Timeline depends on scope and preparation. A simple brochure site with a premium theme, 5–8 pages, and basic SEO setup usually takes 2–4 weeks. A custom business site with original design, 15–25 pages, advanced functionality, and proper technical SEO takes 6–10 weeks. E-commerce or membership sites with WooCommerce, payment gateways, and custom user flows often need 10–16 weeks. The biggest variable isn't WordPress itself—it's content and decision velocity. If you hand over finalized copy, images, and brand assets on day one, you shave 30–40% off the timeline. Most projects stall waiting for client review, revised copy, or approval on design mockups. At Ottawa SEO, we've seen 4-week projects stretch to 12 weeks purely because stakeholders weren't aligned internally. Breakdown for a typical custom build: Discovery and wireframes take 1–2 weeks. Design mockups and revisions take 2–3 weeks. Development and plugin configuration take 2–3 weeks. Content population, SEO setup, and testing take 1–2 weeks. Then you need at least one week for final client review and deployment. You can accelerate by choosing a well-coded theme like GeneratePress or Kadence and skipping custom design, but you sacrifice differentiation. You can also slow things down by requesting major functionality changes mid-build or integrating complex third-party systems like CRMs or booking platforms that require API work. Cutting corners on planning costs you later. Skipping proper taxonomy setup, mobile testing, or Core Web Vitals optimization means you launch faster but spend months fixing performance and SEO issues. We'd rather spend an extra two weeks upfront getting structure right than six months recovering rankings because the site has 18 plugins and a 4-second load time. If someone promises a full custom site in under four weeks, ask what they're skipping.