November 25, 2024 • 13 mins
In this episode, Chrissy Rey addresses the common challenge of setting realistic timelines for website creation. Whether you're stuck in perfectionism or hoping for overnight results, this episode provides a practical framework for planning your website project. Learn about the five essential phases of website creation and get specific timeframes for each step of the process.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:09):
Welcome to website success.
I'm your host, Chrissy Rey.
And today.
We are talking about somethingthat can really trip people up.
And that is going to be figuringout a realistic timeline for
creating your own website.
I hear this from clients all the time.
One of two different versions either.
I need my website done next week,or I think it's going to take me
(00:31):
a year to get my website ready.
And honestly, both of thosetimelines can be problematic.
I recently worked with a client who hadbeen planning her website for two years.
And, you know what she hadactually done in that two years?
Pretty much nothing.
She just kept getting stuck in whatI call the perfectionism loop, trying
(00:51):
to make everything perfect beforeshe could actually move forward.
Meanwhile, another client came tome wanting a full e-commerce website
with 50 products in just three days.
And that's just not realistic.
So again, either of those timelines,probably not going to happen.
Because I do get those timelinesproposed to me from time to time.
(01:12):
I want to give you a betterunderstanding of what a realistic
timeline looks like, especially whenyou're going to DIY your website.
And I want you to make sure that you'reable to keep moving your project forward.
So we're going to break down makinga DIY website into some phases.
And talk about how long eachof those phases should take.
(01:33):
And just keep in mind throughout thisdiscussion that the timelines I'm talking
about are for a basic DIY website.
If you're building something that's abit more complex, like an e-commerce
website or a membership website, orif you're working with a web designer
or a web developer for some, or allof your website, then your timeline
might look completely different.
(01:55):
So keep that in mindthroughout this discussion.
Now phase one of your websiteproject should be your planning.
And this is going to be where youfigure out your website's purpose, you
identify your target audience, and youset some clear goals for your website.
You absolutely need to do this.
If you're not doing this, if you're notplanning out your website, then you are
(02:15):
probably going to run into problems later.
For most small business ownersthat are building their own
website, you can probably do thebasics for this in a few hours.
And I do have a website successblueprint in the resources at
webitesuccessacademy.com that'llwalk you through the entire process.
And I even have a video in thecourses that show how to use
(02:38):
AI to fill out that blueprint.
If you want to do some very, verythorough research, you're probably going
to need more than a couple of hours.
You're probably going to need a fewdays or possibly even a week, and
this is working on it part-time.
Now the biggest holdup, usuallyin this phase is going to
be drowning in the details.
There are a lot of things to think aboutand way too often I see clients spending
(03:01):
hours or even days trying to get everysingle part of their plan just right.
Yes, you do need a plan, but I don'twant you to get stuck on the first step.
So give yourself a timeline ofno more than a week to work on
your planning for your website.
And whatever you have great.
Refine it, review it, andthen move on to the next step.
(03:23):
Phase two of creating a website isgoing to be at your content creation.
At least if you followmy website success path.
And this is often going to be wherepeople get really, really stuck.
In fact, I would say this is probablythe most common roadblock for both
my DIY and my done for you clients.
During the content creation phase,you need to write your copy, gather or
(03:47):
take your photos or get some headshotsdone, and maybe create some graphics.
When I build a website for aclient who's going to give me their
content, I usually schedule about twoweeks, maybe three for this phase.
It depends on how muchcontent they need to give me.
And they can usually do that ifthey stay focused and don't let
(04:07):
that perfectionism get in the way.
Earlier this year, I gave a clientthree weeks to work on their content
because they had a lot of pages.
And now we are about five months later.
I think we're almost six months later.
And I'm currently still waiting on it.
So their project is on hold.
This is a done for you client.
Their project is on holduntil I can get that content.
I can't do anything without their content.
(04:29):
If you're planning to DIY your website, Irecommend giving yourself between one week
and three weeks to work on your content.
Try not to go much longer than thatbecause otherwise you're going to
get stuck in that perfectionism loop.
Write your content like you'reexplaining it to a friend.
Don't worry about making it soundprofessional in your first draft.
And don't use a lot of jargon.
(04:50):
And don't worry too muchabout how good it is.
You want it to be good, but it doesn'tneed to be a hundred percent perfect.
You can always edit it later.
That's one of the reallynice things about websites.
You can change them.
And in the case of a lot ofwebsites, the changes are going
to show up pretty much right away.
And also remember you don'tneed the perfect photos of
(05:11):
everything before you launched.
