You can't scroll far these days without bumping into AI. It's in the tools we use, the ads we see, and now it's turning up in how people build their websites too.
More and more small business owners, particularly startups and those just getting going, are weighing up whether to just use an AI tool to build their site. It's a shift we're paying close attention to, and it's a fair question to unpack: with AI this accessible, is it actually the right move for your business?
The numbers back this up: according to the ABS, 437,150 new businesses launched across Australia in 2024-25.
And with regular AI use among Australian SMEs rising from 40% in mid-2024 to 69% by early 2026 (Source: Intuit), it makes sense that more new businesses may look to AI to help get their business off the ground.
So, should you? Let's dig into that.
Dominic, owner of Wakeford Digital, shares: "We're genuinely not anti-AI. We use it ourselves as part of how we work every day. But there's a real difference between getting a website up and having a website that actually works for your business long-term.
"The technology has made it easier to get online quickly, and that's a good thing. But the post-launch side of things, the SEO, the technical setup, the ongoing optimisation, that's where a lot of DIY sites fall short. And it's not always obvious until months down the track when the phone still isn't ringing."
Before we get into the detail, here's where we land on this.
AI tools are a great option if you're very tech-savvy and working with a tight budget. Getting a website concept live quickly is genuinely achievable, and for some businesses, it's absolutely the right call.
For some businesses, AI website tools are the right fit. For most, though, the time investment and the gaps in post-launch performance make it worth having a conversation with someone who does this every day.
We're not here to bag AI. We use it ourselves at Wakeford Digital as part of how we work, and there are real advantages worth acknowledging.
The key pros of using AI to build a website:
Here's what each of those actually looks like in practice.
AI tools can take you from a blank page to a polished website concept faster than ever before. What used to take days of design back-and-forth can now happen in a single session.
For a new business that just needs something live quickly, that's genuinely useful. It lowers the barrier to entry in a way that simply didn't exist a few years ago.
For a brand new business with a tight budget, an AI-assisted website is a significantly better option than no website at all.
It gets you online, gives you a URL to share, and provides a starting point to build from. Particularly for businesses across Tasmania that have been operating off a Facebook page alone, it bridges a real gap.
The output from AI tools has come a long way.
Results from platforms like Claude Code can look genuinely professional, with clean layouts, consistent typography, and responsive design. On first glance, the quality is often impressive, and that's a big part of what makes these tools feel appealing.
The upfront subscription cost of an AI website tool is significantly lower than engaging a web designer in Hobart from day one.
For a business in the very early stages, that matters. We'd rather see a Tasmanian small business get online with an AI-built site than have no web presence at all.
Dom's tip: "We use AI as a foundation for a lot of what we do internally. Content drafts, SEO auditing and reporting, understanding a client's content pillars for social media, proofing, and behind-the-scenes ideation. It saves real time, and that time goes back into the strategic and creative work that actually moves the needle for clients.
"So when someone comes to us having already used AI to start building their site, we're not dismissive of that at all. It can be a genuinely useful starting point."
Here's where it gets more interesting. Building a website and building a successful website are genuinely two different things.
The key cons of using AI to build a website:
Let's look at each one.
AI-generated websites tend to follow predictable patterns.
A tagline hero, a services block, a contact form. The structure repeats across sites, particularly when the AI hasn't been given strong brand direction, tone of voice, or a proper brief to work from.
We've seen concepts come through that looked visually appealing on first glance but were essentially just replicating a template structure. In one case, the same services content block appeared three times in a row on the same page, purely because the AI was prompting off another site's layout. It looked fine on a quick scroll, but the moment you actually read it, the issues became clear.
The design decisions that make a website feel genuinely on-brand, the ones that come from understanding a business, its customers, and what makes it different, are hard to prompt your way to.
Dominic notes: "The websites that perform best are the ones built with a clear goal in mind, not just a look. What does this visitor need to see? What do we want them to do? How do we build trust quickly?
"AI can get you a solid design pretty quickly, but without that strategic thinking behind the layout, even a great-looking site can completely miss the mark."
There's a common misconception that AI website tools are a quick fix.
Getting a basic concept up can be fast. But getting it right, learning the platform, prompting correctly, fixing issues, sorting out hosting, connecting a domain, actually getting it live, adds up faster than most people anticipate. And that's before you've touched any of the technical setup that actually makes the site perform.
According to research shared by HubSpot, 38% of people will stop engaging with a website if the content or layout is unattractive (Source: Adobe, via HubSpot). Getting to a result that clears that bar, without design experience or platform knowledge, takes more effort than most business owners expect going in.
A real-world example worth thinking through:
Say you're a plumber and you spend 30 hours across a few weeks building your own website. At $150 to $200 an hour, that's $4,500 to $6,000 worth of your time. Time you're not spending on tools, clients, or actually growing the business.
You could have engaged a web designer in Hobart for a similar investment and had it done right, without the distraction.
We've had clients choose to go down the AI path rather than work with us. We've checked on those sites out of genuine curiosity, month after month, and in more than one case the site still wasn't live. All that time spent, and still no website. Meanwhile, the cost in lost leads and lost time had quietly added up well beyond what a professional build would have cost.
As Dominic puts it: "If you're a plumber, a builder, or any trade-based business, your time is your income. The hours you spend figuring out a website builder aren't hours you're getting back.
"That's the real cost that often doesn't get factored in when people are excited about saving money on a web designer upfront. We always encourage people to do the maths honestly before they start."
This is probably the biggest misconception we see.
Business owners assume that if the website looks good, it'll do the job. But the goal of a website isn't just to look good. It's to generate enquiries, leads, and customers. And those two things are not the same.
