How many weeks should a corporate website build take? The agency quoted 3 months, is that normal?

Is the agency handling the foreign language translations and technical specs or are you supplying them ready to go? If the agency has to write the copy and shoot the factory photos, even 12 weeks is basically a miracle. If you want to cut down the timeline, take the entire content workload on yourselves and hand the agency a turnkey package.

Split the timeline straight into two phases. Contract for 7 weeks for the first phase launching the Turkish and English pages 1 week before the trade fair. Leave the German version and secondary pages for phase two after the event. That way you show up at the expo looking polished, and the agency avoids rushing out sloppy work in a panic.

Last year we contracted out a 16-page bilingual site. The agency quoted 8 weeks, but it took our board of directors 4 weeks just to approve the revisions for the logo and homepage design. The project ended up taking a full 15 weeks. 5 weeks of that delay were entirely due to our own internal sluggishness; it wasn't the agency's fault.

An agency quoting 12 weeks probably has 4-5 other jobs going on at the same time. Since they'll only dedicate 10-15 hours a week at most to your project, the schedule gets stretched across 3 months. In reality, the actual net working time spent on it won't exceed 12-15 uninterrupted business days.

To make the delay clause crystal clear, have these three rules written into the contract: 1) Your company gets a maximum review period of 3 business days after each delivery stage by the agency, 2) Revision rounds are capped at 2 for design and 1 for coding, 3) A penalty deduction of 0.5% per day applies if the deadline is exceeded.

don't push the agency too hard just to make it in time for the trade show, otherwise they'll rush it and deliver a site with a broken mobile layout and you'll embarrass yourself at the expo but if you give design approvals within 2 days and hand over all content ready to go in a drive folder, that project will wrap up in 8 weeks.

The exact delivery deadline must be specified in days within the service agreement between the parties, and failure to perform in a timely manner should be subject to a penal clause. However, for legal parity, the contract must also stipulate that any delays resulting from the client's approval process or asset delivery will be added as additional days to the agency's allotted timeline.

I'm in the same situation, that's why I'm asking. If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

Exactly, and not many people know this. Payment schedules should be tied to project phases, not calendar dates.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

We experienced almost the exact same thing last year. Most time waste accumulates in tasks waiting for approval.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

The cheap-looking path usually ends up costing more later. Everyone rushing into how many weeks delivery time gets stuck at the same point.

Any unwritten clause becomes a point of disagreement later, as both sides remember it differently. I'm also curious if anyone does it differently.

Absolutely. If I were to add anything: The harder it is to reverse a decision the slower you should make it.

Payment schedules should be tied to project phases not calendar dates. Correct me if I'm wrong.

The cheap-looking path usually ends up costing more later. If scope grows, either time or budget must grow. There is no third option.

Of course, it varies if your situation is different.

Timely topic.

I'm writing this so you don't make the same mistake. The system lives on after delivery; maintenance is a separate line item.

If I were you, I'd go this route.

Generally correct, but one part is missing. Code without setup documentation isn't yours, even if you have it.

Proven by experience.

This thread is archived.

the opposite happened to me thats why Im writing then tbh access credentials should be opened in the companys name, not personal accounts.

correct me if Im wrong.