The short answer
Come knowing the job the site must do, with your words and photos started, and with your logins findable. Those three things — not the budget, not the design taste — are what decide whether your project takes six weeks or six months. Everything below expands on them, then covers what to ask the people you're interviewing.
Know the job, not the pages
"I need a website" isn't a job description. "I need plumbing emergencies in Aiken to call me instead of the guy with the billboard" is. Who should find the site, what should they do when they get there, and what does a good lead look like to you? A designer with that answer can make every decision correctly. Without it, you're buying decoration.
Start gathering words and photos now
Ask any web shop what delays projects most and you'll get the same answer: content. Most business sites take four to eight weeks, and the single biggest factor is how fast the words and photos come together — the build waits on them, not the other way around.
You don't need polished copy. Rough notes about each service, in your own words, are exactly what a good designer wants — that's your expertise talking, and no designer can invent it. Phone photos of real jobs beat stock photography every time.
Find your logins before someone needs them
- Domain name — where the web address is registered (GoDaddy, Namecheap...). The one that stops launches cold.
- Current hosting, if a site exists today
- Google Business Profile — which Google account owns it
- Email — how your business addresses are hosted, so launch day can't break them
Questions that sort the good ones from the rest
- Who owns the site when it's done — and what happens if we part ways?
- Can I see live sites you've built, not mockups — and may I call one of those owners?
- What happens to my Google rankings if this replaces an old site?
- What does it cost to run per year after launch — hosting, care, all of it?
- Who exactly will I be talking to during the build?
Walk away when you see these
- You can't ever have your own logins, or the domain gets registered in their name
- "Free website" offers — the cost is hiding in the contract, usually as rent you can't leave
- Guaranteed #1 on Google — nobody can promise that honestly
- No live sites to show, or no interest in what your business actually does
What it looks like when it's done right
You talk about goals before pages. You get a real plan and a real price in writing. You see progress during the build instead of a big reveal at the end. And launch is treated carefully — email mapped so it keeps flowing, old pages redirected so your Google standing survives. That's not a premium way to run a project. It's the baseline you should expect.
Common questions
How long does a website take?
Most business sites take four to eight weeks, and your content readiness is the biggest lever you control. Bigger custom builds get their own timeline.
What if I don't have good photos or can't write?
Rough notes and phone photos are a real starting point — we shape words from your notes, and we can arrange photography when it matters. Don't let blank-page dread delay the start.
How much of my time will this take?
Most of it is up front — the first talk and gathering your material. During the build we need decisions, not hours.
What should a business website cost?
Quotes range from a few hundred dollars to tens of thousands, which is exactly why you should ask for numbers early. For calibration: our own from-the-ground-up, SEO-first builds typically start at $2,200, and improving an existing site bills at $130 an hour.