Conversion comes down to structural and design decisions that are easy to get wrong. Common issues we see on AI-built and DIY websites include:
AI can produce a visually appealing layout. But without strategic thinking around the user journey, even a beautiful website can completely miss the mark.
Dom's tip: "A website that looks good but doesn't have a clear path for the visitor is one of the most common things we see when clients come to us for help.
"The design might be attractive, but if someone lands on your homepage and can't immediately tell what you do, who you help, and what to do next, they'll just leave. And most of the time they won't come back."
Here's the part that gets overlooked entirely.
Getting a website live is one thing. Getting it found is another challenge altogether.
A site that hasn't been set up with correct H1 heading tags, meta titles, and a submitted sitemap isn't going to rank on Google, regardless of how good it looks. Schema markup, keyword strategy, and local SEO signals are technical elements that sit behind the scenes but have a direct impact on whether anyone actually finds your business online.
There's often a honeymoon period when a site first goes live. You share it on socials, your existing network has a look, and there's some initial traffic. But once that wears off, a site that hasn't been properly set up for search is essentially invisible to Google. And without ongoing SEO or paid advertising behind it, traffic can drop to almost nothing.
This is really why we're in business. It was never just about the website. It's everything that comes after it, and our systems are built around exactly that, from SEO and social media through to videography and photography that give a business something to actually show up with. The site is the starting line, not the finish.
In fact, research from Ahrefs found that over 90% of web pages get zero traffic from Google (Source: Ahrefs). Poor technical setup is one of the most common reasons why.
The journey from "no website" to "website that's live" is closing fast thanks to AI. The journey from "website that's live" to "website that's actually ranking and generating leads" still requires real knowledge and ongoing effort.
Dominic shares: "We can always tell when a website hasn't had the technical setup done properly. The signs are pretty consistent: no H1 tags, missing meta titles, the sitemap hasn't been submitted to Google Search Console.
"It's not complicated once you know what to look for. But if you don't know what you don't know, it just doesn't get done. And then the business wonders why nobody's finding them six months after launch."
For a brand new business with a tight budget and a genuinely tech-savvy founder, an AI-built website can be a viable first step.
It's significantly better than no online presence at all. Platforms like Squarespace, Wix, and Webflow all have AI-assisted tools that have made the process more accessible than ever. And for a business that just needs something live quickly while they get established, it can absolutely serve that purpose.
Where it gets tricky is expecting that site to do the heavy lifting without the technical setup and ongoing work behind it. That's when the initial saving starts to cost more in the long run.
Dominic notes: "We're not precious about it at all. If a client comes to us with an AI-generated concept they like, that's a great starting point. We'll look at what's working, give honest feedback, and build from there.
"The design is only one piece of the puzzle. The strategy, the technical setup, and the ongoing work are what actually drive results."
At Wakeford Digital, we've always believed the best outcomes come from combining the right tools with genuine human expertise.
AI is genuinely part of how we work. Here's where it helps us day-to-day:
But AI works alongside our experience in web design, SEO, and digital strategy, not instead of it. That's the distinction worth making.
Think of it like your car or your health. There's more information out there than ever, and you can absolutely have a go at things yourself. But for the work that really matters, most of us still see a mechanic or a doctor, because we trust it'll be done properly.
It's worth flipping it around too. If you're a plumber or a builder, how would you feel if more and more people decided to do it all themselves? Some jobs they'd manage, but plenty wouldn't be done to the standard they should be, and the value of having a professional do it right doesn't go away.
That's the space Wakeford Digital works in, bringing considered web design and the strategy behind it, so the result actually performs rather than just looking the part.
As Dominic puts it: "I think the hybrid approach is where things are heading, and honestly it's where they should be heading. AI handles the time-consuming, repeatable stuff. Human expertise handles the strategy, the relationships, and the nuance."
"We're not threatened by AI tools getting better as such, we're using them. The businesses that'll really benefit are the ones that understand how to combine both."
Yes. Tools like Claude Code and various AI builders can produce complete, functional websites, and the quality has improved significantly. But "complete" and "optimised for your business" are two different things. The technical and strategic elements that help a site rank and convert still require a human hand to get right.
Tool subscriptions typically range from around $30 to $150 per month. But that's only part of the picture. You'll also need hosting, a domain, and your own time. Factor in the hours spent learning the platform, building, revising, and troubleshooting, and the true cost is often higher than it first appears.
The biggest risk isn't that the site will look bad. It's that it won't perform. Poor SEO setup, missing schema markup, slow page load speeds, or a layout that doesn't convert visitors into enquiries are all common outcomes when the post-launch technical work gets skipped.
Most are designed to be no-code or low-code. For more advanced customisation or fixing specific issues, some technical knowledge helps. Tools like Claude Code are becoming more intuitive, but there's still a real learning curve involved.
AI gives you speed and a lower upfront cost. A web designer brings strategy, brand thinking, technical knowledge, and the ability to set your site up properly for search and conversions from day one. The two aren't mutually exclusive. Many designers, including us, now incorporate AI tools into their process.
Absolutely. If budget is the main constraint right now, getting something live is better than nothing. Just be aware that migrating to a professionally built site down the track may involve starting from scratch depending on the platform you've used.
AI has made it easier than ever for small businesses to get a website up quickly and affordably. That's a genuinely good thing. It lowers the barrier to getting online, and for the right business in the right situation, it can work well.
But a website isn't just a digital brochure. It's a business tool. And like any business tool, how well it's set up and maintained determines how much value it actually delivers.
The technical foundations, the SEO setup, the conversion strategy, the ongoing optimisation. These things matter, and they take real expertise to get right. The good news is, you don't have to figure it all out alone.
If you're weighing up your options and want an honest conversation about what makes sense for your business, we're always happy to chat. You can get in touch here, or request a free website analysis to see how your current site is actually performing.
Thanks for reading!
