What does a website project include? Phases, timeline and what you're actually buying
The six phases
Every legitimate website project, from a 950 euro brochure site to a 50 000 euro e-commerce build, follows the same six phases in the same order. The difference is depth, not steps.
1. Discovery (1 to 2 weeks)
Meetings and questions. What does your business actually do, who buys, what does the site need to accomplish (leads, sales, bookings, credibility)? What competitors already exist? What is the honest budget?
A good discovery ends with a short written brief that both sides sign off on. If a developer skips this and jumps straight to "how many pages do you want", you are buying a template job.
2. Structure (sitemap and wireframes, 1 to 2 weeks)
The list of pages, what goes on each, and how visitors navigate between them. Wireframes are grey boxes showing layout without colour or typography. They exist to make structural mistakes cheap to fix — moving a section on a wireframe takes five minutes, moving it in code takes an afternoon.
3. Visual design (2 to 3 weeks)
Colour, typography, imagery, and detailed page mockups. Usually one round of design followed by two rounds of revisions. This is where you form your opinion on look and feel. Approve carefully — changes after this phase cost more than they saved earlier.
4. Build (2 to 4 weeks)
The developer turns approved designs into a working website. You do not need to do much except answer occasional questions. At the end of this phase you get a staging URL — a private version of the site where you can click through everything before it goes live.
5. Content (in parallel with build, ends at week 5 to 8)
Text, images, product data. Usually the bottleneck. If you write the text yourself, start in week 1 — do not wait for the design. If a copywriter is included, review drafts within 48 hours to keep the project moving.
6. Launch (a few days)
Final content review, technical checks (analytics, sitemap, backups, SSL), DNS pointing to the new hosting, and announcement. A good developer schedules launch for a Tuesday or Wednesday morning, never Friday afternoon.
What you actually pay for
Break down a typical 3000 euro Finnish SME website:
- Discovery + structure: 15%
- Design: 25%
- Development: 40%
- Content integration: 10%
- Testing + launch: 10%
Development is the biggest slice but not most of the cost. Design and discovery together are 40%. If a proposal is 90% "coding" and 5% everything else, something is wrong.
What you provide
At minimum: your logo (in vector SVG or high-resolution PNG), your brand colours (if defined), your text (or a decision to have someone else write it), and someone empowered to say yes or no within a few days.
Not required upfront but useful: professional photos, testimonials, existing analytics access, current site backups.
Timeline reality
A 950 euro landing-page project: 3 to 4 weeks realistic.
A typical 3000 euro SME site: 6 to 8 weeks realistic.
A 10 000 euro custom site with copywriting and photography: 10 to 14 weeks realistic.
An e-commerce launch with product integration: 12 to 20 weeks realistic.
Numbers below these are usually template jobs with corners cut. Numbers well above them usually mean either genuine complexity or a slow team.
Red flags in a proposal
- No fixed price. Time-and-materials without a cap can double or triple.
- No mention of who owns the finished code.
- Hosting locked to the agency with no export option.
- "Unlimited revisions" (nothing is unlimited; this always means low-quality output).
- No mention of what happens after launch — hosting, updates, backups.
Green flags
- A written brief you both sign.
- A fixed quote with clear scope and clear "out of scope".
- A staging URL to review before launch.
- Full ownership handed over: hosting access, admin logins, source files.
- A named point of contact who replies within 24 hours during the project.
Frequently asked questions
Why does a website take 6 to 12 weeks — isn't it just a few pages?
The visible pages are perhaps 30% of the work. The rest is discovery, structure decisions, design revisions, testing across devices and browsers, accessibility checks, analytics setup, and hosting configuration. Anything under 3 weeks is either a template with your logo dropped in, or corners are being cut somewhere.
Can I write the content myself to save money?
Yes, and many SMEs do. Start writing in week 1, not week 5 — content is the number one cause of project delays. If writing is not your strength, budgeting for a copywriter (typically 300 to 800 euros for a small site) is money well spent.
What happens if I want changes after launch?
Depends on the contract. A good agreement includes a warranty period (usually 30 days) where bug fixes are free. Content updates and new features are billed hourly or as small fixed-price additions. Make sure the contract states this upfront.
Do I own the website when it's finished?
You should, but check the contract. Ownership should cover: the domain in your name, hosting in your account (or transferable), admin logins to the CMS, and access to source files. If any of these live only on the agency's side, you do not own your site.
What is a 'staging' site and why does it matter?
A private, password-protected copy of your new site where you can review everything before the public sees it. Without staging, changes go live directly and mistakes are visible to visitors. Every legitimate project includes staging as standard.
What is realistic to expect for 950 euros?
A well-built landing-page site: 3 to 5 pages, mobile-friendly, fast, SEO basics, one language, contact form. Not included at this price: custom photography, copywriting, e-commerce, integrations with CRM or booking systems, multiple languages. Those add cost linearly.
Published · Kaspar Eevald
Bluefour – Helsinki digital agency | hello@bluefour.fi | +358 45 850 4236