Should I Choose AI or an Agency to Build My Website?
In a world moving faster than your morning flat white, one big question is cropping up more and more often: Should I use AI to build my website, or should I call in the pros?
With artificial intelligence tools popping up left, right and centre, it’s tempting to think you can whip up a website in minutes, skip the agency fee, and still get results. But here’s the truth: if your site needs to perform, bring in leads, convert clicks, or fuel ad campaigns, there’s a bit more to it than a clever robot and a template.
Let’s unpack the differences between AI built websites and agency crafted sites, and help you decide what’s best for your brand (and your bottom line).
What Are AI Website Builders?
AI platforms like Wix ADI, GoDaddy’s builder, or Bookmark’s AIDA promise to get you online in minutes. Just answer a few questions and boom… Layouts, colours, fonts, and images magically appear. For basic needs? It’s not bad. Think personal blogs, side hustles, or a placeholder page.
Where AI Wins
- Fast turnaround: Your site can be live before you finish your lunch.
- Budget friendly: Great for shoestring budgets or first timers.
- No tech skills required: If you can drag and drop, you’re good to go.
- Updates you can do yourself: Make changes without calling your developer cousin.
Where AI Falls Short
- Cookiecutter vibes: Limited templates, therefore limited flexibility.
- Conversion confusion: No real UX thinking or user journey mapping.
- SEO? Sort of: You’ll likely miss metadata, structure, speed, and mobile optimisation.
- No brain for strategy: AI doesn’t know your market, goals, or what makes your audience tick.
What Do You Get With a Web Design Agency?
A proper digital agency brings brains and beauty. You’re not just getting a pretty website, you’re getting a strategic asset built by people who know how humans (and Google) actually behave.
We’re talking about:
- UX that flows.
- SEO that ranks.
- Design that converts.
- Scalability that doesn’t break when your business grow.
Agency Advantages
- Tailored design: Your brand, your vibe, your story, no template clones.
- Built to convert: We bake in CTA placement, trust signals, speed, and flow.
- SEO from the ground up: Headers, tags, copy and structure that search engines love.
- Ready for growth: Add features, campaigns, landing pages… No duct tape required.
- Ongoing support: Fixes, tweaks, upgrades, we’ve got your back post-launch. We work with you on whats working and whats not.
Agency Drawbacks
- Bigger upfront investment: But you get what you pay for.
- Longer build time: 4–12 weeks depending on scope. No rush jobs here.
- You’ll be involved: We’ll need your input, but we’ll guide you through the process
If You Are Planning to Run Ads, Then This Is Important
If you’re spending on Google Ads, Meta, or LinkedIn campaigns etc, your website needs to work. Not just look pretty, but guide users to act. AI sites? Not so much.
Here’s why:
- They’re not built for conversions. Theres no testing, no funnels, no optimisation.
- They don’t speak ad strategy. Sending paid traffic to a generic homepage is wasteful and burning your budget.
- They can’t improve. No A/B testing, no heatmaps, no real data analysis.
Agencies (like us) live for this stuff, we are the data nerds. We create campaign ready sites, run user behaviour tests, and make tweaks based on real insights. That’s how you turn clicks into customers.
AI vs Experience: Who Wins the Conversion Game in the end?
AI is clever, but it’s still missing that human element. The strategy. The gut instinct. The years of trying, tweaking and improving. The “what if we tried this instead?” kind of thinking.
Experienced web designers know:
- Why users scroll past your CTA.
- How to build trust in 3 seconds flat.
- What makes Google smile (and rank your site higher).
- How to design landing pages that make ads work harder.
AI might give you a website. But experience gives you a growth engine.
So, What’s the Right Choice for You?
Go AI if:
- You just need a basic site, fast and cheap.
- It’s for a short-term idea or personal use.
- You’re not running ads or relying on SEO traffic.
Go agency if:
- Your website is central to your marketing.
- You care about conversions and growth.
- You want SEO, UX, and design that performs.
- You plan to run paid ads (and want ROI, not regrets).
Final Word from Team Stellar
A website isn’t just a digital business card, it’s your hardest working sales tool. Open 24 hours per day, 7 days a week. And like any tool, it performs best when it’s built properly, with strategy, skill, and scalability in mind.
So sure, AI is fast. But if you’re aiming for real results, smart beats quick… Every time.
Don’t settle for a site that just sits there.
Let’s build something that works, a site that speaks to your audience, scales with your growth, and actually earns its keep. Chat to us today!