How many hours go into creating a professional Website or eBay Store?

You may be asking yourself what all is involved and how many hours of work will go into creating your new website so we decided to put together a general overview as a guideline so you will know what we will be doing behind the scenes.

Website Planning (needs analysis/content planning/site structure design). This is where we plan out what your website will look like, how it will work, how it will be marketed; etc so depending on how complex your web project is this may take between 2 to 6 hours.
Organization (preparation of contract/estimate, digital and paper file management, tracking hours, invoicing). This is where we prepare your formal proposal, set up your billing account and send invoices to you. We also set up your project in our online project management area so you can communicate with us during your project, upload any files we will use for your project and easily follow along as your project takes shape. This process usually takes between 2 to 3 hours.
Meetings, phone calls, email correspondence with client. This part is where we discuss your needs, goals and any questions you may have. We will also discuss your target market, your competition, how you will gain revenue from your website and how people will find you. We usually spend anywhere from 2 to 4 hours total (phone and email) for this.
Creation of design prototype(s) (Visual). This segment is where your website starts to take shape and come to life. We may spend anywhere from 2 to 6 hours or more just creating the design of your website then another 1 to 2 hours getting your input, making changes, etc.
Creation of your logo or work on existing logo. If we are creating a new logo you want your logo to be something that will brand your business for years to come so we will spend between 2 to 4 hours on 1 logo example then another 1 to 2 hours getting your input, making changes, etc. If we are cleaning up an existing logo that you already have it may take between 1 to 2 hours depending on what condition or format your logo is in now.
Organizing and preparing content from client, including detailed target keywords/key phrases for search engines. Some clients like for us to do full research for their content while others already have their content prepared and ready to apply into their new website. We have found that more times than not even if a client has content prepared it still needs some tweaking. We don’t only look at your content but we research your competition to see what’s working for them, then with those things in mind our goal is to create content that’s better than what your competition has. This process can sometimes be long but in the end it’s worth every minute we spend. The process on average takes between 4 to 6 hours.
Design and creation of pages. After we have the client’s content we also have to think about content graphics and photos which sometimes either needs to be created or custom designed. We take all of the content, photos, and images and put these items into the design that we created in section #4 above then let the client view it and let us know what changes if any need to be made. This process can take between 2 to 4 hours depending on how many changes need to be made at this point. You can usually allow another 1 to 2 hours per page for all of the other pages in the website after the home page is set up. (Sometimes clients like to add their own content and we give you that option by providing a CMS (content management system) which is a back end office for your website so to speak. If the client is adding their own content we will spend between 1 to 2 hours training the client how to use the CMS.)
Finalization, beta testing and launch. This is where we wrap up everything to launch your project live on the internet. We double check your website, have you check it and then we check it again to make sure everything is working properly and that you are 100% satisfied with it. This usually takes between 2 to 4 hours or sometimes longer depending on the size of your project. (This is also a process that can require other small changes or tweaks for days or even weeks after your website is launched and your final invoice balance has been paid)
Final invoice, filing, archiving of project. This is where we will bill you for the balance of your project, make backups of your project and send you any files you request on CD. This process can take another 1 to 2 hours.