You can start with just the essential oneswhich can include stock photos and selfies
with your phone, and you can add to itlater and you can upload your professional
headshots and other photos later.
The next step is going to be phase three,which is usually the design, which might
also include your branding, and thisis going to be where you choose your
(05:32):
colors, your fonts, and the overalllook or template for your website.
You might also need a logo.
So if you haven't already created a logo,you didn't hire somebody to create a logo.
This is where you're going tocreate that logo for your website.
Now with the right guidance, youcan probably do most of this.
If not all of it in a day or two.
(05:53):
But I usually give clients abouta week to get through this phase
if they're DIYing their website.
Again, just like the other phases, Isee too many people spend months here.
And you don't want to fall into that trap.
You don't want to spend months scrollingthrough Pinterest or creating color
palettes and getting everybody'sopinion on it and changing your mind.
(06:14):
And you don't want toget stuck in that loop.
Another thing I want you tothink about when it comes to
the design and the branding.
Is that both of thosecan evolve over time.
You don't need to create theperfect forever design right now.
Even the big corporations changetheir colors and they change
their logos from time to time.
So you're just as good as them.
You're better than them.
(06:34):
And you can change things if you need to.
And I'll let you in on a little secretfor the Website Success Academy, I have
now changed my logo twice and my brandcolors three times just since I started.
And I will probably change either thecolors or the logo or both, or maybe
even the fonts again, in the future.
(06:55):
The key is to choose something thatlooks professional and matches your
business personality, but don't get stuckin thinking that it has to be perfect.
And if you're DIYing it now, ifyou can afford it down the road,
hire somebody to do it for you.
Hire a branding professional to redothe brand or re concept the brand later.
And then you can roll thatinto your website later on.
(07:18):
The next phase, phase four isthe actual building process.
And for most of my clients thatare DIYing it, this is often
going to be the fastest part.
If you've done all the preparation,you've already written your content,
you've already got your design,you've already got your logo and
everything, then you can build yourwebsite in as little as one day.
(07:39):
And that's not a joke.
You can actually buildyour website in a day.
And if you've been listening to thisfor a while, or you've been following
me for awhile, you know that I have aBuild Your Website in One Day workshop.
I'm going to be offeringthat on December 14th, 2024.
And the reason that I'm able to offer itis because if somebody has gone through
those first three phases, they absolutelycan build their website in one day.
(08:03):
Now, if you're learning as you goor you're working on it in between
other business tasks, like yourbookkeeping and everything else.
Then it might take a week or two orthree or four and that's totally fine.
But again, you don't want tospend too much time working on it.
The important thing is to setaside dedicated time for building
it, rather than trying to do it in15 minute chunks here and there.
(08:26):
And I recommend thisfor all of the phases.
So set aside an hour or two foreach of the phases and really
focus on it for that hour or two.
And you can really get a lot done ifyou're not trying to chunk it up and do
it on top of all of your other tasks.
Now the final phase, phase five isgoing to be the launch and beyond.
I want you to plan for about twodays of testing before you launch.
(08:49):
I personally do testing as I'm building,but you also want to set aside a couple
of days testing, checking all of yourlinks, making sure that your forms
work, testing on different devices.
Look at the website on your phone,on a tablet, on your computer,
on different operating systems.
So windows and Mac.
And then post-launch you also want toset aside some time for maintenance,
(09:12):
updates, improvements, search engineoptimization, and things like that.
So once you launch the website,you're not done with it.
You still need to make changes to it.
So now, if we add all of this up,we add all those five phases up, if
you're focused and you have some goodhour or two chunks of time to work
on it, you could go from, start tolaunch in about four or five weeks.
(09:35):
If you're fitting this in aroundother business tasks, then I would
plan for maybe six to eight weeks.
If you're building something morecomplex, like a large e-commerce
site or a membership platform, andyou're trying to do it yourself, and
you're able to really fit the timein there, you probably need more like
three to four months possibly longer.
(09:55):
And I will tell you if you are workingwith a developer like me, then again, your
timeline could be very, very different.
The biggest factor that determines howlong your website is going to take,
it's not going to be your tech skills.
It's not going to be your budget.
It's usually going to be the preparationand the commitment to the process.
(10:16):
And that's part of why I createdmy Website Quickstart Challenge,
which starts on December 4th.
It's totally free.
And we'll work on thosefirst three phases together.
We'll do the planning, the content,and design in just three days.
Now we're only going to do thebasics of those three things.
You're going to get the, sort ofthe bare minimum that you need to
(10:38):
build your website, but you willget the basics of those three
phases done during those three days.
And then you probably need a fewmore days to kind of follow up on it.
