If your new website is on the cards for 2027, the decision is now
Web Development -
If your company wants a new website in 2027, now is the time to decide. A custom website starts weeks before the first line of code, and every month of hesitation goes straight onto the launch date.
Why the decision on your 2027 website is made in November
The end of the year is when many companies close next year’s budget. Those who approve the project now reach January with the groundwork done. Those who leave it until March start from scratch at that point.
We don’t write code without a documented discovery phase, where we define the system architecture, the user journeys and the integrations with other platforms. This is where costly mid-project surprises are avoided. It’s also the easiest phase to postpone, because there’s nothing to show yet.
How long a custom website or app takes, phase by phase
After more than 400 projects delivered, and as a Google Partner, our team works with realistic, consistent timeframes for each type of project:
| Project type | Typical duration |
|---|---|
| High-conversion landing page | 1 to 3 weeks |
| Full corporate website | 4 to 10 weeks |
| Online store | 4 to 10 weeks |
| App with bespoke design and standard integrations | 8 to 12 weeks |
For a website, the process always follows the same order: discovery and content architecture, UI/UX design, development and, finally, testing and launch. Design usually takes between 1 and 3 weeks. So, how long does a custom website take? Counting from defining the goals to final delivery, it takes on average between 4 and 12 weeks.
What should go into your 2027 budget (beyond development)
Development is the most visible part of the budget, but it isn’t the only one. Our proposals always include these line items:
- Usability and design: information architecture, wireframes and interface.
- Technical implementation: the development itself.
- Maintenance and support: a pack of slots valid for 12 months, ad hoc hours without priority, or a monthly retainer with a minimum 3-month commitment, where unused slots roll over.
- Hosting and third-party software: on separate lines, with annual costs.
Important note: A template may look cheaper at first, but it tends to bring heavy code, scaling limits and expensive long-term maintenance. With custom development, the product belongs 100% to the client, with no platform dependency.
What happens when the decision is left until March
A corporate website or an online store usually takes between 4 and 10 weeks. If the decision only comes in March, add discovery, internal approvals and feedback rounds, and the launch ends up close to summer.
In practice, that means spending a good part of the year with the old website, or investing in campaigns that send traffic to a page that’s about to change. Putting it off rarely saves money: it just pushes it further down the line.
Budget for visibility in AI answers from the start
Every website we deliver includes baseline technical SEO: friendly URLs, meta tags, semantic structure, speed and responsiveness. That’s what allows Google to find and understand the site, including in mobile searches.
Being recommended by ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini is a separate job, and it’s worth budgeting for it separately from the start. That’s what we do with IndexLab, the AI visibility arm of Brief Creatives: it prepares the llms.txt file and the sitemap, makes sure the company’s name, address and phone number are consistent everywhere, takes care of business profiles and metadata, and produces articles.
Planning both together pays off: a headless, API-first architecture loads fast and leaves room to change technology without rebuilding everything.
6 decisions to make before December
These decisions get the project ready to kick off in January:
- Business goals: what result the website has to deliver, not just what features it should have.
- Scope: website, online store or app, and what’s left for a second phase.
- Total budget: development, maintenance, hosting and AI visibility.
- Internal owner: who approves and who gives feedback.
- Content: who writes the copy and gathers the images.
- Target launch date: counted backwards from the timeframes above.
If you’re ready to kick off a new project, talk to Brief.
Frequently asked questions
How long does it take to build a custom website?
On average, between 4 and 12 weeks, from defining the goals to final delivery. A full corporate website or an online store usually takes between 4 and 10 weeks.
How long does it take to develop an app for iOS and Android?
An app with bespoke design and standard integrations takes between 8 and 12 weeks to complete and test.
Is maintenance included in the price of the website?
No. It’s a separate line item in the proposal, contracted as a pack of slots, ad hoc hours or a monthly retainer.
Will a new website show up in ChatGPT’s answers straight away?
Not automatically. Baseline technical SEO helps with Google, but being cited by ChatGPT takes dedicated work, such as the llms.txt file and consistent company data. At Brief, that work is done by IndexLab and budgeted separately.
Can I make changes to the website during development?
Yes. At Brief we use an Agile methodology, which lets clients follow every stage of the website’s design and development and give feedback at each one. Projects almost always end up quite different from how they started.