12 February 2026 · 5 min read
How long does it take to build a website?
The honest ranges, and the real reason most projects run late.
“How long will it take” is usually the second question after “how much will it cost,” and it deserves the same honest treatment. Not a single number pulled out of the air to close the call, but a real range tied to what's actually being built, and an explanation of what tends to blow the timeline out in practice.
A simple brochure site
Five to eight pages, a clear structure, no custom functionality. In our experience this realistically takes three to six weeks from kickoff to launch, assuming content and feedback come back promptly. Most of that time is design and copy refinement, not code.
The build itself is rarely what makes a project run long.
A proper small business site
Custom design, considered UX, some integrations (a booking widget, a newsletter signup, maybe a blog), and SEO built in from the start. Six to ten weeks is realistic, largely because there's more back and forth: wireframes to approve, a design direction to sign off, copy to refine against an actual content strategy rather than filler text.
E-commerce
Eight to fourteen weeks, depending on catalogue size, payment gateway complexity, and whether it's trading in one currency or several. Product photography and catalogue data entry are frequently the actual bottleneck, not the storefront build itself.
Custom web applications
Client portals, internal databases, booking systems with real business logic behind them. Three months minimum, often longer, because software like this needs proper architecture decisions upfront and genuine testing against real use cases before launch, not just a visual sign-off.
What actually determines the timeline
The build itself is rarely what makes a project run long. It's almost always one of three things: content that isn't ready when the design is, feedback rounds that take two weeks instead of two days because the right person hasn't seen it yet, or scope that keeps growing mid-build because new requirements surface once people can actually see the thing taking shape.
None of that is a criticism. Businesses are busy, and a website is rarely the only thing on someone's plate that week. It's just worth knowing upfront: the fastest way to protect a timeline is having content ready before the build starts, and a single decision-maker who can turn feedback around quickly.
If you want a realistic timeline for your specific project rather than a generic estimate, that's easy to give once we understand the actual scope.
Related Expertise
Web & Digital Development
Custom websites, web applications, React front-ends and client portals, engineered to perform, not just launch.
This article reflects our general experience in the South African market at the time of publishing. It’s a starting point, not advice tailored to your situation, and every project is different. For advice specific to yours, get in touch.