Website Creation · Lesson 3 of 7
Planning Your Site with AI Before You Build
The fastest way to build is to think first. AI is your planning partner.
After This Lesson, You Will Be Able To
Use AI to define your site's pages, content, and structure — before opening any builder tool.
Why You Should Plan Before You Build
Most people open a website builder, pick a template, and start dragging things around — then realize two hours in that they don't know what to say, how many pages they need, or what the site is actually supposed to do.
Planning with AI first takes 30 minutes and saves hours. You walk into the builder knowing exactly what pages you need, what goes on each one, and what the site's job is.
The Planning Framework: 4 Questions AI Helps You Answer
What is the site's one job?
Not 'show my portfolio AND sell my services AND build my email list.' Pick the single most important action. Everything else is secondary.
Who is visiting this site?
Describe your ideal visitor. What do they want? What are they worried about? What would make them trust you immediately?
What pages do you actually need?
Most first sites need 3-5 pages max: Home, About, Services/Portfolio, Contact — and maybe a Blog. Don't build what you won't fill.
What content goes on each page?
For each page: what's the headline, what does the body say, what does the visitor do next? Answer this before you open any builder.
Exercise
15 minutes · ChatGPT or Claude
Prompt to use
I want to plan a website before I start building it. My goal is [your goal]. My target visitor is [describe them]. Help me: 1) Define the site's one main job, 2) List the pages I need (no more than 5), 3) For each page, tell me what should go on it in plain bullet points. Keep it simple — this is a first website.
If someone landed on your site for the first time and had 10 seconds, would they immediately know what you do and who it's for? If not, your planning isn't done yet.
Key Takeaways
Planning with AI first takes 30 minutes and prevents hours of rework inside the builder.
Most first sites need 3–5 pages. More pages = more content to write = longer to launch.
For every page, define: what it says, who it's for, and what the visitor does next.
A clear site map is your blueprint. Don't open the builder until you have one.
Draw your site map by hand.
Take a piece of paper and sketch your site structure. Boxes for pages, arrows for navigation. Doing it by hand forces clarity that a typed list doesn't.
Next Lesson
Writing Website Copy That Actually Converts
Website Creation · Lesson 4 of 7 · 12 min