A website is no longer a fancy add-on to businesses of any size or organization; it’s now a necessity. A popular question for anyone looking to design a website in Nigeria, in addition to the cost of designing the website, is: How long does it take to design a website in Nigeria from start to finish?
The variable factors such as “complexity of the website, number of pages needed, functionality needed” make giving a definite timeline for every website design unrealistic. In this article, we’ll answer the question “How long does it take to design a website in Nigeria” by explaining the standard phases involved in designing a website in Nigeria and the average time it takes to complete each phase.
Website Design and Development Phases
Often, people assume website design begins with the designer or developer creating the individual pages, but designing a website involves much more.
The web design processes are: Discovery/planning, content creation, design, development, review & testing and launch. Each phase of this process is extremely important to ensure the developed website aligns with the required functionality, is user-friendly, and aligns with the overall business’s goals.
A. Discovery/Planning Phase
This phase involves gathering necessary information, setting clear expectations, and ensuring the client, relevant stakeholders, and the website design team are aligned on the project requirements and terms. In addition to the specific project information, you’ll also be required to provide relevant information about your organization or business – like the vision, mission, competitors, etc.
The discovery and planning phase would typically involve; questionnaire submission, Discovery call & Kickoff meeting.
- Questionnaire Submission: This phase starts with the website design and development team sending you a detailed questionnaire, usually via an online form like Microsoft or Google Forms. The questionnaire response helps the design team understand the client’s needs, business, target audience, required website functionalities, expected timeline, budget, etc. The questionnaire would contain questions like:
- What is your business name, and what do you do?
- Who is your target audience (age, location, interests, etc.)?
- What key features do you want on your website (e.g., contact forms, e-commerce, booking system, blog)? Duration: 2 – 3 business days (questionnaire completion and submission)
- Discovery Call: A discovery call is typically scheduled after the design team receives the completed questionnaire. This call avails the design team the opportunity to ask questions and receive clarity where necessary on areas not covered in the questionnaire and allows the client to further discuss project goals, timelines, and specific requirements, ask pending questions, and have them answered. At the end of a successful discovery call, the design team should have a thorough understanding of the client’s expectations. This call can be held in person or online (Zoom, Google Meet, Teams, etc.) and should have all the relevant stakeholders in attendance.
Duration: 30 mins – 1 hour
- Kickoff Meeting: The kickoff meeting is the official start of the website project; the website design team confirms they have all the required details and agree on the terms of engagement, and the client also affirms agreement with the terms of engagement. All the necessary documents are signed, and the website design project officially begins.
Duration: 30 mins – 1 hr
The discovery/planning phase typically takes 4 – 7 days, except where issues arise that lead to delays. It’s advised the client spend as much time in this phase to ensure all the i’s are dotted and t’s crossed. Not doing so eventually leads to scope creeps, and avoidable delays and can eventually grind the entire project to a halt.
B. Content Creation Phase (Days 4-6)
The next phase after planning and preparation is content creation, which would focus mostly on writing the website copy. Content should be created before the UI design, so the UI is designed to accommodate the website copy. If you’re using an agency – they mostly have an in-house content writer to write the content, but if you’re using a freelancer or a designer, you’ll need to engage a content writer to create the website copy.
The discovery and planning phase would typically involve; Research, Content Writing, Review & Approval.
- Research and Strategy: This is the first step to creating good content. At this stage, the writer will seek to understand the target audience, required tone, etc. The content that will work for a B2B company custom cutting metal for manufacturing companies will be very different from the content a B2C tech startup offering ride-hailing services in Lagos will need. The writer might have to conduct some interviews or use the answers provided in the questionnaire.
Duration: 2 – 3 days
- Content Writing: After getting the necessary information, the content writer proceeds to write the content, ensuring it aligns with the target audience. Contrary to most opinions, writing website content is much more tasking than it appears to be; there are usually multiple drafts before arriving at the final version. The time to completion is also influenced by the writer’s experience in that vertical.
Duration: 5 – 7 days
- Review and Approval: The content is sent to the stakeholders for review and approval before it’s handed over to the design team. It’s important the review is done thoroughly as it’s much easier to correct the content before it’s used to design a UI. The duration depends on the volume of changes and the responsiveness of both parties (stakeholders and writer).
