Planning a new website?
This guide covers realistic timelines, costs and what each option actually delivers.
Need it live this week?
Launch48 delivers a complete site in 48 hours for $699, first month of maintenance included.
Where the weeks actually go
On a typical eight week agency build, writing code takes a fraction of the calendar. The real sequence is discovery and proposals, design mockups with revision rounds, waiting for your text and photos, development, then review and launch. Two of those five phases are pure waiting on the client. Fast builds do not code faster, they remove the waiting.
The four speeds available to you
24 to 48 hours, fixed scope, $500 to $2,000. A defined page count on a proven structure, with your content collected in a single kickoff session. Real and increasingly the default for service businesses. Our Launch48 sits here at $699 for five pages.
Under a week, freelancer with a template. Possible if the freelancer is free right now and you have content ready. Quality varies enormously and availability is the constraint.
2 to 4 weeks, semi-custom. Custom layout on an existing framework, one or two revision rounds. A sensible middle ground when the brand matters but the deadline is real.
6 to 12 weeks, full agency. Strategy, research, custom design systems, copywriting, complex integrations. Worth it when the website is your primary revenue engine and you have the budget for it.
What actually makes you slow
Across builds we run, the delay is almost never the developer. It is content that arrives in pieces over three weeks, decisions that need a meeting nobody schedules, feedback that changes direction at round four, logins nobody can find, and a photo shoot that has not happened. A client who arrives prepared launches in two days with the same team that takes six weeks with an unprepared one.
How to be the fast client
Before your kickoff, gather: your logo and brand colours, rough text for every page, 10 to 20 photos, your service list with prices or ranges if you publish them, the email address form submissions should reach, and your domain and hosting logins. That single checklist is the difference between 48 hours and next month.
What a fast build will not include
Custom illustration, brand identity from scratch, ten pages of original copywriting, complex integrations like booking engines or membership areas, and full ecommerce. Anyone promising all of that in two days is describing a template with your logo dropped on it. Honest fast providers publish exactly what is in scope, which is what makes the speed possible.
Frequently asked questions
What is the absolute fastest a real website can launch? A focused one page site can genuinely go live the same day. Five pages in 24 hours is achievable when content is ready. Below that, corners are being cut somewhere you will find later.
Does a fast website hurt SEO? No, when built properly: clean structure, fast loading, correct titles and metadata, indexable from day one. Rankings then come from content and time, exactly as they would for a site that took three months.
Can I improve the design later? Yes, and that is the sensible order. Launch, start earning, then reinvest in custom design once revenue justifies it.
What if my content is not ready? Then no provider can hit 48 hours. Start with a strong one page site using what you have, and expand as content arrives.
Need a website, not a six-week project?
Launch48 delivers a complete five-page business website in 48 hours for $699 flat, mobile-ready, secure and fast at launch, with your first month of maintenance included.