Short answer: a website redesign takes 4 to 6 weeks for a 5-page brochure site, 8 to 14 weeks for a 20-page service site, and 14 to 24 weeks for an e-commerce store. Those numbers assume one decision-maker, content that is ready (or budgeted for), and feedback returned within 3 business days.
The frustrating part is that most timelines published online stop at the range. They do not tell you which week your logo files are needed, who is holding up week 5, or why a project quoted at 10 weeks quietly became 22. This guide breaks the redesign down phase by phase, week by week, and flags every task that sits on your side of the table. It is argued more carefully on liquisdigital.com.
Quick Answer: Redesign Timelines by Project Size
| Project type | Typical pages | Realistic timeline | Fast track (best case) | Slow case (what usually happens) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brochure site | 3 to 6 | 4 to 6 weeks | 2 to 3 weeks | 10 to 12 weeks |
| Service / multi-page marketing site | 15 to 30 | 8 to 14 weeks | 6 weeks | 5 to 7 months |
| E-commerce store | 30 to 100+ (plus catalogue) | 14 to 24 weeks | 10 weeks | 9 to 12 months |
| Enterprise / multilingual / custom app | 100+ | 6 to 12 months | 4 months (phased) | 18 months+ |
Notice the gap between the realistic column and the slow column. That gap is almost never caused by development speed. It is caused by content, approvals and scope changes, and all three are things you can control.
The Six Phases of a Website Redesign
Every serious redesign, regardless of size, moves through the same six phases. Only the duration changes.
- Discovery and strategy: goals, audit, sitemap, requirements
- Content: copywriting, photography, migration planning
- Design: wireframes, visual direction, page templates
- Build: development, CMS setup, integrations
- QA and review: testing, cross-browser, SEO checks, client sign-off
- Launch and post-launch: deployment, redirects, monitoring
Content is listed second on purpose. When content runs in parallel with design instead of ahead of it, you get design that is built around placeholder text and then reworked. That rework is the single most common source of slipped deadlines.
Timeline 1: The 5-Page Brochure Site (4 to 6 Weeks)
Typical scope: Home, About, Services, Contact, and one or two supporting pages. No e-commerce, no member login, a simple contact form, maybe a blog feed.
Week-by-Week Breakdown
| Week | Phase | What the agency does | What you must deliver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 | Discovery | Kickoff call, analytics review, competitor scan, sitemap | Hosting and domain access, analytics access, brand files, 3 sites you like |
| Week 1 to 2 | Content | Page outlines, copy drafts or copy brief | Final text, logos, photos, team bios, testimonials |
| Week 2 to 3 | Design | Homepage concept, then inner page templates | One consolidated round of feedback within 48 hours |
| Week 3 to 4 | Build | Responsive build, CMS setup, forms, speed tuning | Nothing, stay out of the way |
| Week 4 to 5 | QA and review | Device testing, accessibility pass, redirect map, SEO tags | Staging review and written sign-off |
| Week 5 to 6 | Launch | DNS switch, redirects live, Search Console, 7-day monitoring | Approve the go-live window |
Where these projects die: week 2. The build is genuinely quick, but a five-page site still needs roughly 2,500 to 4,000 words of copy. Business owners who promise to write it themselves routinely take six to eight weeks to deliver it. A 5-page redesign that should take 5 weeks becomes a 3-month project for that reason alone.
Timeline 2: The 20-Page Service Site (8 to 14 Weeks)
Typical scope: multiple service pages, location or industry pages, a blog with existing posts to migrate, case studies, lead forms, CRM or email marketing integration, and real SEO value in the current URLs that must be preserved.
Week-by-Week Breakdown
| Weeks | Phase | Key deliverables | Client dependency |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 to 2 | Discovery and strategy | Stakeholder interviews, analytics and SEO audit, keyword map, sitemap, technical requirements | High. Interviews, access, a named decision-maker |
| 2 to 5 | Content production | Page-by-page outlines, copy drafts, content inventory, photography brief | Very high. Subject matter review, approvals, assets |
| 3 to 6 | UX and visual design | Wireframes for 5 to 7 templates, design system, high-fidelity mockups | Medium. Two review rounds, 3 business days each |
| 6 to 10 | Development | Template build, CMS configuration, blog migration, integrations, Core Web Vitals work | Low. Credentials for third-party tools |
| 10 to 12 | Content load and QA | All pages populated, 301 redirect map, form testing, browser and device matrix, accessibility | High. Full staging review, consolidated bug list |
| 12 to 14 | Launch and stabilisation | Deployment, redirect verification, sitemap submission, rank and traffic monitoring, training | Medium. Attend training, sign off |
Note the overlap. Content (weeks 2 to 5) and design (weeks 3 to 6) run partly in parallel, which is how you compress a project without cutting corners. Wireframes can proceed once outlines are approved, but final design should not be signed off on lorem ipsum. web-ideas.com.au published something useful on the subject.
