How long does a website redesign take?

Most owners underestimate how long a redesign takes, and most suppliers quote the time they need, not the time the whole project needs. The difference is almost always time spent waiting: for words, for photos, for feedback and for someone to find the domain login. Knowing where the weeks go is the best way to keep your project on schedule and your Google rankings intact.

How long does each kind of redesign usually take?

These ranges are broad and hedged, because projects vary. They run from the first working meeting to launch day, and assume a supplier with capacity to start promptly.

Moving platforms adds time at both ends: extracting content at the start, and building and testing redirects (permanent forwards from old addresses to new ones) before launch. If you are leaving a website builder, moving from Wix or Squarespace to a custom website explains why some content has to be copied by hand.

What happens in each phase?

The phases overlap in a well-run project: copy can be written while designs are reviewed, and the redirect map can be built while pages are coded. The full list of checks for the testing phase is in the website migration SEO checklist.

What usually slows a redesign down?

Design and code are rarely the bottleneck. These are:

• Content. Waiting for the client's text is the single most common delay in website projects. Every page needs words, and words need approval.
• Too many decision-makers. Feedback from four people, arriving separately and contradicting each other, can double the design phase.
• Missing logins. Nobody knows who registered the domain, or the person who set up the DNS (the settings that point your domain at your website and email) has left. Projects stall for days on this.
• Scope that grows. "While we are at it, could we add a booking system?" Each addition is reasonable; together they move the launch.
• Photography. A professional shoot has to be booked, done and edited, often around your busiest weeks.
• Third parties. Booking tools, payment providers, CRMs (the software that tracks your customers) and anything else the site connects to have their own timelines and support queues.

The quickest way to shorten a redesign is to remove the waiting: one decision-maker, content drafted early, and every login gathered before the project starts.

What does a realistic schedule look like?

When should you launch?

Google's guidance on site moves suggests moving during a recurring dip in traffic if your business is seasonal or quieter on certain days. In practice:

• Avoid your busiest season. A kitchen maker should not launch in the weeks it usually receives most quote requests.
• Launch early in the week, so problems surface while everyone is working, not over a weekend.
• Make sure the developer is available for at least two weeks after launch to fix anything Search Console or customers report.
• Do not launch right before you go on holiday.

How long does it take Google to catch up after launch?

Launch day ends the build, not the project. Google has to recrawl the site, follow each redirect and replace old addresses with new ones in its results. Its site move guidance says that for a medium-sized website this can take "a few weeks or more", longer for large sites, and that rankings can fluctuate while it happens.

A sensible monitoring rhythm:

• Launch day: test every redirect live, submit the new sitemap and check key pages with Search Console's URL Inspection tool.
• First two weeks: check Search Console every few days for pages Google cannot find, and fix them.
• Weeks three to eight: compare clicks and impressions weekly against the same weeks before launch.
• After eight weeks: judge the result. A continuing fall at this stage is a fault to diagnose, which lost rankings after a website redesign covers step by step.

AI tools such as ChatGPT and Perplexity pick up changes as they re-read your pages, on their own schedules. New pages built to rank for fresh searches follow the usual SEO timescales, covered in how long SEO takes.

How should you plan your own timeline?

Work back from the date you want the site live. Leave a quiet launch window, at least two weeks of supported aftercare, and a buffer for content. Then ask any supplier for a week-by-week plan that names what you must supply and when; a supplier who cannot produce one has not planned the project.

Before the first meeting, gather what the project will otherwise wait for:

• Logins for the domain registrar, DNS, hosting, the current website, Google Search Console and analytics.
• Your price ranges, service areas, process and the questions buyers ask most, written down roughly; a good writer can shape them.
• The name of the one person who approves designs and copy.
• Any photos you already own, and dates when a shoot could happen.
• A list of the dates the site must not launch near, such as trade shows or your peak season.

For reference, the M/AFZAL Rebuild typically takes 3 to 5 weeks for a site of up to 5 pages, including redirects and 14 days of post-launch fixes, with terms on the packages page. What any project costs is covered in how much a website redesign costs, and the full method for keeping your rankings is in how to redesign your website without losing Google rankings.