The Right Way to Use AI Website Builders (Most People Do This Backwards)
AI website builders don't work the way you think they will. Wes McDowell breaks down the mistake almost everyone makes — and the two-step fix that actually works.
I see this mistake constantly. Someone discovers an AI website builder, gets excited, plugs in their business info, and then wonders why the output looks generic and doesn't convert.
In a recent live Q&A session, Wes McDowell addressed this exact problem — and his answer is worth unpacking because it reframes how to think about these tools entirely.
The AI website builder isn't the writer. It's the designer. You still have to give it the content.
What AI Website Builders Actually Do
In the session, Wes explains that current AI website builders — he mentions Hostinger's as one of the better ones he's tested — will give you a solid structural head start. They'll generate a layout, arrange sections, and give you something to react to.
What they won't do is magically understand your business, your positioning, your audience, or your unique value. They ask a couple of questions and make an attempt. The output is a skeleton, not a finished page.
The mistake: people expect the tool to write and design for them in one step. The fix: separate those two steps entirely.
The Two-Step Process That Works
Wes outlines a smarter approach in the video:
Step 1: Get the copy from ChatGPT first.
Before you touch any website builder, go to a ChatGPT custom GPT trained on your voice and style. Give it your business details, your offer, your ideal customer. Have it write the copy section by section — headline, subheadline, benefits, testimonials, CTA.
The key is having AI write the copy in your voice, not in generic marketing speak. If you've built a custom GPT with your communication style, use it here.
Step 2: Bring that copy into the builder.
Now you open the AI website builder with your content already in hand. You're using it for what it's actually good at: layout, design, and visual presentation. You're not asking it to think. You're asking it to arrange.
Wes says you'll still need to tweak — that's expected. But you're tweaking a design, not starting from scratch on both fronts at once.
The Copy Principle That Never Changes
One other thing Wes emphasizes in the session that I think is the most evergreen marketing insight you'll hear: lead with the benefit or result, not with what the thing is.
He uses apps as an example. Most app companies' websites open with a screenshot of their UI. "Here's what it looks like." Nobody cares yet. They care what it does for them.
It doesn't matter if you're selling an app, a service, a course, or a coaching program — the homepage isn't about you, it's about the transformation the customer gets. The faster you can communicate that, the higher your conversions.
What I'd Add
I've helped people build their first online presence from scratch and the single biggest thing I see holding people back is trying to do design and copy at the same time. They end up paralyzed or they end up with something that looks decent but says nothing.
Treat your website copy like a sales conversation. What would you say to someone in person to get them interested in five minutes? Write that. Then hand it to the design tool and let it make it look good.
The Bottom Line
AI website builders are genuinely useful — but not as a one-step solution. Use ChatGPT (with your own voice) to write the copy first. Then use the builder to design it. Split the jobs, and both tools become dramatically more effective.