Let’s assume you have strong content to work from, so you fed your AI generator very well. What can you do to help AI make your sites feel more professional?
The looks
If your site resembles a template or has an AI-like feel, that’s the most obvious and easiest way to start. However, I’m focusing more on the fine details here, where things become so personal that it can be difficult for AI to bring something unique.
The kind of thing you ask AI, and it comes back with something corny and unusable.
This is where you can shine! But I’m not talking about making the logo bigger; I’m referring to what you can see beyond what AI can do if you don’t ask it: Does the logo look sharp enough? Is it taking too much vertical space? Is it readable?
When you see a piece of art, there is a balance that is not always solvable programmatically. The naked eye can be the most powerful tool to find balance among elements.
Zooming out, literally, helps you sense the harmony and identify where the design is too generic or which pieces you should remove.
There are patterns and color palettes that can take you closer to most cases using AI, but ultimately, the more appealing details are those that you can feel and add from your experience, like an original photo, or grabbing a small detail from the logo to replicate it as a separator, or as the background of a section to increase cohesion.
If you don’t have the official brand colors, you can use a color picker to get a closer match. If the logo has a primary color, that could be your accent color for some elements, like buttons or headings. Just don’t make everything use that color, because if you do, it won’t stand out.
Take information from AI, but expand it with your insights. For example, analyze the logo to find fonts that work well for your headings, matching the site’s tone if it’s fun or more serious.
Ask the customer what they want to communicate with their brand and imagine yourself in their position.
For example, for something fun, you could round the buttons or choose a bold font without serifs for headings. For something more serious, consider darker, elegant colors for backgrounds and square buttons.
Sometimes AI can guide you with these kinds of decisions, but it still doesn’t always implement them for you.
But don’t change it too much
Changing too many things at once makes it challenging to keep everything in balance.
The goal is not to redo what AI has done, but to build upon it.
Limiting the number of colors or fonts can help to define the system. Asking the AI builder to work on a limited set of patterns can help with maintenance and enable users to better understand how the elements interact with each other.
Removing what you didn’t customize or that doesn’t make sense is better than having an always-under-construction page.
Remember, you can always go back to your pattern library to work privately.
Rather than always adding, create variations of your current assets to accommodate better your templates—for example, a compact horizontal logo, custom icons, etc.
Remember websites are alive
People who used to design books or other design applications often think websites should be built in one go and then remain unchanged forever.
I have to admit I have a few customers who haven’t updated their design in years because of this. Or maybe it’s because they’re not very invested in their own website.
Try to visit your website from time to time to give it some love. Just as you would with old plugins, consider removing your AI assistant if you no longer need it.
Try new ones. Nowadays, AI assistants are compatible with CMSs like WordPress, offering a wide range of services, from building to SEO, and everything in between.
But the most crucial part is not forgetting that these assist, and that you are the one who controls and decides. They often struggle to recall what to do without being given context.
You should be the one hallucinating with new ideas.
Jos Velasco.
This isn’t an ad, but a suggestion: if you’re interested in trying AI builders for WordPress, Liftoff is a great option. And if you need assistance, I’m happy to help.
CC0 licensed photo by Sam Alderson from the WordPress Photo Directory.
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