The short answer
A typical small business website takes us about 15 days, counted from an agreed brief to the site going live. That covers a 5-page company site and most 15-page bilingual sites for clinics, hotels, agencies and B2B firms.
Online stores with large catalogues take longer, mostly because product data takes time to prepare, and we say so before we start rather than after.
The honest caveat is that the build itself is rarely what decides the date. Content does. A site with approved text, photos and a single person signing off can go live on schedule. A site waiting on Thai translations, a photo shoot and three managers' comments can drift for weeks, whoever builds it. The rest of this post shows each stage, what tends to slow it, and how to work back from the date you actually need.
If you are still deciding what kind of project you have, it helps to understand the split between web design vs web development, because the design stage and the build stage each carry their own time and their own decisions.
What are the stages of a website project?
Here is roughly how a 15-day project divides up. The day counts are an illustrative pattern, not fixed slots: stages overlap, and a quick reply from you can pull the whole plan forward.
- Brief (days 1 to 2). We agree goals, audience, languages, pages and the enquiry route you want: WhatsApp, LINE button, form or booking request.
- Structure (days 2 to 3). A sitemap and page outline. Getting this right early prevents rework later, and our guide on how to plan a website structure shows what a good one looks like.
- Design (days 3 to 7). The home page and one inner page first, then the remaining templates once the direction is approved.
- Build (days 6 to 11). Theme development on WordPress, or store setup on Shopify or WooCommerce, with forms, cookie consent and mobile layouts.
- Content entry (days 9 to 12). Your text and images go into real pages. This is where missing material first becomes visible.
- Testing (days 12 to 14). Phones first, since many Bangkok visitors arrive on mobile, then desktop browsers, forms, speed and both language versions.
- Launch (day 15). Domain switch, redirects if replacing an old site, and final checks.
The go-live day has its own task list, covered in our website launch checklist. This post is about everything that has to happen before it.
What slows a website project down?
When a project runs late, the cause is usually on the content and approval side. These four are the usual culprits on Bangkok projects.
Two languages of copy
A bilingual site needs Thai and English text that each read naturally. If the Thai version is a machine translation that someone must then rewrite, or the English copy waits on a head office abroad, that stage can take longer than the entire build. Decide early who writes each language and who approves it; our website copywriting tips help whoever takes it on.
Photos
Stock images are fast but generic. A photo shoot of your rooms, dishes, clinic or team looks far better, yet it needs a date, a photographer and editing time. Book it in the first week, not after the design is approved.
Product data
For stores, every product needs a name, price, variants, weight for courier rates, and images. Cleaning a spreadsheet of 400 SKUs is real work, and it sits with whoever knows the stock.
Too many approvers
Feedback from one decision maker takes a day. Feedback collected from a partner, a marketing lead and an owner who travels can take a week per round, and the rounds often contradict each other.
What speeds things up
- Text and photos ready, or at least drafted, before the build starts.
- One named person who gives consolidated feedback.
- Replies within a day or two during design review.
- A clear list of must-have pages, with nice-to-haves saved for after launch.
Timelines by type of site
Scope changes the schedule less than people expect, because design and testing time grows with page types rather than page count. Three common cases:
A 5-page company site
Home, about, services, one more page and contact. With content ready, this fits comfortably inside 15 days and can finish sooner. It is the shape of our Starter package. If you only need a single campaign page, first check whether you need a full site or one page, since the answer changes both scope and timeline.
A 15-page bilingual site
Service pages, a blog, forms or booking requests, in Thai and English. The build still fits the typical 15 days. The risk is the second language, which is why our bilingual website builds plan each version separately: budget extra time for translation and review, and treat the two versions as separate pieces of writing.
An online store
A small shop with a few dozen products, PromptPay, card payments, cash on delivery and courier options such as Thailand Post, KEX Express (formerly Kerry Express) or Flash Express can launch in a similar window. A catalogue of hundreds or thousands of products takes longer, mainly for product import, category planning and payment and shipping tests. We give you a realistic date for that in the quote.
Redesigns versus new builds
A redesign is often slower than a new site, not faster. There are old pages to audit, content to keep or cut, and redirects to map so you keep your search traffic. Our guide to a website redesign covers that process in full.
Planning back from your launch date
If you have a fixed date, such as a new branch opening, a Songkran promotion or a trade fair stand, work backwards from it rather than forwards from today. Here is an example for a hypothetical restaurant group that wants its bilingual site live one week before a new outlet opens.
- Launch target: seven days before opening, so staff can share the link and the menu before the first guests arrive.
- Build window: about 15 days before that.
- Content ready: at the start of the build window, with Thai and English menus written and photos taken.
- Buffer: one extra week for feedback rounds and anything that arrives late.
- Brief signed: so roughly five weeks before opening day.
The buffer is not padding. It absorbs the ordinary things: an owner abroad for a week, a supplier who sends product photos late, a public holiday. If the date cannot move, cut scope instead: launch the core pages on time and add the blog or extra services the week after.
For a view of what we do at each step, and why our web design and development work starts with the brief rather than with the design, see the service page.
Putting dates in the contract
A timeline only helps if both sides agree what it depends on. Before you sign, make sure the quote or contract states:
- The start date, and what counts as starting: usually a signed brief plus the first content.
- The target launch date, and the content deadlines it assumes.
- How many revision rounds are included and how long each side has to respond.
- What happens to the date if content or feedback arrives late.
- Which pages or features are in scope, so additions are handled as a separate change.
Our web design contract checklist goes through these clauses and more. Payment terms are set out in each quote, and you can compare the scope of each package, with its package prices, before you ask us for a date. To check a schedule against your own launch, send us the date and the pages you need by WhatsApp or email.
Keep reading
Builds and ranks the websites: the systems behind the 17 client sites whose Search Console numbers we publish. This guide was written by the Website Development Bangkok team. More about us