While you can DIY your website while using AI tools, you likely will not achieve the website designed to bring you success attracting and converting your ideal clients or customers. You also may find a lot of frustration over the design of your website and end up spending hours stressed and trying to get your site the way you envision it beyond AI’s limitations. Learning to DIY your own website also takes the precious time you could have instead focusing on your business.

As a small business, entrepreneur, or professional creative your website is a very important online digital hub that speaks to your ideal customers or clients about your brand, story and offerings. An AI generated website will be limited in capturing this for you. AI only works based on prompts you give it about your business, and even then, you will have to DIY the design to reflect your authentic vision. AI works as a tool but not a strategy for your business website success.

You need a website that stands out and is specifically designed for your business with as much customization as you need in design and function. This is where hiring a professional web designer can be a very beneficial investment when you are serious about pursuing your business success online. A web designer like me does not just create an attractive website design but also works with you collaboratively to really get to know your business and brand to design a website strategically for you. This is a supportive professional relationship that you have during the website design process and even beyond for ongoing support if you want. I personally aim to help whoever I am designing a website for achieve online business success, and I am passionate about this collaboration. This support you cannot have with a website done by AI and your DIY.

Trying to DIY your website design can take hours of learning a website platform like WordPress or Squarespace technically which can be overwhelming and stressful. You will also need to know what will make your website function well for anyone who visits. This includes being mobile responsive as many people view websites on their smartphones or tablets. Remember a website is not just an attractive design. A web designer also is designing your website for the best user experience keeping in mind how your ideal customer or client will interact and navigate your website best. Having someone who already has this knowledge as well as understands the web platform you are using creates greater ease in your business. A web designer will also bring you confidence that your website will be designed in the best way to convert clients or customers. You also have someone who can continue to assist with any website updates or regular maintenance over time.

A website designed by a professional web designer also will be able to be customized and designed in the way you envision that truly represents your unique business brand or creative work. An AI generated website will be very limited in design and you will still need to learn the web platform and DIY the website further. You will also be on your own with your branding on your website. Web designers often offer brand design as another service to capture your business story in a professionally designed visual brand identity. Your AI DIY website will end up appearing generic and will not tell your story and the emotion behind your brand or creative work.

An AI generated and DIY website will be limited in growth over time, and you will likely either need to do more changes yourself or eventually hire a web designer for support, especially if you need to add plugins or integrations such as schedulers, newsletters, online classes, a membership area, and ecommerce.

As for your website to run technically well you need to make sure site speed is always optimal. A web designer makes sure the website is designed with website speed in mind. A slow loading website can easily lose your client or customer interest.

Basic SEO needs to be built into your website design which a professional web designer will do as your website is built to ensure best SEO practices. While SEO needs to be maintained as your website changes and grows including new blog posts and images, good SEO practices from the beginning will help your website show up better in web search results. Otherwise, you will likely need a lot of changs to your AI generated DIY website later to improve your website SEO and speed.

While AI can generate a basic generic website with some prompts on a website platform, you see that there are still some work and DIY you will have to do alone with your website design and maintenance. This can be more time consuming and take time you could be using toward other parts of your business.

A professional web designer will help you have a successful start with a beautifully designed and well optimized, high functioning website. Your website as a small business, entrepreneur, or professional creative is a very important digital hub that you own. It is where you will show your professional brand and story to attract ideal clients or customers. If you are serious about professional growth and the long-term success or your business, hiring a web designer as a collaborative partner is the best choice. Don’t struggle alone and end up with a mediocre at best website that will likely need to be redesigned later by a professional. I recommend going beyond AI and DIY and hire a professional web designer for the best outcome for your business growth and success online.