And once you're done with that, if youwanted to actually build your website,
you can join me for the Build Your Websitein One Day workshop on December 14th.
And during that workshop, I will walkyou through the entire process of
(11:00):
building your website step-by-step.
If you sign up for both the challenge andthe workshop, and again, the challenge
is free, the workshop is not, but if yousign up for both of those, you could have
a website before the end of the year.
Now, let me give you some tips tokeep your website project on track.
Number one set specific timesto work on your website.
(11:21):
Don't just try to fit it in when youcan set aside an hour or two a week,
maybe even longer, if you have the time.
Another thing I want you to do, numbertwo, is going to be to get feedback
at each phase, but only from people inyour target audience or people who have
relevant experience or relevant expertise.
Don't ask your BFF for feedback,unless they're in your target audience
(11:43):
or they're an expert because they'reprobably going to just tell you it
looks great and that's not very helpful.
You don't want people just telling youit looks good because they love you.
You want them to giveyou an honest opinion.
Number three, I want you to rememberthat done is better than perfect.
You can always update and improveyour website after it launches.
That's really one of the thingsI love most about websites.
(12:05):
It's not like you're printingit out and handing that out.
And once it's done, youcan't make changes to it.
You can make changes to a website.
Number four, I want you to keep thescope reasonable for your first version.
You can always add to it later,but you don't necessarily need
every possible feature in thefirst version of your website.
If you need e-commerce maybe thinkabout launching without the e-commerce.
(12:27):
Add the e-commerce later.
Number five.
I want you to get help when you need it.
And that's going to be whetherjoining a course, hiring a copywriter,
hiring a branding expert, or gettingguidance from someone like me.
Now the links for both the WebsiteQuickstart Challenge and the Build Your
Website in One Day workshop, they'll bein the show notes for this episode at
(12:47):
websiteandsuccessacademy.com/podcast.
If you have questions about eitherof those, or you have questions
about your website timeline, comejoin my Website Success Lounge
Facebook group, and I will be happyto help you figure out a realistic
schedule for your specific situation.
And I want you to remember when you'reworking on your website or when you're
(13:08):
starting to plan your website, it doesn'thave to take forever to build, but it
does need proper planning and preparation.
And with the right approach andthe right support, you can have
a website that you're proud ofprobably sooner than you might think.
If you enjoyed this episode, makesure you subscribe, leave a review
and come back for my next episode.
(13:29):
Thank you so much for tuning in, andI hope to chat with you again soon.
Welcome to website success.
I'm your host, Chrissy Rey.
And today.
We are talking about somethingthat can really trip people up.
And that is going to be figuringout a realistic timeline for
creating your own website.
I hear this from clients all the time.
One of two different versions either.
I need my website done next week,or I think it's going to take me
(00:31):
a year to get my website ready.
And honestly, both of thosetimelines can be problematic.
I recently worked with a client who hadbeen planning her website for two years.
And, you know what she hadactually done in that two years?
Pretty much nothing.
She just kept getting stuck in whatI call the perfectionism loop, trying
(00:51):
to make everything perfect beforeshe could actually move forward.
Meanwhile, another client came tome wanting a full e-commerce website
with 50 products in just three days.
And that's just not realistic.
So again, either of those timelines,probably not going to happen.
Because I do get those timelinesproposed to me from time to time.
(01:12):
I want to give you a betterunderstanding of what a realistic
timeline looks like, especially whenyou're going to DIY your website.
And I want you to make sure that you'reable to keep moving your project forward.
So we're going to break down makinga DIY website into some phases.
And talk about how long eachof those phases should take.
(01:33):
And just keep in mind throughout thisdiscussion that the timelines I'm talking
about are for a basic DIY website.
If you're building something that's abit more complex, like an e-commerce
website or a membership website, orif you're working with a web designer
or a web developer for some, or allof your website, then your timeline
might look completely different.
(01:55):
So keep that in mindthroughout this discussion.
Now phase one of your websiteproject should be your planning.
And this is going to be where youfigure out your website's purpose, you
identify your target audience, and youset some clear goals for your website.
You absolutely need to do this.
If you're not doing this, if you're notplanning out your website, then you are
(02:15):
probably going to run into problems later.
For most small business ownersthat are building their own
website, you can probably do thebasics for this in a few hours.
And I do have a website successblueprint in the resources at
webitesuccessacademy.com that'llwalk you through the entire process.
And I even have a video in thecourses that show how to use
(02:38):
AI to fill out that blueprint.
If you want to do some very, verythorough research, you're probably going
to need more than a couple of hours.
