Nowadays, there’s no excuse for not having a website—especially with artificial intelligence (AI) revolutionizing the web design process. What used to take countless hours to create can now be done in a matter of minutes.
From envisioning your layout to writing all of your web copy, AI promises a fast, beginner-friendly solution for making a website from scratch. That said, when you’re learning how to design a website with AI, you’ll want to keep in mind that no two AI solutions are exactly the same. You’ll want to do your due diligence, and use the tools at your disposal wisely.
Itching to get your hands on an AI-powered solution? Try Wix’s AI website builder.
The various ways AI is being used in web design
A whopping 93% of web designers reported having used AI, according to a recent report by Hubspot, with half using it specifically to design their websites. The advantages?
Design and code entire webpages: AI tools can generate mockups and prototypes in minutes, as opposed to taking days or weeks to wireframe and code new designs by hand. Or, for more seasoned web developers, AI can simplify the process by generating code samples.
Generate site content: Perhaps one of the most tedious steps of creating a website: filling your pages with compelling text, imagery and other media assets. More than half (58%) of designers in Hubspot’s survey attested to using AI for this reason, saving time and money.
Infuse expert-level best practices: The best AI website builders are equipped with the latest technology and data on web design trends. For example, Wix’s website builder taps into decades’ worth of experience, as well as its vast ecosystem of solutions, to auto-generate sites that are tailored to your unique industry and goals.
Test new design strategies: For more professional web designers, AI can come in handy when you’re looking to iterate on your own ideas or find inspiration. Moreover, you can use AI to track performance and quality, as 43% of designers in Hubspot’s study reported doing.
How to design a website with AI in 7 steps
So, how can you get started with building a website with AI? Here’s a step-by-step walkthrough of the process.
01. Gather essential information
Often, the quality of an AI output depends on the quality of the information that you input. A full dossier of information about your brand can point your AI solution in the right direction. While you don’t need to have a full style guide in hand, you do need to know basic details like:
The purpose of your site
Your intended audience
The products or services that you plan on selling
What sets you apart in the marketplace
An idea of your brand’s personality and/or values
Why does this matter? Let’s say that you want to build an eCommerce site that sells ring lights. Your site will look different if you’re primarily targeting Gen Z shoppers who seek your lights for personal projects, versus corporate clients who’d use your lights for professional projects. To limit the amount of back and forth in the web design process, you’ll want to decide which audience(s) matter to your brand the most.
02. Choose an AI website builder
There are many AI-powered tools to consider, ranging from all-in-one platforms to single-task apps. If you’re looking to retain as much control over the process as possible, then you may choose to use a combination of tools (like MidJourney, ChatGPT and DALL·E3) to assist at different stages.
For the simplest solution, AI website builders are your best bet. Website builders like Wix offer easy-to-use interfaces and AI capabilities that not only do the creating for you, but also guide you through the process.
Make sure to weigh your options carefully. You’ll want to assess things like:
Your must-have features: What’s your game plan for your site? Do you need to enable online scheduling? Do you require an online payment solution? What about gated pages or other specialized functionality? Check that your solution can accommodate your particular line of business.
Your in-house capabilities: Do you have in-house designers and engineers who can work with code? Or, are you a “solo-preneur” who wants to focus on sales and needs a more off-the-shelf solution?
Your budget: Is the pricing straightforward and within your budget? Some AI website builders are free, while others offer premium services for a subscription. Still others charge a one-time fee per design. Remember to think about both your current needs and future needs, and keep an eye out for any hidden costs.
Customization options: Can you tweak things to make your site look just right? What flexibility do you have over the branding of your web pages?
Integration options: Does your solution mesh well with other tools that you're using, like social media or email marketing platforms? Check which tools come built into your website builder, as well as what integrations are readily available.
AI maturity: While AI is in its heyday, it’s not brand new to the world of tech. Some companies have been at it longer than others; Wix, for example, has been at the forefront of AI since 2016. Wix is able to draw on years of in-house design knowledge to inform its AI designs, avoiding cookie-cutter solutions or flimsy tools.
