How long a small-business website should take.
And why six months is a smell.
If someone tells you your small-business website will take six months, that's a smell. Not because good work is fast, but because six months usually means nobody is actually driving the project. It's sitting in someone's queue.
A real website for a local business — 5 to 8 pages, mobile-ready, with a working form and calendar — should take two to three weeks once the content and answers are in. Here's how that breaks down.
Discovery takes a few days. We learn your business, your customers, what an inquiry is worth to you. You answer questions; we listen. This isn't a phase that takes a month. It's a call and a short questionnaire.
Build takes one to three weeks depending on scope. A 5-page site is about two weeks. A 7–8 page site with a messaging workshop is about three. During build, you review at set points — not daily, not never. You see the work as it takes shape.
Launch is a day. We connect your domain, set the form and calendar live, run a checklist, and you're open. Then there's a two-week window where we fix the small things you notice once real people are on the site.
So the honest answer: from first call to live site, plan on three to four weeks for most local businesses. Longer than that and someone isn't paying attention to you. Shorter than two weeks and they're probably reusing a template and calling it custom.
The timeline matters because your site is supposed to produce inquiries. Every week it sits in someone's queue is a week you're not getting calls. A project with a real start and end date respects your time and your business.
If you want a timeline you can plan around, book a call. We'll give you a start date and an end date before we begin.
Want a site that does this?
A simple 3–5 page site for your Niles or Michiana shop, $300 to launch, live in a few days. Tap-to-call and a contact form that actually reaches you.