You're probably going to need a fewdays or possibly even a week, and
this is working on it part-time.
Now the biggest holdup, usuallyin this phase is going to
be drowning in the details.
There are a lot of things to think aboutand way too often I see clients spending
(03:01):
hours or even days trying to get everysingle part of their plan just right.
Yes, you do need a plan, but I don'twant you to get stuck on the first step.
So give yourself a timeline ofno more than a week to work on
your planning for your website.
And whatever you have great.
Refine it, review it, andthen move on to the next step.
(03:23):
Phase two of creating a website isgoing to be at your content creation.
At least if you followmy website success path.
And this is often going to be wherepeople get really, really stuck.
In fact, I would say this is probablythe most common roadblock for both
my DIY and my done for you clients.
During the content creation phase,you need to write your copy, gather or
(03:47):
take your photos or get some headshotsdone, and maybe create some graphics.
When I build a website for aclient who's going to give me their
content, I usually schedule about twoweeks, maybe three for this phase.
It depends on how muchcontent they need to give me.
And they can usually do that ifthey stay focused and don't let
(04:07):
that perfectionism get in the way.
Earlier this year, I gave a clientthree weeks to work on their content
because they had a lot of pages.
And now we are about five months later.
I think we're almost six months later.
And I'm currently still waiting on it.
So their project is on hold.
This is a done for you client.
Their project is on holduntil I can get that content.
I can't do anything without their content.
(04:29):
If you're planning to DIY your website, Irecommend giving yourself between one week
and three weeks to work on your content.
Try not to go much longer than thatbecause otherwise you're going to
get stuck in that perfectionism loop.
Write your content like you'reexplaining it to a friend.
Don't worry about making it soundprofessional in your first draft.
And don't use a lot of jargon.
(04:50):
And don't worry too muchabout how good it is.
You want it to be good, but it doesn'tneed to be a hundred percent perfect.
You can always edit it later.
That's one of the reallynice things about websites.
You can change them.
And in the case of a lot ofwebsites, the changes are going
to show up pretty much right away.
And also remember you don'tneed the perfect photos of
(05:11):
everything before you launched.
You can start with just the essential oneswhich can include stock photos and selfies
with your phone, and you can add to itlater and you can upload your professional
headshots and other photos later.
The next step is going to be phase three,which is usually the design, which might
also include your branding, and thisis going to be where you choose your
(05:32):
colors, your fonts, and the overalllook or template for your website.
You might also need a logo.
So if you haven't already created a logo,you didn't hire somebody to create a logo.
This is where you're going tocreate that logo for your website.
Now with the right guidance, youcan probably do most of this.
If not all of it in a day or two.
(05:53):
But I usually give clients abouta week to get through this phase
if they're DIYing their website.
Again, just like the other phases, Isee too many people spend months here.
And you don't want to fall into that trap.
You don't want to spend months scrollingthrough Pinterest or creating color
palettes and getting everybody'sopinion on it and changing your mind.
(06:14):
And you don't want toget stuck in that loop.
Another thing I want you tothink about when it comes to
the design and the branding.
Is that both of thosecan evolve over time.
You don't need to create theperfect forever design right now.
Even the big corporations changetheir colors and they change
their logos from time to time.
So you're just as good as them.
You're better than them.
(06:34):
And you can change things if you need to.
And I'll let you in on a little secretfor the Website Success Academy, I have
now changed my logo twice and my brandcolors three times just since I started.
And I will probably change either thecolors or the logo or both, or maybe
even the fonts again, in the future.
(06:55):
The key is to choose something thatlooks professional and matches your
business personality, but don't get stuckin thinking that it has to be perfect.
And if you're DIYing it now, ifyou can afford it down the road,
hire somebody to do it for you.
Hire a branding professional to redothe brand or re concept the brand later.
And then you can roll thatinto your website later on.
(07:18):
The next phase, phase four isthe actual building process.
And for most of my clients thatare DIYing it, this is often
going to be the fastest part.
If you've done all the preparation,you've already written your content,
you've already got your design,you've already got your logo and
everything, then you can build yourwebsite in as little as one day.
(07:39):
And that's not a joke.
You can actually buildyour website in a day.
And if you've been listening to thisfor a while, or you've been following
me for awhile, you know that I have aBuild Your Website in One Day workshop.
I'm going to be offeringthat on December 14th, 2024.
And the reason that I'm able to offer itis because if somebody has gone through
those first three phases, they absolutelycan build their website in one day.
(08:03):
Now, if you're learning as you goor you're working on it in between
other business tasks, like yourbookkeeping and everything else.
Then it might take a week or two orthree or four and that's totally fine.
