The small business owner is frequently in the position of being a one-person show. Sales, marketing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and so on — all fall on the person making the wheels go round. You make time for all facets of your business, but it’s not uncommon that steps taking longer than anticipated.

Building a new website is a similar endeavor. Several steps must be accomplished, all in a logical flow, to create a new online presence.

The process for doing so — while there are exceptions — usually encompasses a three-month timeline. Here’s why:

  1. Discovery — After you’ve agreed to pay for a new website, meetings must then take place to determine the scope of the project. Who is your audience? What are your goals? What is the intent of the site? What is your current brand presence? How can you make the new site work for you beyond launch? These questions and many more must be addressed and finalized. Estimated time: 2-3 weeks.
  2. Wireframe — After determining the position of the site in the marketplace and for your company, you must finalize the structure of the site. How big will your new site be and what options do you want beyond informational? Do you need ecommerce? What about a blog? The wireframe is the map of your new site. Estimated time: 1-2 weeks.
  3. Copy — Now that you know how the site will be structured, you need to get the writing done. Business owners usually don’t have time to write copy, so an external copywriter comes in and creates drafts. A period of review is necessary after the first set of pages is submitted, and then final copy is agreed upon. Estimated time: 1-3 weeks.
  4. Design and Coding — You have the structure and the copy done, but now you need all the visual properties to be completed. Graphics, photography, logos and other branding items are completed around the same time the site is being created. Estimated time: 4-5 weeks.
  5. Quality Assurance — You might have meetings in between all these steps to see the status of certain pages, but when the site is finally done, the website team likes to take one last pass through the site to make sure everything works. Your site should be polished and ready to go! Estimated time: 1-2 weeks.

Launching a new website is an exciting prospect for a small business. Ensuring the site is an impressive representation of your business doesn’t happen overnight. Three months is a better estimate.

Are you a small business owner in need a new site? Contact us today to learn how we can help.