When we compared the fastest quarter of our WordPress projects with the slowest quarter, the difference was stark. The fastest projects were delivered in a median of 11 days, the slowest in 134 days. Yet the fastest projects did not have simpler websites. They had fewer open questions.
Here is what the data showed, and the preparation checklist we built from it.
What separated fast and slow projects
| Fastest quarter | Slowest quarter | |
|---|---|---|
| Median delivery time | 11 days | 134 days |
| Median revision rounds | 0.5 | 3.5 |
| Median total waiting time | 1.5 days | 81 days |
| Missing content came up | 7% of projects | 29% of projects |
| Scope changes came up | 7% of projects | 25% of projects |
| Median hours logged | 8.1 | 16.4 |
Two things stand out. First, slow projects spent most of their calendar waiting. Second, they also took twice the work, because waiting creates rework: content arrives late, layouts change, new ideas come in.
The preparation checklist
1. Goals and audience
- What should a visitor do on the site? Call, book, request a quote, buy?
- Who is the main audience, and what do they need to know before contacting you?
- Which two or three services or products matter most?
You do not need a strategy document. Five clear sentences are enough for us to structure the site.
2. Content
- Texts for each page, or an agreement that we draft them for your approval
- Logo in a vector or high-resolution format
- Brand colours and fonts, if they exist
- Photos of your team, premises or products – or agreement to use licensed stock images
- Reviews, client logos, certificates
- Company details for the imprint and privacy policy
3. References
A reference website helps us understand taste quickly. Tell us specifically what you like about it – the layout, the colours, the feeling, a particular section. Interestingly, having a reference site did not separate fast and slow projects in our data: around 63% of fast and 64% of slow projects had one. A reference sets direction; it does not replace decisions.
4. Functionality
List everything the site must do beyond presenting information:
- Contact or quote forms, and who receives the enquiries
- Booking or appointment scheduling
- Online payments or a shop
- Newsletter sign-up or CRM connection
- Multiple languages
- Integrations with other systems (property listings, vehicle listings, calendars)
Each of these adds dependencies. Booking needs service lists and opening hours. Payments need legal texts and payment accounts. Languages need final texts. Knowing them at kickoff lets us plan the order of work.
5. Access
- Domain registrar login
- Hosting login, or a decision to host with us
- Existing website login for redesigns
- Google accounts for Search Console, Analytics and Business Profile
6. People and process
- One decision maker who consolidates feedback and approves each round
- Availability during the project – ideally feedback within a few working days
- Any fixed dates: a trade fair, an opening, a campaign start
A one-page brief is enough
Clients sometimes worry that preparing means writing a long document. It does not. The briefs behind our smoothest projects were often a single page with a few bullet points per section: what the company does, who the customers are, what the site should achieve, which pages are needed, which websites they like and why, and which features are required. Attached were the logo, a folder of photos and the texts – or a note that we should draft them.
What made these briefs effective was not their length but their clarity. Every item was either decided or marked as open with a name next to it. That is the standard we aim for in the kickoff call when a client arrives without a written brief: we fill in the page together and send it back for confirmation.
What happens if you are not fully prepared
That is normal, and it should not stop you from starting. We can draft texts, source stock images, propose a structure and set up hosting. What matters is that open items are named and have an owner and a date. "Photos by the end of next week, otherwise stock images" is a plan. "We'll send photos later" is a future delay.
What we prepare on our side
For fairness, here is what you can expect from us at kickoff: a proposed sitemap, a list of what we need and by when, a first draft date, and a clear explanation of what counts as a revision and what counts as new scope. The first draft in our WordPress projects took a median of 8 days from kickoff.
FAQ
What is the minimum I need to start?
A clear idea of your services and audience, your logo, and someone who can make decisions. Everything else can be developed during the project, as long as we agree when.
Should I finish my texts before contacting an agency?
It helps, but it is not required. Many clients prefer us to draft texts based on a call and their existing materials, then approve them.
How much of my time will a website project take?
Plan for a kickoff call, a few focused hours for content, and a review session for each revision round. The biggest time saver is consolidating feedback into one document per round.
What is the one thing to prepare before a website project?
A named decision maker with time to review. Content and brand assets matter, but in our experience the projects that stall are the ones where nobody can approve a draft within a few days.
What do the fastest website projects do differently?
Our fastest quarter of WordPress projects took a median of 11 days, the slowest 134.5 days. The team work differed far less than the waiting: 1.5 versus 81 days spent waiting on the client.
Where the numbers come from: our own project records in Odoo – 233 finished projects, 909 tasks and about 4941 logged hours, mostly from 2025–2026. Durations are calendar days from kickoff and we quote medians, so one unusually long project does not distort the picture.
Planning a website project?
If you want a realistic plan for your own project, book a short call with our team and we will walk you through the phases, what we need from you and where projects like yours usually lose time. You can also browse finished work in our website portfolio.
Comments