A company website goes live in three to six weeks, provided the content is ready and decisions arrive on time. More than half of that time is not design or code, it is waiting and approval.
What stretches the timeline
Almost every delay comes from the same three places. Copy that never arrives, images that are not ready, and revision rounds left open ended. All three sit on the client side, which is why a schedule cannot be held by the agency alone.
Stages and realistic durations
- Scope and content inventory, three to five days. How many pages and what goes on each is settled here
- Design, one to two weeks. The home page is approved first, inner pages follow its language
- Development, one to two weeks. It does not start before design approval, otherwise the same work happens twice
- Content entry and correction, three to five days
- Pre launch checks, two days. Mobile, speed, form tests and search engine settings
Revision rounds are written down up front
Unlimited revisions serve no one. An undefined number of rounds spreads a project over months and drains the energy it started with. Two rounds cover most projects, the first for direction and the second for refinement.
When the rounds end should be in writing. Otherwise a project does not finish, it just stops.
Domain and email are separate work
Domain transfer, DNS settings and business email setup are usually forgotten and left to the last day. DNS changes can take hours to propagate, and if the mail records are wrong, incoming messages disappear. This step belongs at least three days before launch.
Launch is not the finish line
A site is not visible in search on the day it opens. Getting indexed takes one to three weeks, and settling at the top for your own brand name takes a few months. Launch day is not an ending, it is the day measurement begins.