But again, you don't want tospend too much time working on it.
The important thing is to setaside dedicated time for building
it, rather than trying to do it in15 minute chunks here and there.
(08:26):
And I recommend thisfor all of the phases.
So set aside an hour or two foreach of the phases and really
focus on it for that hour or two.
And you can really get a lot done ifyou're not trying to chunk it up and do
it on top of all of your other tasks.
Now the final phase, phase five isgoing to be the launch and beyond.
I want you to plan for about twodays of testing before you launch.
(08:49):
I personally do testing as I'm building,but you also want to set aside a couple
of days testing, checking all of yourlinks, making sure that your forms
work, testing on different devices.
Look at the website on your phone,on a tablet, on your computer,
on different operating systems.
So windows and Mac.
And then post-launch you also want toset aside some time for maintenance,
(09:12):
updates, improvements, search engineoptimization, and things like that.
So once you launch the website,you're not done with it.
You still need to make changes to it.
So now, if we add all of this up,we add all those five phases up, if
you're focused and you have some goodhour or two chunks of time to work
on it, you could go from, start tolaunch in about four or five weeks.
(09:35):
If you're fitting this in aroundother business tasks, then I would
plan for maybe six to eight weeks.
If you're building something morecomplex, like a large e-commerce
site or a membership platform, andyou're trying to do it yourself, and
you're able to really fit the timein there, you probably need more like
three to four months possibly longer.
(09:55):
And I will tell you if you are workingwith a developer like me, then again, your
timeline could be very, very different.
The biggest factor that determines howlong your website is going to take,
it's not going to be your tech skills.
It's not going to be your budget.
It's usually going to be the preparationand the commitment to the process.
(10:16):
And that's part of why I createdmy Website Quickstart Challenge,
which starts on December 4th.
It's totally free.
And we'll work on thosefirst three phases together.
We'll do the planning, the content,and design in just three days.
Now we're only going to do thebasics of those three things.
You're going to get the, sort ofthe bare minimum that you need to
(10:38):
build your website, but you willget the basics of those three
phases done during those three days.
And then you probably need a fewmore days to kind of follow up on it.
And once you're done with that, if youwanted to actually build your website,
you can join me for the Build Your Websitein One Day workshop on December 14th.
And during that workshop, I will walkyou through the entire process of
(11:00):
building your website step-by-step.
If you sign up for both the challenge andthe workshop, and again, the challenge
is free, the workshop is not, but if yousign up for both of those, you could have
a website before the end of the year.
Now, let me give you some tips tokeep your website project on track.
Number one set specific timesto work on your website.
(11:21):
Don't just try to fit it in when youcan set aside an hour or two a week,
maybe even longer, if you have the time.
Another thing I want you to do, numbertwo, is going to be to get feedback
at each phase, but only from people inyour target audience or people who have
relevant experience or relevant expertise.
Don't ask your BFF for feedback,unless they're in your target audience
(11:43):
or they're an expert because they'reprobably going to just tell you it
looks great and that's not very helpful.
You don't want people just telling youit looks good because they love you.
You want them to giveyou an honest opinion.
Number three, I want you to rememberthat done is better than perfect.
You can always update and improveyour website after it launches.
That's really one of the thingsI love most about websites.
(12:05):
It's not like you're printingit out and handing that out.
And once it's done, youcan't make changes to it.
You can make changes to a website.
Number four, I want you to keep thescope reasonable for your first version.
You can always add to it later,but you don't necessarily need
every possible feature in thefirst version of your website.
If you need e-commerce maybe thinkabout launching without the e-commerce.
(12:27):
Add the e-commerce later.
Number five.
I want you to get help when you need it.
And that's going to be whetherjoining a course, hiring a copywriter,
hiring a branding expert, or gettingguidance from someone like me.
Now the links for both the WebsiteQuickstart Challenge and the Build Your
Website in One Day workshop, they'll bein the show notes for this episode at
(12:47):
websiteandsuccessacademy.com/podcast.
If you have questions about eitherof those, or you have questions
about your website timeline, comejoin my Website Success Lounge
Facebook group, and I will be happyto help you figure out a realistic
schedule for your specific situation.
And I want you to remember when you'reworking on your website or when you're
(13:08):
starting to plan your website, it doesn'thave to take forever to build, but it
does need proper planning and preparation.
And with the right approach andthe right support, you can have
a website that you're proud ofprobably sooner than you might think.
If you enjoyed this episode, makesure you subscribe, leave a review
and come back for my next episode.
(13:29):
Thank you so much for tuning in, andI hope to chat with you again soon.
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