Duration: 3 – 5 days
The content creation phase will last typically [10 – 15 days].
C. Design Phase
The design phase is where the UI/UX designer on the website design team takes the website content and creates an actual design of what the website will look like when developed. This stage is typically hands-off for you – you’ll need to give reviews. At this stage, it’s advised you review the designs with the stakeholders involved. It’s easier to make changes at the design phase compared to the development phase.
The discovery and planning phase would typically involve; Wireframe Creation, Mockup Creation, and UI/UX design (Low, Mid & High Fidelity).
- Wireframes: Wireframes are the foundation of any website design. It is a basic black-and-white layout that outlines the structure of a web page. A wireframe focuses on site architecture, determines the size and location of page elements, and defines the paths between the pages. They help keep the focus on functionality and user experience before visual elements are added. A major advantage of wireframing is that it identifies usability issues early, hence saving you time and resources in later stages. The design team would typically create the mockup and not involve you in the process.
Duration: 3-5 days (depending on the project’s complexity).
- UI/UX Designs: User Interface (UI) and User Experience (UX) design both play a crucial role in determining how users interact with a website. UI design focuses on the visual aspects such as layout, buttons, icons, and typography, while UX design ensures smooth navigation. A good UI/UX design increases engagement, reduces bounce rates, and improves conversion rates. This phase requires extensive research, prototyping, and testing, so it typically takes a week to complete.
- Design Review: After the designs are completed, the design team sends the design to you; this could either be a Figma prototype link, PNG, or JPEGs. These designs should ideally be reviewed with the stakeholders involved to ensure that the design aligns with your brand’s vision and business goals. You’ll be required to collate the review in a concise and clear format – document or video. Effective communication between you and the team is crucial in this step to ensure clarity and avoid unnecessary back-and-forth.
Duration: 2 – 5 days.
Things to Note: 40% of the Nigerian population uses a mobile device to access the internet as of 2023, and this is expected to grow to 48% by 2027; therefore, pay more attention to the mobile version of the design, ensuring it is consistent and no important information is hidden.
D. Development Phase
The development phase follows immediately after the design is approved; the team passes the design to the developer. There are two options for development: website builder or coding from scratch. Each option has its pros and cons. The method to use would already have been concluded at the discovery or planning phase.
Website Builders:
These are software that facilitate the design process; the developer builds the website on these software or platforms. Common examples are WordPress, Webflow, Wix, Squarespace, etc. Each platform has its unique ecosystem, features, and pricing.
Pros of Building Your Website With a Website Builder:
- Ease of Use: Website builders often come with intuitive drag-and-drop interfaces, making it easier for those without coding skills to build a website.
- Speed of Development: Building with website builders can be faster since many templates and pre-coded elements are available.
- Cost-Effective: Generally less expensive than hiring a developer for custom coding; some platforms even offer free plans with basic features.
Cons of Building Your Website With a Website Builder
- Limited Customization: The design and functionality can be restricted by the capabilities of the builder, which might not cater to unique business needs.
- Performance Issues: Websites might load slower due to the overhead of the builder’s platform or themes not optimized for performance.
Hard Coding
With hard coding, the development team writes the code for your website from scratch using programming languages like HTML, CSS & JavaScript. This option has its pros and cons.
Pros of Coding Your Website From Scratch
- Full Customization: You have complete control over every aspect of your site, allowing for unique design and functionality tailored specifically to your needs.
- Scalability: Custom-coded sites can scale more effectively to handle increased traffic or new functionalities.
- Performance Optimization: Code can be optimized for speed, improving SEO and user experience.
Cons of Coding Your Website From Scratch
- Higher Cost: Requires hiring developers or having in-house expertise, which can be expensive.
- Time-Consuming: Coding from scratch takes significantly more time compared to using a builder.
Development Phase Duration:
- Website Builder: 2 – 4 weeks (Depending on complexity)
- Hard Coding: 4 – 2 months (Depending on complexity)
E. Review/Testing Phase
After the development is complete, the developer sends the furnished website – usually using a development link like {dev.domain.com} or the actual domain URL {domain.com} with special access while the general public sees the “coming soon” screen.
