When clients approach us about doing a new website, one of their main concerns is "When can we have it live?" Having been involved in web for 10 years now, it's pretty easy to determine early on which clients will get their site done on deadline and which ones will not.
From the outset, objectives need to be determined on what the site is supposed to do. This includes menu structures, content consideration and site development over the coming years.
Proper development needs to be scoped so both the client and the development team are on the right page.