4 Practical Ways You can use AI for creating and optimizing websites
AI is an evolving technology that's quickly transforming the digital landscape, enabling us to speed up work that once took hours into mere minutes. Think back to creating a website just a few years ago: you had to manually generate all the content, conduct your own site audits, and perform extensive keyword research. While AI doesn't entirely replace these human-centric roles, it can now handle a significant portion of the legwork or provide an incredibly strong foundation for you to build upon.
In this blog post, I'll share several fascinating and powerful use cases for integrating Artificial Intelligence into the process of creating websites, and techniques I have personally leveraged to streamline my design workflow.
1. Creating Custom, High-Quality Imagery
Stock photography is a mainstay on websites across all domains, from small business and personal portfolios to large B2B platforms. There’s certainly nothing wrong with using stock images; they help establish brand consistency, maintain a professional look, and reinforce your overall brand identity. For instance, a coffee shop might only use high-resolution, candid shots of people enjoying coffee, or a fitness brand might feature athletes in action.
However, using AI to generate images has opened up possibilities that are truly limitless. Instead of spending time sifting through massive stock libraries, you can now create a bespoke product shot or a conceptual header image with a simple text prompt in seconds. This saves valuable time and ensures the imagery is perfectly aligned with your vision.
A compelling feature of AI image generators is the ability to easily integrate your brand's specific colors, styles, or aesthetic into the final output. You can explicitly instruct the AI to use your hex codes or describe the mood and lighting you desire.
Personally, I've found success using Gemini and Midjourney for image generation. Gemini is exceptional for advanced photo editing and enhancement that would typically consume hours in a complex image editing suite. For example, you can use a prompt like, "Extend the vertical space above the product, adding a realistic, minimalist ceiling to accommodate an overlaying text header," and it will intelligently and realistically expand the image. Midjourney, on the other hand, is excellent for generating nearly any photo-realistic or highly stylized image from scratch based purely on a detailed prompt.
Pro-Tip for Image Generation: To get the best results from any tool, don't write the prompt yourself. Instead, use a powerful large language model (LLM) like Gemini or ChatGPT to craft the prompt for you. For instance, you could prompt the LLM: "I need a Midjourney prompt for a super-realistic, high-depth-of-field photo of a bright orange falling from a tree, with a significant background blur." The LLM will then output a highly detailed, technical prompt that perfectly translates your vision for the image generator.
2. Strategic and Optimized Content Generation
This is perhaps the most obvious application, as generative AI is primarily designed for generating content. Any web professional who has built client websites knows the challenge of receiving minimal or poor quality source material, especially if the client doesn't have an existing site. AI is phenomenal for providing initial content ideas, structure, and direction tailored to your specific website.
Let’s use the example of a new bagel shop website. Instead of staring at a blank screen, you can use a detailed prompt like this:
“Generate SEO- and LLM-optimized content ideas for the hero section of my new bagel shop website, [Insert Brand Name]. I need a compelling H1 headline, a persuasive subheading, and any key trust-building information that would immediately hook a customer.”
This prompt is effective because it clearly details the exact section you’re working on, specifies the elements you need (H1, subheading, etc.), and sets important performance goals: SEO-optimized (for search engine ranking) and LLM-optimized (to ensure it’s easily scannable and digestible by AI search engines like Gemini and Perplexity).
While it's not a best practice to blindly copy the output, you should use it as a powerful brainstorming partner. It instantly gives you multiple variations and keyword-rich ideas that are specifically structured for effectiveness. Moreover, you can even start by writing your own initial content draft and then inputting it into an LLM for targeted feedback and optimization, refining your human ideas with AI’s data-driven insights.
3. Objective Design and Layout Feedback
This is one of the most interesting and powerful use cases that goes beyond mere content creation. AI is perfectly capable of critiquing existing design elements like layout, color contrast, typography, and content hierarchy. Essentially, you can use an LLM as a virtual design expert and consumer advocate.