Get started with Wix for free—sign up now.
03. Design your site with AI
As noted earlier, there are two main options for creating a site with AI: either using a website builder or taking a more a-la-carte approach. Let’s walk through each scenario.
Using an AI website builder
Most AI-powered website builders will ask you a series of questions to get started, though the exact steps depend on the platform. If you’re using Wix, you’ll be greeted by a unique, chat-based experience that asks you a series of questions to get you set up. More specifically, you’ll need to take the following steps:
From the Wix AI website builder page, click “Create with AI” and set up a new Wix account or log into an existing one. Click “Start chat” on the next screen.
Answer the questions that appear in the chat box. The AI will ask for information about your business and goals to create a site with all the pages, content and widgets you need to support your brand. Take your time answering these questions, giving the AI as much relevant information as possible. Once presented with the option, click “Generate Site.”
Wix will then spin up a website, complete with website header designs, images and text that reflect your business. If you’d like to make changes, ask the AI to regenerate the site or tweak specific elements (such as the theme or structure) of the site brief.
When you’re satisfied with the design, click “Continue with this site” and move to the Editor. Make any other desired changes from the Editor. The Wix Editor includes many other built-in AI capabilities, including AI tools for product descriptions, site copy and images. Use these features to your advantage as you fine-tune your site.
Publish your finished site.
Without using an AI website builder
Mix and match multiple AI applications as needed. When it comes to the site design stage, AI tools like DALL·E or Midjourney can help you visualize your ideas.
Provide a few core details about your site, like its purpose and the main message you want to convey. You can achieve even better results by describing your preferred:
Visual style (modern, minimalist, vintage, etc.)
Color scheme (monochromatic, pastel color schemes, etc.)
Layout preferences (asymmetrical, on-page, etc.)
Images or icons (product images, lifestyle photos, shopping cart, etc.)
Mood or tone (relaxing, corporate, etc.)
User experience (mobile-friendly, focused on user engagement, etc.)
Sources of inspiration (mention certain brands or designs to model after, but be careful of accidental copyright infringement).
For example, below is what DALL·E fashioned together when given the prompt “Homepage for a minimalist website that specializes in hand-knitted apparel.”
AI outputs tend to contain gibberish as well as stylistic quirks, so you’ll likely need to tweak the image using a photo editor before implementing it into your site.
Once you’ve gotten a feel for how you want your site to look, you can build the front-end code by hand; use an AI tool like Visily or GitHub Copilot (which is powered by OpenAI Codex) to generate wireframes or code snippets from your image, respectively. Or, enter your content into a website builder.
04. Refine your branding with AI
Any attention-grabbing website includes imagery and elements that not only look good but also reflect your brand well. There are multiple areas where AI can help:
Business name: If your brand name is still up in the air, consider using Wix’s AI-powered business name generator to brainstorm memorable names. Simply enter words that are relevant to your business values and type, such as “wedding flower arrangements” to generate a list of ideas. You can further refine your query or specify your industry to get more specific suggestions.
Logo: Your logo is a small yet mighty representation of your brand. If you don’t have a logo—or if you’re looking to refresh your existing one—try Wix’s free AI-powered logo maker and follow this guide on how to make an AI logo. You’ll be asked a few questions about your type of business, the vibe you’re seeking and the text you want to include in your logo. The logo maker will even suggest taglines if you’re looking to include one in your logo. Then, the maker will give you various logo options to try out on your site.
Color scheme: If you can’t decide the right color palette for your brand, tools like Khroma can help you on this front. Khroma uses AI to learn which colors you like. You train the AI by selecting colors you prefer, and it generates palettes based on your choices.
05. Populate pages with AI-generated content
Your site design and layout are like the walls of a house. Once you have them, it’s time to fully inhabit your site with the content that will showcase your brand and its offerings. Quality content entices visitors to engage more deeply with your site and accurately sets customer expectations.