During the review, you and the relevant stakeholders would check the website for completeness. Some aspects to pay attention to are:
- Responsiveness: Confirm the website looks as it should on the different devices (mobile, tablet & desktop) as it should and also looks like it did on the UI design.
- Security: Check that the SSL certificate is installed on the website; if the website is built using a web builder like WordPress, check the plugins, themes used were duly licensed and not nulled versions.
- Website speed: Check the website speed using tools like GTmetrix, Google PageSpeed Insights & Pingdom.
- Compliance with Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR):
Duration: 2 – 3 days - Beta Testing: Beta testing is releasing the website to a selected group of users (known as beta testers) – these could be company staff, stakeholders, friends & family – to gather real-world feedback on the website’s functionality, usability, and performance before the official launch. After the review and beta testing is complete, you’ll put together the feedback from the review and beta test, and then send it to the website development team for the final iteration before launch.
Duration: 3 days – 1 week
F. Launch
The website project is now done and ready to be launched. You can decide to quietly launch or promote the new website launch to your audience via social media, newsletters, internal company memos, etc.
Now you know the website design process and the duration of each sub-item; we can now answer the question:
How Long Does It Take to Design A Website in Nigeria?
The average time it takes to design a website in Nigeria is [6 to 12 weeks].
Project Timeline Breakdown
| Phase | Duration |
| Discovery/Planning Phase | 4 – 7 days |
| Content Creation Phase | 10 – 15 days |
| Design Phase | 10 – 21 days |
| Development Phase – Website Builder | 2 – 4 weeks |
| Development Phase – Hard Coding | 4 weeks – 2 months |
| Launch | 1 day |
Total Project Timeline:
- With Website Builder: Approximately 6 – 8 weeks
- With Hard Coding: Approximately 8 – 12 weeks
These timelines can vary based on the factors discussed in the article, like project complexity, clarity of requirements, and unforeseen delays.
Factors That Can Affect a Website Design Timeline
As we’ve seen in this article, there are a lot of moving parts involved in designing a website in Nigeria; there are a lot of factors that can lead to unexpected delays. Common ones are:
- Clarity of Requirements: When project requirements are clear from the start, the design and development process runs smoothly. Clear requirement communication between you and the design team is essential to speed up the project and avoid unnecessary delays.
- Complexity of the Website: A simple website with a few static pages can be built quickly, while a site with advanced features would take more time. The more custom work involved, the longer your site’s development can take.
- Project Scope: If the scope is well-defined from the beginning, the timeline is easier to determine and stick with. Proper planning and sticking to the initial scope would help the design team maintain the pace.
- Unplanned Project Delays: As with any other project, website design projects can face unplanned disruptions that can affect the project timeline; some common examples are:
- Endless Feedback Loop: This happens mostly when multiple stakeholders are involved in the review and approval process, with each giving feedback independently. To avoid this, there should be just one contact person with the website design team, and when there should be a consensus with the reviews given, reviews should be structured and comprehensive.
- Scope Creep: These are unanticipated requests that come up during development, such as extra design elements, new pages, or last-minute functionality changes that can significantly extend the project timeline. While minor tweaks are expected, major additions should be pre-planned or postponed to future phases to avoid disrupting your initial schedule.
- Technical Issues: Unplanned tech issues such as server problems, plugin conflicts, and compatibility issues with browsers and devices can cause unexpected delays. The developers may need extra time to troubleshoot these issues if they arise.
How to Ensure Website Design is Completed in the Minimum Time
To ensure your website is completed in time comes down to two things:
- Choosing a Competent Team: A competent design team has skilled and experienced designers & developers – like the Krestel website design & development team – that can give an accurate estimate of the time required to complete a project and stick with it.
- Clear Project Planning: As previously stated in this post – the planning and preparation phases are very important; a well-planned website design project that clearly outlines what, when, who, where, why & how, with a realistic timeline – helps to ensure the website design is completed in the minimum time possible.
Conclusion
In this post, we answered the question – How long does it take to design a website in Nigeria? – we outlined the website design phases, the duration of each phase, and what happens at each phase. We also detailed pertinent information and things to look out for during the review like mobile responsiveness, website speed, and security, among others.
If you’re currently looking to design a website in Nigeria or have any website design questions you want answered – Contact our team of expert website design and development professionals at Krestel Digital.
