How Many Hours Does It Take to Design a Website?

It takes a lot of knowledge to design a website, depending on the complexity, scope, or skills needed. While many freelance software developers may say they can complete a WordPress website in 2 or 3 days, others offer to launch one within hours. But usually, it takes more time to build and launch a functional custom-designed website. 

Designing a website consists of several stages, and the time spent on these stages depends on the objectives and complexity. Let’s take a look at every stage.

Discovery and Planning

This stage is basically the project’s foundation, and it can take more than 80 hours to provide a list of the project requirements, create content, and understand the website’s functions and performance requirements. Usually, the client must provide answers relating to their goals and vision, the selling process, design preferences, and the like. Seeking help from a UX consultant may also speed up the process.  Once the client has approved your site map, the software developers may proceed to wireframes. 

Content Creation

The estimated time for this stage is 80+ hours since a successful website must always have appealing content, such as logos, photographs, videos, text, or audio content. There must be calls to action, titles, headings, and the use of optimized keywords. The timeline may vary because of factors like the number of web pages and so on.

User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) Design 

A great UI and UX means creating a user-friendly interface for the client’s needs. You may start learning about UX and UI design as early as today by enrolling in Figma classes. At this stage, the designer uses all the pieces of information from the previous stages to create a perfect representation of the way the website should look. Starting with landing/homepage design, internal pages, color palettes, and fonts, this stage may last for up to 48 hours. 

Coding 

As soon as design and content are ready, front-end development can start. The timeline for this stage depends on the amount of work that needs to be done. The coding, validation, and browser testing may take more than 16 hours, and if the requirements are changing, the coding may take 2 to 5 days. 

Beta Testing

Before launching a website, software developers must go through a final period of testing. They may need to review the code to detect typos, slow-loading pages, or non-loading elements. Beta testing may require about 8 hours. 

Official Launch

If all the beta testing parameters are fulfilled, it is now the time to launch the website for the public. This stage could take a day or two if the website includes many apps and components. After launch, some revisions may be required until the website looks and works perfectly. 

To conclude, a minimum of 240 hours (30 days or six weeks) are required when designing a website. But to know exactly what timeline or price you should expect when ordering a web design in Washington DC, you need to account for your quality expectations, the scope, and the complexity of the website. An experienced project manager should guide you through all stages and estimate the optimal time and cost to build your website.