6 Factors That Impact How Fast a New Website Can be Developed

One of the most common questions I’m asked is, “How soon can the website be done?”

So, in this video I talk about 4 factors that impact how fast a new website can be developed, plus I’ve added 2 more factor in this blog post not mentioned in the video.

If you prefer, you can read the full transcript of the video at: What determines the build time of my website?

4 Factors That Impact How Fast a New Website Can be Developed

1) Is it a custom or pre-existing design?

Creating a website from a pre-existing template is much faster than creating a custom-designed website.  If you want a unique, original site, you’ve got to allow the designer time to create it.

2) The number of revision cycles in the design process.

A revision cycle involves several steps: the client reviewing the design, then sends the developer a list of changes, and then the developer implements those changes.  Typically, the number of revisions in a particular revision cycle will not slow down the development process nearly as much as the number of cycles. It’s the logistics of the back and forth communication, scheduling time for reviews and revisions, etc that takes time. If the client can get all the revisions listed the first time and the developer can make them all correctly, it will reduce the project time greatly.

3) Amount of content that is being entered.

How much is being entered by the developer versus how much will be entered by you later on?  If the client is willing to insert most of the content themselves, that will reduce the project time.

4) The developer and client response times.

Does the developer have a required turn-around time when it comes to responding to your e-mails or your phone calls? We here at OurChurch.Com, we strive for a maximum of one business day turn-around time. Oftentimes, it’s much less than that. It’s within a few hours.

Does the contract specify how long the developer will take for each phase of the web development process? How quickly revisions will be made?

In our experience, though, it is the client’s response time that usually delays web development projects the most. It’s understandable…

• It’s usually the first time the client has gone through the process.
• Often they need to get approval, feedback and content from other people, and
• Usually, the website is not clients number one priority in life.

But, if you are about to embark on having a website developed for your organization, just keep in mind the faster you can do your part of the project, the sooner you’ll have your new website.

5) The complexity of the website

A fifth factor that determines how quickly a website can be developed is its complexity.  If the website can be developed with WordPress existing plugins, it can be done fairly quickly.  If the website requires custom plugins to be developed, integration with other systems or migration from an existing website, that can add significantly to the development time of a website.

6) How busy is the web developer?

Before hiring a web developer, be sure to ask how busy they are.  If you’re in a rush to get your new website, you don’t want to sign on the dotted line only to find out they won’t even be able to start for 4 weeks.  You may even want to ask for a project timeline to be included in your contract.  Keep in mind, though, if you do include a timeline, you have to keep your end of the contract, providing reviews, revisions and content on schedule.

If you’ve developed websites or had them developed for you, what factors have impacted the schedule of those projects most?