Why This Size Slips the Most
A 20-page site is the awkward middle. It is big enough to involve several stakeholders but rarely has a dedicated project owner. The classic pattern:
- Week 4: two service pages still waiting on the sales director
- Week 7: the CEO sees the design for the first time and wants a different direction
- Week 9: someone asks for a client portal that was never in scope
- Week 11: the photographer is booked out for a month
Each of those adds 1 to 3 weeks. Four of them turn a 12-week project into a 22-week project.
Timeline 3: The E-Commerce Store (14 to 24 Weeks)
E-commerce is a different animal because you are not just redesigning pages, you are rebuilding a revenue system. Products, variants, pricing rules, tax, shipping, payment gateways, inventory sync, order flows and customer accounts all have to work on day one.
Phase Breakdown
| Phase | Duration | What happens |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery and platform decision | 2 to 4 weeks | Checkout analytics, platform selection, integration inventory (ERP, PIM, accounting, shipping), catalogue audit |
| Data and content preparation | 3 to 8 weeks (parallel) | Product data cleanup, attribute mapping, category taxonomy, product photography, descriptions |
| UX and design | 4 to 6 weeks | Category, product, cart, checkout, account, search and filter templates |
| Development and integrations | 6 to 10 weeks | Theme build, payment gateways, shipping rules, tax, stock sync, promotions engine |
| Migration and QA | 3 to 5 weeks | Product and customer and order migration, test transactions, refund flows, load testing, redirect map for every product URL |
| Launch and post-launch | 2 to 3 weeks | Soft launch, live transaction monitoring, conversion tracking verification, fixes |
The Two Things That Blow Up E-Commerce Timelines
- Product data quality. If your catalogue has inconsistent attributes, missing images, duplicate SKUs or descriptions written by six different people over ten years, cleanup can take longer than the build. Audit your catalogue before you sign anything.
- Third-party dependencies. An ERP connector, a payment provider approval or a marketplace feed can add weeks that no agency controls. Start those conversations in week 1, not week 12.
One planning note for 2026 and 2027: avoid launching a store between the start of November and mid-January. Most retailers freeze changes during peak season, so a project targeting a December launch realistically lands in late January or February.
What Actually Causes Redesign Delays
Across projects, the causes are remarkably consistent. Here is the honest ranking, with the typical cost in calendar time.
| Cause of delay | Who owns it | Typical time lost |
|---|---|---|
| Content not ready (copy, photos, product data) | Client | 2 to 10 weeks |
| Slow or contradictory feedback from multiple stakeholders | Client | 1 to 4 weeks |
| Scope creep after design approval | Shared | 2 to 6 weeks |
| Missing access (hosting, DNS, analytics, third-party accounts) | Client | 3 days to 2 weeks |
| Third-party integration or API surprises | Shared | 1 to 5 weeks |
| Legacy data or messy migration | Agency | 1 to 4 weeks |
| Agency resourcing or queue | Agency | 1 to 3 weeks |
| Legal, compliance or accessibility review | Client | 1 to 3 weeks |
Add it up: roughly 70 percent of lost time sits on the client side. That is not a criticism, it is good news. It means the timeline is largely in your hands.
The Client Checklist: What You Must Deliver, and When
Print this. If you have all of it ready before kickoff, you can realistically cut 20 to 30 percent off any of the timelines above.
Before Kickoff
- Domain registrar login and DNS access
- Current hosting and CMS admin credentials
- Google Analytics, Search Console and Tag Manager access
- Logo files in vector format, brand guidelines, fonts and licences
- A single named decision-maker with authority to approve
- Three competitor or reference sites with notes on what you like
- A hard business reason for the redesign (leads, conversion, rebrand, platform end of life)
By End of Week 2
- Approved sitemap
- Final or near-final copy, or a signed-off copywriting brief
- Photography: either existing library or a booked shoot date
- Testimonials, case studies, certifications, team bios
- List of every third-party tool that must connect to the site
During Design and Build
- Consolidated feedback in one document, not five separate emails
- Feedback returned within 3 business days
- No new feature requests after design sign-off (park them for phase 2)
How to Shorten a Redesign Without Cutting Quality
1. Write the Content First, or Pay Someone To
This is the single biggest lever. Content-first projects finish 3 to 6 weeks earlier than content-last projects of the same size. If nobody internally has 15 hours to write, hire a copywriter in week 1. It costs less than two months of delay.
