Every project I run has the same four phases. The sizes differ; the shape does not.
What are the phases?
- Discovery. Map the outcome, the pages, the must-haves, who edits it after. Usually one call plus a short brief.
- Design. Layout and copy direction for every key page, reviewed and signed off before any build.
- Build, SEO and speed. The actual development: templates, content, schema, image and font optimisation, a 90+ PageSpeed target from day one.
- Launch and support. Migration with redirects mapped, a handoff walkthrough, a snag-list window.
How long is each phase?
For a typical mid-size site: discovery is a few days, design is about a week including one review round, build is two to three weeks, and launch week handles migration and final checks. Most of the calendar time that is not build is feedback: waiting on your review of the design, then your review of the staging site.
What actually causes delays?
- Content that arrives late or in pieces. The biggest one by far. See the FAQ below.
- Slow or scattered feedback. One consolidated round of notes moves fast; drip-fed changes over two weeks do not.
- Scope growing mid-build. "Can we also add a booking system" in week three resets part of the timeline.
- Third-party dependencies. Waiting on a merchant account, a domain transfer, an API key from another vendor.
Small, mid, large: week by week
Small business site (2 to 3 weeks): week 1, discovery and design sign-off; week 2, build; week 3, review, fixes and launch.
Mid marketing site (4 to 6 weeks): week 1, discovery and design; week 2, design sign-off and build start; weeks 3 to 4, build; week 5, staging review and revisions; week 6, launch and snag list.
Large site or store (8 to 12 weeks): weeks 1 to 2, discovery and full design; weeks 3 to 7, build in stages with interim reviews; weeks 8 to 9, catalogue or content load and QA; weeks 10 to 12, staging review, redirects, launch, post-launch tuning.
Can it be done faster?
Yes, within reason, if the content is final on day one, feedback comes back within a day, and the scope is locked. A small site can then land in a week to ten days. Compressing a mid or large project mostly means agreeing a smaller launch scope and a phase two.
What is the fastest realistic launch?
A single landing page with ready copy: a few days. A small brochure site with content ready: about a week. Anything described as "just a quick five-pager" is usually a two-to-three week project once real content and review rounds are counted, and that is the honest number I would quote.