You can use AI to speed up the development of text, images and even video, making it easier than ever to offer a rich mix of information in a variety of formats. With AI, you can:
Create or enrich website copy. AI text generators can help your produce site copy, from strong product descriptions to catchy homepage copy. For example, in Wix, you can use AI to write copy for any web page. Prompt it to create new copy, or use it to edit existing copy for length, grammar and/or tone.
Create visual assets for your site: Whether you need a custom image for your homepage banner or lifestyle images for your product pages, AI image generators can help fill in the gaps. Wix’s tools for text-to-image, which can be accessed from the Photo Studio in the Editor, works similarly to DALL·E; just describe what you’re looking for and AI will whip up a new image. Alternatively, you can use Wix’s tools to remove backgrounds from your photos or enhance the quality of your images.
Build, enhance and/or repurpose video: Video is the latest frontier for AI content generation, and a handful of tools now enable you to generate sound and motion with the click of a mouse. For example, Runway provides tools for creating videos based on text prompts. Visla generates videos using graphics and stock footage, and can also repurpose your own submissions into short, interactive snippets. Wix offers auto-generated trailers, which allow you to create 30-second clips from longer videos.
06. Optimize your site for SEO using AI
Considering how 35% of U.S. internet users stumble on new brands via search engines, you’ll want to avoid leaving search engine optimization (SEO) as an afterthought when you’re creating a site. There are both technical and on-page SEO factors to keep in mind, such as:
Implementing keywords strategically and naturally throughout your content
Providing complete, detailed content on all of your pages
Matching search intent with your content
Making sure each site page is crawlable, and includes things like alt text, title tags and meta descriptions
Ensuring your site runs smoothly (i.e., loads quickly, offers a good user experience, etc.)
The best AI-powered SEO tools combine keyword data with SEO best practices to help improve the rankability of your site.
For Wix creators, the SEO Assistant scores your site pages for SEO and makes dynamic recommendations. Meanwhile, AI can suggest SEO-optimized title tags and meta descriptions for each of your Wix pages.
07. Add AI-powered UX features
In addition to generating static website content, AI can also help to personalize your site or make it more interactive with dynamic content.
End-to-end AI website creation platforms may offer these tools as enhancements within their toolsets, as Wix does. Alternatively, you can shop for standalone vendors that focus on specific AI-powered tools. Among the functionality to consider:
AI-powered product recommendations: AI can factor in a shopper’s browsing behavior, past purchase history and saved style and size preferences to recommend products that they’ll love. Wix’s product recommender, for example, will suggest products based on a person’s shopping history—giving your brand more opportunities to upsell and cross-sell.
Customer service chatbots: Two-thirds of consumers have used chatbots in the past year, and 81% of those who did report positive results, according to a study by Zoom and Morning Consult. Integrating AI-powered automation into your live chat workflow frees up human customer service agents to solve tricky situations, while the chatbots can field order status lookups, issue return labels and other routine tasks. Wix has partnered with leading chatbot developers to create seamless integrations.
Best practices for designing a website with AI
AI technology can significantly enhance and streamline the website creation process. When designing your website with AI tools, it's essential to adhere to best practices to achieve a successful and user-friendly outcome. By following these key tips for AI web design, you can enhance the user experience and optimize the functionality of your website.
Integrate with human touch: While AI can greatly enhance the efficiency and functionality of your website, it's important not to lose the human touch. Incorporate personal touches and elements that reflect your brand's personality and values.
Test and optimize regularly: Conduct A/B testing, collect user feedback and analyze data to discover elements to improve in the next iteration. Doing this regularly ensures your website remains relevant, user-friendly and aligned with evolving trends and user preferences. AI can help analyze this data quickly and efficiently, making it easier to make data-driven decisions.
Stay up-to-date with the latest AI trends: AI is continually evolving, with new tools and features emerging. Stay on top of these developments to continue leveraging the latest technology for your website design.
How to design a website with AI FAQ
Can AI replace human web designers?
No, while AI can assist and streamline the website design process, it can't fully replace human creativity and expertise. Human designers can bring a personal touch and unique perspective to website design that AI may not be able to replicate.