How many hours does it take to redesign a website?

September 13, 2022

Have an idea of fancy redesign for your website, but hesitate to go gor it? Can it be done in the timeframe your looking for? Let's dive deeper how we should deal with timing of website redesign projects and what we need to know going forward.

Typical website redesign takes 40 to 80 hours for a freelance web developer and for agencies between 160 to 480 hours depending on the complexity of the project.

Website redesign time considerations and initial estimation

General rule to plan for a redesign is to reserve time based on the requirements of the project. If there are a lot of new features that need to be added, then expect it to take more time. The development process should be broken down to each task and each task should have certain time allocated for completion. If unclear, you should ask for a project task schedule from your developer before writing a project contract.

Setting too short or even unrealistic schedule expectations to your web development service provider can setup the project for a failure. For most business websites the release date isn't that important, since SEO driven websites ramp up so slowly without big external marketing efforts. However, with a specific release time you don't want to be late - so start the website building process as early as possible and have some leeway in case things end up going unexpectedly.

Hiring a more experienced developer or an agency brings more comfort in that they are able to show previous references of on-time delivery and meeting project's initial goals. Don't forget that sometimes as a client, you can be involved in delivering all the needed image assets for the website as well as other written material and it is important to hand them over in time to keep the project going forward.

Should you have your website redesigned from scratch?

As a customer, you should have some idea on what goals you'd like to achieve with a redesign. The goals can help to decide whether it would be beneficial to extend your current website or to build it all from scratch. If the website suffers from beign outdated in terms of design and SEO, then perhaps it is wiser to build it all from the ground up. Many companies have established templates that can save time for customization to your specific needs. On the other hand, if all you need is a little bit of design polishing and some additional integrations, then it might not be worth it to start all over. It all depends how your current site is, so don't be afraid to ask what would be the best course of action.

In case you feel stuck with your current website and don't know what to do, you can contact me here for a free website evaluation.

Custom code or website-builder?

For a business, website is a investment and you should treat it as such. Therefore it is important to figure out if the developers are familiar with your current codebase or development platform. Project tends to flow better if the developers know the ins and outs of your current codebase and CMS platform. This can save some of the valuable development time as efficiency improves.

Choosing a website CMS like Wordpress brings a whole ecosystem of services, plugins and customizability straight to your working desk. This offers way more flexibility - especially to those who want to keep it all under their own management. The caveat to this beign, that most businesses do not have the necessary technical skills to run their website. Quite often clients can end up doing more harm to the website's overall performance, although with good intensions.

Another option is to have a web development company build a custom solution for you. With more of service based model, after the initial investment you can have professional manage it all for fixed fee on a retainer. Just remember to keep all the copyrights and access to the actual code just in case, as this is your asset after all. Even with this model, you don't want to end up in a vendor lock-in type of situation and owning the rights to your code prevents that.

Why this all matters is because choosing the right platform from the start can shorten the amount of hours it takes to redesign a website. In the end, it all depends on how large development efforts there are behind the project and the amount of features the website has. Generally, you get what you pay for in terms of quality. And as a small or mid-sized company, the development speed isn't the most important factor in the long run for your business.

Why does website redesign take so long?

Here are the most common reason website redesign takes so long:

Development issues

• Fixing bugs and other development related issues is time-consuming.

Specific requirements

• Custom features take longer to implement without suitable off-the-shelf solution at hand.

Missing content

• Lacking the content that is needed to plan out the website fully hinders the development process as a whole.

Not enough resources

• Miscalculating how many designers are needed to complete the web development project or that the necessary staff is not available.

Scale of the project

• The bigger the project, the more likely it is to encounter development/management related problems.

How long does it take to redesign a website?

When web development project doesn't seem to be progressing or hasn't even started yet, as a client the logical question to ask is, how long does it exactly take to redesign a website?

A lot of the project details depends on the developer or agency creating your website. Most development companies have their own unique workflow, structure, tools and level of skill. As a result, there's a tremendous amount of variability in the production time. Not to mention the unique time aspects of each project - for example companies might have less staff working during holiday seasons or high demand during peak months. Some companies might even outsource the work to a third party - which can potentially lead to more effort being used for communication to be able to pull the project over the finish line.

The key point to understand is that different companies are not comparable, as the resources and the end results are not the same for all. But we can draw some generalizations on the type of companies, what type of projects they usually work at and how long their projects last on average.

Below you can find timeframes on how much time each developer tend to take. This doesn't take into account how many people might be working on the project, as bigger studios divide work onto free developers and designers based on availability. But hopefully this table will help you get a better idea whether your project is on schedule or long-overdue.

Now, let's look at the development circumstances at each company type as a whole.

Website redesign time for a freelancer

Freelance developers tend to leverage pre-built solutions and platforms, which they customize to fit the client's needs. That is why it doesn't take that much time for a freelancer to deliver a project in general. With efficient routines and project sizes being small to medium, freelancers can get things done fast.

The challenge in hiring a freelancer is that it's very uncommon for them to master all the areas of web development. Usually they specialize in web design or development and perhaps only do decent job at UX and SEO for example.

Website redesign time for a design studio

Design studios usually focus on a bigger picture than just websites - they provide branding, product designs and strategy among other services. In web development, they'll either leverage no-code website builders, outsource the work or have in-house developers. As they excel in design, the focus slides more to the creative side. This can mean slightly longer development times as it is more of a team effort and some coordination is involved.

Website redesign time for an agency

Agencies normally work with big clients with bigger budgets paired with higher requirements. Their in-house subject matter specialists can focus on specific areas of the project, which brings the overall quality higher. The amount of work agencies do can be tremendous and it is not uncommon for some of the employees to burn out every now and then.

Although development times for agencies can be long, you get much more value in return.

What should you do if it takes too long to redesign a website?

Before starting a project make sure you have a written contract that outlines the circumstances in which you can terminate the contract if need be. This way, you'll have easier time ending the contract without too big impact on to your business.

Cutting features is a common strategy, and works to speed up the process to get your redesign out as soons as possible. The good part is that those missing features can be added later on.

Another way would be to ask for external consultation to be involved to speed up the process or to ask for more contributors to be added to the project. You'd have to negotiate how this all could take place, but it's an attempt to try remedy the situation and which is a decent compromise for all parties.

What can you do to prevent timetable issues in a redesign project?

Besides this, here's what you can do during the redesign project to prevent it from stalling:

Ask for a roadmap

• A good roadmap solidifies how the project progresses and is going to executed at each step.

Ask for status update

• Knowing at what stage the project is and if there are any roadblocks helps to plan ahead.

Maintain good communication

• Attending meetings on a daily or weekly basis and asking questions keeps both parties aligned on reaching goals.

Prepare content

• Plan and produce content ready for development as early as possible so that there's no need to wait.

Leverage existing solutions

• Existing solutions work straight away and time is saved for extending its capabilities.

Offer a bonus

• A bonus payment upon reaching final milestone can inspire to work harder than usual.

Got questions or comments about this subject? Please let me know and I'll answer to you as soon as possible.