How much time will you spend to build a website?

[jimmychuang]

Hi,

How much time will you spend to build a website?

10 days? A month? Or more?

And what is the essentials of a good website?

Jimmy

[bill]

I've been working on one for a little more than 10 years now. I don't consider it finished yet. ;) For some sites it's hard to say when they are ever finished. By some standards any good site is a constant work in progress.

[TerryG]

normally i spend about 5 days to "build" a simple site, after that another two weeks doing the owners "I want this too" added to the site.

but ya a site is never done if its being taken care of correctley

[Terabytes]

I suffer from..."man, I could do this better" with my own site...so it constantly evolves...

been thru 5 major redesigns in the last 10 years....so I believe also, it's a constant evolution...it's never "finished"...

[jimmychuang]

mm..

How many sites do you have?

If you start a website, how much money you want to make?

[jimbeetle]

I'm with Bill, almost 10 years on my current oldest site, 8 or so on my main site -- and the end nowhere in sight.

[broniusm]

howdy, all.
When my wife and I had a baby, I got this incredible skill to optimize and discern what was important. I can't quite churn out a web site like fast food yet, but my process is extremely streamlined and modularized. It's gone from [me imagining] the client asking "where's my web guy?" to me asking "hello? is my client still there?" between iterations and awaiting reviews.

Good steps to follow (I think)-
- interview client: together review what functionality client wants and what the feel is; offer what you can do as tips he/she hadn't thought of; discuss what design the client wants; pick a domain name
- register domain and set up a placeholder page rich with that client's info; start your linking-in, b/c this takes time to enact
- work out a few static mock-up JPGs of site layout: a splash (if applicable), a typical content page or two
- while waiting forever for the client to respond, you can work on the design-less infrastructure of the site (if using a CMS, get that thing cranking and hold off on templating)
- eventually the client Will get back with you :D Tweak the static layout to his/her liking and begin chopping and templating

Wow that was a lot more than you asked for and still not the answer you sought :D
cheers

[Lobo]

In terms of a client I always give them a rough of 3 months .. that is from design concept through to technical implementation, basic marketing, and testing.

Usually it is done quicker than that but when you are balancing other accounts, 3 months puts it in to perspective for them..

As a general rule of thumb for a website you should think in terms of one year before you see any real results or ROI .. and have a 3 year plan ...