By Mehdi HassanHow long does a website redesign take?
A website redesign takes as long as its slowest dependency, and on most projects that's not the design work. It's the copy, the feedback rounds and the approvals. The same six-page redesign can be quick with final copy and one approver, or drag on with no copy and a committee.
That's why we don't publish a single number. Delivery for our website package is scoped on the intro call, once we know how much copy exists, how many templates you need and whether a migration is involved. This article explains each phase, what decides its length and how to keep it short. For the full picture of a redesign, start with our website redesign guide.
What are the phases of a website redesign timeline?
A website redesign timeline has six phases: discovery, copy, design, build, QA and launch. Each has a different main driver of length, and each needs something from you before it can start.
Phase | What happens | What sets its length | What it needs from you |
|---|---|---|---|
Discovery | Goals, audit, sitemap, baselines | How fast the right people can meet | Analytics access, a clear goal |
Copy | Positioning, page messaging, final text | Whether positioning already exists | Customer insight, quick approvals |
Design | Visual direction, templates, mobile | Number of unique templates and rounds | One consolidated round per template |
Build | Components, CMS, integrations, motion | Integrations and how custom it is | Account access, tool logins |
QA | Devices, forms, tracking, accessibility | Number of forms and third-party tools | Someone to test real lead flows |
Launch | DNS, redirects, sitemap, monitoring | Access to DNS and migration scope | Domain access on launch day |
Phases overlap on a well-run project. Build can start on approved templates while inner pages are still in design, and QA can run template by template. The one overlap that doesn't work is copy and design: a layout built around placeholder text gets rebuilt when real words arrive.
Where do website redesign projects lose weeks?
Redesign projects lose the most weeks at handoffs, where one person's finished work becomes another person's starting brief. With separate vendors, each handoff adds scheduling, briefing, questions and rework, and none of that time appears in anyone's estimate.
- Copy to design. The designer receives a document, reads it, asks questions, and waits for answers before layouts can settle.
- Design to development. The developer finds states nobody designed, such as errors, empty CMS fields and mobile menus, and the designer has to come back.
- Development to marketing. Tracking, forms and CRM connections get discovered late because nobody owned them.
- Any vendor to you. Each separate team schedules its own feedback round, so you review the same pages several times.
Client-side delays add weeks too: late copy input, feedback that arrives in pieces from several people, and new approvers who join halfway and reopen decisions. Our guide to realistic timelines for building a website shows how those delays add up across a project.
How does one copy, design and development team shorten the redesign timeline?
One team that writes, designs and builds removes the handoff weeks because there's nothing to hand off. The person shaping the headline also knows the layout it has to fit and the component it will be built with, so problems get solved in the same conversation instead of in a new ticket.
This is how Designify works: a small in-house team led by Mehdi Hassan, who is a copywriter, designer and developer, owns words, design and code. In practice it means copy and layout develop together, the design system is built with the CMS in mind, and tracking is part of the build rather than a launch-week scramble.
Pros
- No waiting between vendors or re-briefing
- Copy, design and build decisions made together
- One feedback round covers words and layout
- One team accountable for the launch date
Cons
- You depend on one team's capacity
- Less useful if you already have final copy and a locked design
- Specialist needs, such as complex integrations, may still need extra people
If your copy and design are already done and you only need a build, the handoff problem is smaller and separate specialists can work well.
What does a week-by-week redesign schedule look like?
A week-by-week redesign schedule sequences approvals so that each one starts the next phase. Homepage copy and design come first because they set the system every other page reuses.
Hypothetical example: how a six-page redesign could be sequenced
For example, suppose a seed-stage SaaS startup redesigns six pages: home, product, pricing, about, blog index and blog post. This illustrates sequencing only. It isn't a quote and isn't a Designify delivery commitment, since real timelines are scoped on the intro call.
Week 1: kickoff, audit, baselines captured, sitemap agreed, homepage messaging drafted.
Week 2: homepage copy and design developed together and shared as one review.
Week 3: homepage approved, remaining pages written and designed, shared components built.
Week 4: inner pages approved, CMS and blog templates built, content and redirects added.
Week 5: QA on devices, forms, tracking and accessibility, then fixes.
Week 6: launch, redirect testing, sitemap submitted, monitoring begins.
In a three-vendor version of the same project, copy would be approved before design starts and design before build starts, so the same work would run in sequence instead of in parallel.
Use the example to read proposals. Check where each approval sits, how many feedback rounds the homepage gets, and whether the build overlaps with design. A proposal without those details is giving you a hope, not a plan.
What should you have ready before kickoff to keep the schedule?
To keep a redesign on schedule, have access, decisions and raw material ready before the first meeting. Each item below is something projects commonly wait on.
Name one decision-maker
One person approves copy and design. Others give input before reviews, not during them.
Gather access
Analytics, Search Console, domain registrar, DNS, hosting, CMS, CRM and form tools.
Collect proof
Customer logos you have permission to use, reviews and any numbers you can stand behind.
Book review dates
Put feedback sessions in calendars at kickoff so rounds don't drift.
Agree on scope
List the pages and templates in and out, and how changes will be handled.
How do SEO, accessibility and migration work change the timeline?
SEO, accessibility and migration work each add steps to a redesign timeline, and they cost the most time when they're discovered late. Plan them in discovery and they run alongside the main phases.
- SEO inventory and redirects need a crawl, a URL sheet and a redirect map before build ends. Our guide to building a redirect map shows the method.
- Content audit decides what moves, merges or retires. A website content audit is easiest during discovery.
- Accessibility adds design checks and a QA pass. Our website accessibility guide covers what applies to you.
- Platform migration adds content import and testing. Agencies quote a wide range here; see how long a website migration takes.
Migration work is scoped on the intro call, and we include redirects and SEO checks in any migration we take on.
