How long does a small business website take?
Last updated: July 2026
Between 38 and 76 hours, for a five-page site built by one freelancer on a CMS, design included. The famous "weekend website" exists, but it is a template with the demo text replaced, and clients can tell.
In short: a five-page CMS website takes 38 to 76 hours with design included. Design and build are barely half the work; content, testing, launch and training carry the rest. Price your version with the free Project Price Calculator.
The assumptions behind the range: about five pages (home, services, about, contact, one more), a modern CMS the client can edit later, design and build by the same person, content provided by the client, no online shop.
The task list
The honest range
A five-page business website takes 38 to 76 hours from kickoff to launch. Design and build are barely half of it; content, testing, launch and training carry the rest.
The line clients never expect: content
The single most common delay in small website projects is not design and not code. It is waiting for the client's text and photos.
Two protections belong in every website quote: the content collection line from the list above, priced honestly, and a written note that the schedule starts when the content arrives. Without them, a six-week project becomes a six-month project, at the same price.
What moves the estimate
Up: an online shop (that is a different project, often double), custom features (booking, member areas, calculators), content written by you instead of the client, migration of an old site with many pages, more than five pages.
Down: a strict template approach agreed in writing, a client with content ready on day one, a site you have built five times before for the same sector.
Price your version
Adjust the lines, total them, and put the number into the calculator. At a mid-range 55 hours and the default $50/h with a 20% buffer, a small business site quotes around $3,300.
Project price
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Estimated Work
billable hours in this project
Hourly Rate
what your working hour must earn
Scope Buffer
funds revisions and surprises
Drag any blue number to adjust (click it to type). Your inputs carry over to the full tool. Access full tool
The website is half the project. The other half is everything around it, and that half is where unpaid weeks hide.
From task list to full quote
Type your hours, add your buffer, and the calculator builds the quote with expenses and fees included.
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The estimation sheets
Every sheet in this series is built the same way on purpose: one estimation method, applied job by job. Same sheet, different job, your numbers.
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