Most contractor websites should take two weeks. If someone tells you six months, ask what's happening in months two through five.
Day 1–2 — Discovery and planning
The call, then collecting everything: logo, colors, photos, service list, towns served, testimonials, domain access. The first two days are mostly on you, and it's where projects stall if items are missing.
Day 2–4 — Research
Competitor review, keyword research, and Google Business Profile analysis. The site structure gets decided here, before any design happens.
Day 4–8 — Design and build
Copy gets written, pages get built, photos get optimized, forms get wired up, and SEO gets implemented as we go rather than at the end.
Day 8–10 — Review
You go through it page by page. Revisions get made. This usually takes a few days of back and forth, not weeks.
Day 10–14 — Launch
Domain, SSL, analytics, Search Console, sitemap submission, and testing every page and form on desktop and mobile.
What slows projects down
- Photos. Almost always photos. Start gathering them the day you sign.
- Slow review cycles — a day to look at a draft turns into a week of delay.
- Scope changes halfway through, which are fine but do cost time.
- Waiting on domain or hosting access from a previous provider.
The build is rarely the bottleneck. Content is. If you move fast on your side, you'll be live in two weeks.
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