Costs & pricing · 6 min read
How long does it take to build a small business website?
A small business website usually takes 2–4 weeks from first call to launch. A basic site can be live in around two weeks; a larger site with several service pages, booking or selling features typically takes four to six. The single biggest delay is not the build — it's waiting on content, photos and feedback from the business owner.
By Raja Wahab, Co-founder, Fixby Studios · Updated
A realistic week-by-week timeline
- Week 1 — Discovery and plan. A call about your customers and what an enquiry is worth, then a written plan of pages, features and price.
- Week 1–2 — Design and first pages. You see real working pages in a browser, not slideshows, and give feedback as they appear.
- Week 2–3 — Build out. Remaining pages, forms, integrations, mobile checks and speed work.
- Week 3–4 — Review and launch. Your amends, a final check on every device, then domain, analytics and Search Console go live together.
What makes it faster
- Photos ready. Even phone photos of real jobs beat waiting weeks for a shoot.
- One decision maker. Feedback from four people in three directions adds a week on its own.
- Rough notes instead of polished copy. We'd rather have your honest description of a service than wait for you to write it perfectly.
- A short first version. Launching five strong pages and adding more later almost always beats holding everything back.
What makes it slower
Selling online, bookings with availability, logins, or connecting an existing system all add real work — payment flows, confirmation emails and the edge cases nobody thinks about until they happen. So does a domain sitting with an old developer who takes a fortnight to reply.
Common questions
Can a site be built in a week?
Sometimes, for a single-page site where the content already exists. It's rarely the right trade — a week doesn't leave room to think about how the page actually converts.
When does SEO start working?
Indexing happens within days. Meaningful local ranking normally takes a few months of the site being live, being linked to, and being kept up to date.
Do I need everything finished before launch?
No. Launch the pages that bring in enquiries, then add case studies and extra service pages as they're ready.
See what's included and get a timeline for your own build.
Raja Wahab is co-founder of Fixby Studios, a Huddersfield studio building websites, SEO, social media and business software for small, owner-managed businesses across West Yorkshire.
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Fixby Studios builds websites, runs SEO and manages social media for small businesses across Huddersfield and West Yorkshire.