Imagine you upload a screenshot of your initial hero section mockup. You could prompt the AI with: “Rate my hero section design from 1–10 and provide specific, actionable critiques for improvement.”
The response might be nuanced: "The color contrast between the text and background is excellent for accessibility (8/10), but the current typeface choice fails to immediately capture the attention of a first-time visitor. Consider a bolder, more modern font for the H1." This feedback helps you identify potential design flaws or areas for optimization from a consumer standpoint, offering immediate, data-backed ideas.
For a broader perspective, you can download an entire page as a PDF or image and upload it, asking for high-level feedback on the overall flow, conversion path, or visual hierarchy. The possibilities for getting objective, critical design analysis are truly endless.
4. Wireframe and Layout Mockup Inspiration
Every web designer who builds sites from scratch has, at some point, experienced the design equivalent of "writer's block." You know the sections you need, and you might even have the content, but the perfect layout just isn't materializing. AI can generate custom, functional ideas based on your specific project constraints.
Consider a project for a pizza restaurant. The client has given you a list of desired homepage sections (menu highlights, promotions, location, CTA for online ordering). If you're stuck on the visual arrangement, you can prompt the AI:
“I need a layout for the homepage of a pizza restaurant website, including sections for: Hero/Main Offer, Menu Highlights, Online Ordering CTA, and Customer Testimonials. Generate a potential layout structure, ensuring it is optimized for high conversion rate and that the User Experience (UX) is the top priority.”
This prompt is powerful because it emphasizes your business objectives (conversion) and user needs (UX), not just aesthetics. It’s easy to create a wild or highly stylized website, but visitors are ultimately looking for clarity and ease of navigation. The AI’s output will prioritize making it as simple as possible for the user to get from Point A (visiting the site) to Point B (placing an order).
Remember, you don't have to use the exact layout it generates, but the structure can provide powerful inspiration or a reliable baseline for future designs. Always be as detailed as possible in your prompts, viewing the layout from the consumer's perspective and including specific goals.
Conclusion: The Key to Effective AI Integration
The use cases outlined above are just a few ways AI can be integrated into the web design and development workflow, but the possibilities are vast.
If there is one key takeaway from this post, it is this: You must be specific with your prompts.
No matter what you use AI for, content, images, or layout, always ensure your prompts include specific details about your goals, such as UX, UI, target customers, conversion, and search engine optimization. The more detail you provide, the better the AI can help your website achieve its core objectives.
A second, crucial takeaway is that AI is a co-pilot, not a replacement. Most of the time, I use it for ideas and optimization, not for fully replacing my own work. This commitment to having a human-led creative process helps avoid what is often called "AI slop": generic, soulless content.
My personal best practice is to always create my own first draft or initial idea, and then use the LLM to either generate fresh ideas based on my work or to optimize and refine what I have already written. By doing this, you keep the essential human aspect: the creativity, brand voice, and emotional intelligence, at the center of your web design process.
FAQ
What’s the best way to combine my design skills with AI tools?
Use AI for ideation and optimization, not replacement. Start with your own creative direction, then use LLMs like ChatGPT or Gemini to enhance your copy, layout suggestions, or imagery prompts.
How do I write effective prompts for AI image generation?
Be detailed and intentional. Include the subject, mood, lighting, camera style, and purpose (e.g., “Create a minimal, product-focused hero image for a skincare brand, shot with soft lighting and negative space for text overlay.”)
How do I make my AI-generated content sound more human?
Start with AI drafts, then rewrite sections using your natural tone, storytelling, and humor. You can also feed your edited text back into the AI and ask it to “match this tone across all sections.”
How do I get useful design feedback from ChatGPT or Gemini?
Be specific. For example:
“Rate this hero section design from 1–10 and give actionable suggestions to improve conversion and readability.”
Detailed context always leads to better insights.
What’s the difference between SEO optimization and LLM optimization?
SEO focuses on ranking in search engines like Google, while LLM optimization makes your content easier for AI models (like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity) to summarize and recommend in conversational answers.
