A better AI website starts with a clear brief

1. Describe the decision your visitors need to make

Start with your offer and a specific audience. “Homeowners” is broader than “owners of older family homes planning a renovation in Cologne”. A concrete situation makes relevant pages, questions and contact steps easier to plan. This is a planning tool, not a reason to invent services or locations.

Then choose the main action. Should visitors request a call, ask for a quote or explore a product? A site can provide several paths, but the useful next step should be clear in each context. Write down the information someone needs before taking that step.

2. Give the AI reliable source material

Gather your logo, approved images, service descriptions, contact details and existing copy. Identify which statements you can support and which information is still missing. An attractive draft with invented reviews, years of experience or customer numbers is not ready to publish.

Do not use someone else’s customer photos, logos or confidential documents without appropriate permission. For an initial draft, use clearly labelled placeholders. Tell the AI to leave missing information visibly open. Replace or remove those placeholders before publication.

If you use an example business, label it as fictional. The sample below describes a fictional planning consultancy, so it contains no real references or claims about results.

3. Plan pages around questions

A homepage introduces your offer. A service page explains scope, process and common questions. An about page makes the people and working approach tangible. A contact page explains the next step. Choose that structure only where it fits your business; adding pages is not an end in itself.

For each page, write down one main question and a suitable action. A planning consultancy might answer: “How does an initial consultation work, and what should I bring?” Its next step could be an enquiry with a short project description. Put important information where visitors need it to make a decision.

Then describe the design: light or dark surfaces, type hierarchy, image direction and the amount of motion. Two or three priorities are easier to review than a long list of conflicting style adjectives. Animation should support orientation and account for use on small screens.

4. Use a brief you can actually check

The template below is a starting point. Replace the bracketed fields with your own information. Download it as plain text, complete it at your own pace and use it to prepare your website. The template is freely available; use of Codaiq is subject to the plans and terms displayed in the product.

Begin with a manageable scope: the homepage, one clear offer and a contact path. Add other pages based on real information. This lets you judge content and design together before the same unclear message spreads across a larger site.

Business: [Name and actual offer]
Audience: [Who, in what situation?]
Region / language: [Location and language]
Main goal: [e.g. a qualified consultation enquiry]
Pages: [Home, Services, About, Contact]
Per page: [Main question and next step]
Available material: [Copy, logo, images, approved evidence]
Missing material: [Label gaps; do not invent facts]
Design: [2–3 priorities, including mobile use]
Features: [What must be connected and tested]
Contact destination: [Real address or intended contact path]
Acceptance: [Check links, mobile layout, content and delivery]

5. Request revisions with context and acceptance criteria

“Make it more premium” is difficult to assess. A clearer request is: “On the homepage, shorten the introductory copy to two sentences. Make the heading name our service. Place a contact button below it that links to the contact page. Keep the logo, colours and other sections unchanged.”

For important revisions, work in sequence: content first, hierarchy next, details last. Identify the page and section, describe the intended effect and say what should remain unchanged. Then inspect the affected area and the next step in the journey.

If a form or other feature needs an external service, distinguish its visible interface from its actual connection. A button, confirmation message or attractive dashboard does not by itself prove that an enquiry was stored or delivered.

6. Review the website before sharing it

Read every claim. Are the offer, contact person and contact details correct? Do navigation and links work? Check pages on a narrow screen and with a keyboard. Headings, images and buttons should not hide important information or extend beyond the viewport.

Submit a clearly labelled test enquiry and verify arrival at its real destination. For interactive features, test an error case too: what happens if information is missing or a connected service is unavailable? Remove test data when you no longer need it.

Inspect page titles, descriptions and visible copy. Each page should explain its own subject clearly. Check that the public address works and the intended indexing settings are in place. These steps do not replace legal review or guarantee placement in search engines or AI answers.

Publish when the essential content and journeys match your actual offer. Afterwards, observe whether visitors use the intended path and improve the specific places where useful information is missing.

Common questions