How Long Does It Take to Build a WordPress Website? Three Factors That Influence Your Timeline

One of the first questions I am asked when I tell someone that I design and build websites is:

“How long does it take to build a website?”

The honest answer is…it depends.

Not because building a website with WordPress is difficult, but because the timeline is influenced by three important things:

• Your experience with WordPress and tech
• The amount of time you have to work on it each week
• Your budget

Let’s take a look at each of these and how each one can affect the your timeline.

1. Your knowledge and Experience

If you have never built a website with WordPress before, there is a learning curve.

You’ll need to become familiar with:

• Purchasing a domain and hosting
• Installing WordPress
• Understanding themes and plugins
• Creating pages, posts and menus
• Learning to a page builder like Elementor or Gutenburg
• Optimizing images
• Basic SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
• Website security
• Ongoing maintenance

Here is the thing…you do not need to become a professional web developer. You just need a clear plan and a guide to lead through the process from idea to completed website.

Without guidance, you could spend weeks and even months watching random YouTube videos, searching Google for answers, and try to piece everything together on your own.

2. The Time You Have Available

Building your website should not become your full-time job.

Focusing on what creates income for your business is. Most business owners are balancing business obligations, personal responsibilities and everyday life. If you only have a few hours each week to dedicate to your website, progress will take longer.

• 3 – 5 hours per week: 4 – 6 months
• 5 – 10 hours per week: 2 – 4 months
• 10+ hours per week with a structured plan: 6 -10 weeks

Dedicating and working consistently on your website matters more than non-stop work sessions. Small regular committed scheduled time allocated to your website adds up.

3. Your Budget

Budget can determine many decisions that you will make in regard to your online presence.

If you have the resources to hire a designer, a copywriter, photographer, and developer, your website can be completed in as little as 3 to 4 weeks.

If you’re building it yourself to save money, you’ll be investing your time.

Perhaps you fall in-between…you have a budget and time to invest. This can be the perfect option for the small business owner. If your budget is small and you want to have control of your website and content of that website.

So…How long should your expect it to take?

With limited WordPress knowledge, a busy schedule and a modest budget, building a quality website often takes three to six months when you are doing it alone.

That timeline can be drastically reduced when you have step-by-step guidance. Instead of trying to figure it all out on your own, you have a structured path that takes your through each step toward building your website from planning and design to launch.

The Website Foundations course was designed to provide you with the skills and guidance to complete your website one step at a time with guidance and to gain the confidence to manage it yourself long after it’s live.