How to build an amazing website with AI
A good website starts with a one-page brief, not a blank screen. Here’s how to plan, build and publish one with AI, without writing any code.
Video transcript
Want a website for your business, club or side project, without learning to code? AI can do a lot of the heavy lifting. Here’s how to make it good.
Before you open any tool, write a short brief. Who is the site for? What should visitors do? How should it feel, and which pages do you need?
Then pick a route. Website builders and design tools like Canva are the simplest. App builders like Lovable build whatever you describe, and developers might use Cursor.
Paste in your brief and ask for two or three different directions. It’s far easier to pick from options than to picture the perfect site in your head.
Then make it yours. AI is great at layouts and first drafts, but only you have the real photos, the right prices and the voice your customers know.
Before you go live, check the basics. Look at it on your phone, make sure it loads quickly and reads easily, describe your images for people who can’t see them, and test your contact details.
Finally, get your own web address and publish. Then keep improving: AI can write page descriptions for search, and help you answer the questions customers ask most.
That’s the plan. Read the full guide below for all seven steps, and a brief you can copy and paste.
In 30 seconds
- Start with a one-page brief: who the site is for, and what you want visitors to do.
- AI gets you a good first version in minutes. Your photos, words and details make it yours.
- Check it on a phone and test every link before you publish under your own web address.
Maybe it’s your dog-walking business, the choir’s concert dates or a home for your photography. A decent website used to mean paying a designer or losing a weekend to fiddly templates. Now you can describe what you want and see a first version in minutes.
But a site that looks fine isn’t the same as one that works. The difference is the thinking you do before you start, and the care you take afterwards.
From idea to live site in seven steps
- Write a one-page briefWho is the site for, and what should visitors do: book, buy, call or sign up? Add your tone, three sites you like and the pages you need.
- Pick your routeThe simplest is a website builder with AI, which drafts a site from a few questions. A design tool such as Canva suits a single page. App builders such as Lovable build what you describe, which is Jargon busterVibe coding: Building software by describing what you want in plain English and letting AI write the code.. Developers might use Cursor.
- Ask for a few directionsPaste in your brief and ask for a first version, then for two or three different looks. It’s much easier to choose than to imagine.
- Make it yoursSwap stock pictures for real photos, rewrite the words in your own voice, add your real prices and opening hours, and stick to two or three colours.
- Check the basicsOpen it on your phone. Make sure it loads quickly, the text is easy to read, every image has Jargon busterAlt text: A short written description of an image. Screen readers, apps that read pages aloud, use it to tell people who can’t see the picture what it shows. and every link, phone number and email address works.
- Get a domain and publishRegister a Jargon busterDomain name: Your website’s address, such as yourname.co.uk. You register it through a domain company or your website builder, usually renewing it every year. in your own name, connect it to your site and publish. Then send the link to a friend and ask what’s confusing.
- Keep improvingAsk AI to write a title and short description for each page, which search engines show in their results, and to draft answers to the questions customers ask most.
Build a website for [name], a [what you do] in [town]. It’s for [who your visitors are], and the one thing I want them to do is [book, buy, call or sign up]. Tone: [for example, warm and down to earth]. Sites I like: [three links], because [what you like about each]. Pages: [for example, home, services, prices, about, contact]. Use [your colours], leave space for my own photos and keep the words short and plain. Show me three different directions before you build the rest.
Where AI helps, and where you come in
| AI does well | Only you can do |
|---|---|
| Layouts, fonts and colours that work together | Know what your customers look for first |
| A first draft of every page in seconds | Supply real photos of you, your work and your place |
| Headline ideas in several styles | Write in the voice people already know |
| Page titles and descriptions for search | Check every price, date and phone number |
Visitors can tell when every word is generic. One real photo of you and one sentence only you would write do more than a perfect layout. Need an illustration or a banner? Here’s how to make images with AI.
Before you press publish
Built something with logins or payments using an app builder? Ask someone technical to check its security before real customers use it. AI-written code can look finished and still leave people’s data exposed.
Keep it fresh
A website is never really finished. Every few months, ask AI what a first-time visitor might find confusing, and add answers to the questions people actually ask you.
Here’s the text of my [page name] page: [paste it]. Write a short page title and a one-sentence description for search results, using the words my customers would search for. Then suggest five questions customers might ask, with short, plain answers I can add to the page.
Check yourself
3 quick questions nothing is savedTools in this guide
- LLovableBuild web apps and sites by describing them in plain English.
- CCanvaDesign tool with AI image generation, editing and writing built in.
- CCursorCode editor with an AI pair programmer and agent mode.
- CClaudeAnthropic’s assistant, strong at long documents, careful writing and code.
- CChatGPTOpenAI’s general-purpose assistant for writing, questions, analysis and images.
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