Depending on the design team and the size of the website, a development period could take anywhere from two weeks to three months.

It is important that you get an idea from your team how long they think the website design will take, this way you can base your plans loosely around their estimate.

It would also help you to understand the process involved when developing a website ,so we are going to cover these aspects very briefly here, and then go into each section in more detail later:

1. Creating the website design brief - This will involve working with your team to develop a conclusive development brief.
2. Legal and money matters - This step will involve entering into a legally binding contract with your website design company and negotiating costs and payment terms.
3. Preparing content - As a general rule, you will be required to prepare content for the site, unless of course your design team has included this in their services to you. Even if this is the case, you will still have a hand in this step.
4. General website design and site development - At this stage, your site is pretty much out of your hands, and you have no choice but to let your design team take over and start building your website.
5. Testing, reviewing and sign-off - Once the site is ready, or at least very close to completion, you will be required to review and test the website, making sure that it achieves your vision. At this point you will be able to provide feedback and make any minor changes to the site. Once you are happy, you will be required to sign-off or approve the website design for the next phase.
6. Final payment and Launch!! - Once you have signed off the site, your team will get the site ready for launch. In the meantime, you will most likely be required to make the final payment.
7. General tweaks & testing - Now that your site is live, there might be a few tweaks required, and this is where your site maintenance begins. There might also be a few areas that you feel need work now that you have seen the site live. Now is the time to do it, before anyone begins to discover and visit your new site.
8. Online marketing - If you feel your site is ready, it is time to begin your online marketing campaign. Your website design team will no doubt assist with the basics, ie website promotion, meta tags etc, but this is where you can really get stuck in and start making a difference.

These are the main steps broken down into very generic sections to give you the basic idea of what you are in for.

Click 'Next' to move onto the next lesson - Creating The Brief