2. Appoint One Decision-Maker
Committees do not approve designs, they negotiate them. Name one person who collects internal opinions and delivers a single verdict. Everyone else advises.
3. Agree a Feedback SLA in the Contract
Both directions. Agency responds within 24 hours, client returns feedback within 3 business days, and the timeline shifts day for day when either side misses. It sounds bureaucratic. It saves months.
4. Use a Component Library Instead of Designing Every Page
Design 5 to 8 reusable templates and a component system rather than 20 unique page layouts. You get consistency, faster build, and easier maintenance. This alone can remove 2 to 3 weeks from a mid-size project.
5. Phase the Launch
Launch the core marketing pages first, then add the resource centre, the multilingual version or the customer portal in a phase 2. A live improved site earning leads beats a perfect site that launches five months late.
6. Do Technical Prep in Parallel
Redirect mapping, hosting provisioning, SSL, analytics configuration and SEO audits do not depend on design. Run them alongside week 1 to 4 rather than cramming them into the week before launch.
7. Freeze Scope After Design Approval
Keep a visible “phase 2” list. Every new idea goes on it instead of into the current sprint. Nothing gets lost, nothing derails the date.
How Timeline Relates to Cost
A common question alongside duration is budget, and the two are linked but not proportional. Longer is not better. A project that runs 22 weeks instead of 12 usually costs more not because more was built, but because of rework, re-briefing and project management overhead on a stalled project.
- Brochure redesign: generally a fixed-fee, small-team job
- Service site redesign: the mid-range where strategy, copywriting and SEO migration are the value drivers
- E-commerce redesign: integration and data work commonly account for 30 to 50 percent of the total effort
If you want a figure for your specific scope, ask for a phased quote with content and integrations priced separately. That exposes where the real time and money go.
How Often Should You Redesign?
The old rule of “every 2 to 3 years” was built for an era of big-bang rebuilds. A better model in 2026:
- Full redesign: every 4 to 5 years, or triggered by a rebrand, a platform reaching end of life, or a structural failure to convert
- Continuous improvement: quarterly updates to key templates, messaging and page speed based on analytics
Sites maintained continuously rarely need the painful 6-month rebuild, because they never fall that far behind.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a website redesign take on average?
Most business website redesigns take 8 to 14 weeks from kickoff to launch. Small brochure sites finish in 4 to 6 weeks, and e-commerce stores typically need 14 to 24 weeks.
Can a website be redesigned in 2 weeks?
Yes, for a small site, but only under strict conditions: final content already written, a template-based build, a single decision-maker, no integrations, and same-day feedback. Anything beyond that and two weeks means cutting QA, SEO migration or accessibility, which you will pay for later.
What is the longest phase of a website redesign?
On paper, development. In reality, content. Development is predictable and schedulable, while content depends on people with other full-time jobs. Content is the phase that most often doubles. There is a practical rundown of it online.
Will my SEO drop after a redesign?
A short dip of 2 to 6 weeks is normal while search engines re-crawl. A lasting drop is not normal and usually means missing 301 redirects, removed content, changed URL structure without mapping, or blocked staging directives left in place. Budget one full week for redirect mapping and verification on any site with meaningful organic traffic.
What is the 3 second rule in website design?
It is the idea that a visitor should understand who you are, what you offer and what to do next within about three seconds of landing on a page. It also refers to load time: pages that take longer than roughly three seconds to become usable lose a significant share of mobile visitors. Both interpretations point to the same thing, clarity and speed above decoration.
Should I keep my old site live during the redesign?
Yes. Build on a staging environment and switch DNS only after sign-off. Your current site should continue generating leads throughout the entire project.
What happens after launch?
Plan for 2 to 4 weeks of stabilisation: redirect checks, form and conversion tracking verification, ranking monitoring, browser edge cases and small fixes. A redesign is not finished on launch day, it is finished when the numbers are stable or improved.
Ready to Plan Your Redesign?
The honest version of the answer to “how long does a website redesign take” is this: the build is the predictable part. The timeline is decided by how prepared you are before week 1 and how fast you answer during weeks 2 to 10.
At Come2Net we scope every redesign with a week-by-week plan, named client deliverables and dated milestones, so you know exactly what is needed from you and when. Get in touch for a realistic timeline and quote based on your actual page count, content status and integrations.