finalize copy is the most common cause of freelance projects running over time.
Timeline: Professional Web Design Agencies — 4 to 12 Weeks
Agencies have onboarding processes, contracts, and internal review stages built into their workflow. That structure produces consistent results but adds calendar time. A typical agency breakdown:
- Weeks 1–2: Discovery, strategy, and kickoff
- Weeks 3–5: UX wireframes and design approval
- Weeks 6–9: Development
- Weeks 10–12: Content loading, QA testing, client review, launch
For complex sites — e-commerce, booking systems, member areas — this timeline can stretch further. Agencies are worth it for scale; they're slow and expensive for a 5-page business site.
OnWebSol Delivery Times
Our packages are built around fast delivery without cutting corners on quality:
- Landing Page — 48 hours
- Basic Business (5 pages) — 5 business days
- Premium Business (10 pages) — 10 business days
- Online Store — 15 business days
These timelines assume you provide your logo, copy, and photos at the start. If content arrives late, delivery shifts accordingly — which is true of any builder.
What Causes Delays — And How to Avoid Them
In our experience, the most common reasons websites take longer than planned are all on the client side:
- Missing content — no text, no photos, no logo means the build can't start properly
- Slow feedback rounds — a 2-day response to revision requests doubles the timeline
- Changing scope mid-build — "can we add a booking system?" after the site is 80% done restarts significant work
- Too many decision-makers — when three people need to approve every page, timelines multiply
How to Prepare to Get Your Site Live Faster
Before you approach any developer, do this homework first:
- Write your page copy — at minimum a rough draft for Home, About, Services, and Contact
- Gather your photos — high-resolution images of your space, products, or team (or decide to use stock photography)
- Have your logo in vector format — .svg or .ai, not a screenshot from your email signature
- Decide your domain name — and confirm it's available
- Know your must-have features — make a list before the first call so nothing is added mid-project
A client who arrives prepared can get a professional 5-page website live in a week. The same project with content arriving in dribs and drabs can take six.
Not sure what features your site actually needs? Read: 7 things every small business website needs in 2026.
And if you're weighing up costs alongside timing, see our breakdown: how much does a small business website cost?
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