Preparing your site: goal, pages, text and photos
Module 1: Before you start · Reading time: 10 minutes
Learning objective: After this lesson you can set out your site's goal, visitors, main action, pages, facts and images before you build, so the first version comes close to your real business.
Key concepts: goal, target audience, main action, site map, key facts, offer, sample content, image rights, attaching files, house style, colour code
Why preparation pays off
The AI Builder builds a complete site in a few minutes. But it only knows what you tell it. Whatever you leave out, it either skips or fills in with something that sounds believable but isn't yours. A quarter of an hour of preparation saves you hours of checking afterwards and quite a few edits.
There is also a cost difference. Saying what you want up front costs nothing: it goes into the first build. Having things changed afterwards through the chat costs edits (lesson 1.2). Typing changes yourself is always free, but then you do the work yourself.
What the AI does and doesn't fill in itself
This is the most important thing to know before you start. In a first version, the AI handles missing details like this:
- Never made up: address, phone number, email address, years, numbers and figures (such as "20 years of experience" or "500 happy customers"), quality marks and names of real customers or brands. If something like that is missing, the AI leaves it out.
- No invented people: it doesn't make up reviews with a customer name or team members with names. Instead you get, for example, a statement from the business itself or a section about how you work. In a team section the photos stay empty, so you can fill them in.
- Filled in: prices and opening hours that a site in your trade needs. If they're missing, the AI fills them in with amounts and times that suit your trade and location. There is no "sample" label next to them: it reads like a real site.
- The name: if you don't give a business name, the AI comes up with one that suits your trade and location.
That's exactly why you prepare these things: your real contact details, prices, opening hours and name. If you provide them, the AI doesn't need to fill anything in and you don't have to hunt for it later (lesson 2.4).
Goal, visitors and main action
Answer three questions:
- What is the goal of the site? Getting quote requests, getting phone calls, recruiting members, showing what you make.
- Who are your visitors? Private customers in the area, businesses, parents, club members. That decides the tone (formal or informal) and what needs to go at the top.
- What is the main action? One thing a visitor should do: "Request a quote", "Call now", "Book an appointment". The AI puts that action in the button at the top, in the opening of the homepage and in the closing section. On mobile, the button at the top automatically becomes a fixed bar at the bottom of the screen.
Schildersbedrijf Example chooses: goal quote requests, visitors private customers and homeowners' associations in the area, main action "Request a quote" through the form, and calling as the second option.
Pages: make a site map
A first version usually has three to six pages. The AI chooses them itself, but you can also name them. A site map is a list of pages with what should go on each one. For Schildersbedrijf Example:
| Page | What goes on it |
|---|---|
| Home | What we do, service area, three services, photos of our work, quote button |
| Services | Interior, exterior, wallpapering, wood rot repair, with starting prices |
| How we work | From first visit to completion in five steps, guarantee |
| About us | Who we are (two painters), since when, in which village |
| Contact | Form, phone, address, service area |
Keep it small. A site with five good pages is better than ten thin ones. You can add pages later (up to 30 per site).
Gathering text and facts
Put your key facts together, exactly as they should appear on the site:
- the name of the business as you write it;
- address, phone number, email address, company registration number (in the Netherlands: your KVK number with the Netherlands Chamber of Commerce), for the privacy statement in module 7;
- your offer with prices or starting prices, and what's included;
- opening hours or when you can be reached;
- real reviews: the text and the name as the customer wants it shown, with permission;
- team members with name and role, if you want to show them;
- what sets you apart from others (years of experience only if it's really true).
Do you already have a leaflet, price list or old texts? You can attach them as files when you build: up to 6 files of at most 8 MB each, PDF, Word (.docx), text or csv, and photos in JPG, PNG or WebP. The builder reads the content and uses it. If you already have a website, the builder can also read it in itself (lesson 2.3).
Never put passwords, codes or payment details in a description or file. The builder doesn't store any passwords, codes or payment details it recognises in its memory, but they simply don't belong there.
Photos and images
When you build, you choose what kind of images the AI creates (lesson 2.2): automatic, photos, illustrations, your own photos or no images. Your own photos are almost always better, especially of your work, your business and your team. So gather:
- a few photos of work you actually did (preferably landscape, sharp, with no watermark near the edge: the builder crops photos in large areas);
- a photo of yourself or the team, if you want to show one;
- your logo (PNG, SVG or JPG), if you have one.
Only use photos you have the rights to. A photo from the internet isn't automatically free to use. If recognisable people are in it, ask for their permission. We go into this in more detail in lesson 3.3 and lesson 7.3.
And think about your house style: if you have fixed colours, write down the colour code (for example #1d65af). If you name your colours in words or as a colour code when you build, the AI uses them.
Pitfalls
- Saying too little. "Painter" is enough to build with, but then the AI fills in a lot itself.
- Wishes the builder doesn't make. Don't ask for a webshop, logins or your own booking calendar (lesson 1.1) in your description; plan a widget for that instead.
- Figures and promises that aren't true. Only write down what you can deliver: if you say "a reply within 24 hours", you really have to manage that.
Summary
- The AI doesn't make up contact details, figures, quality marks, reviews or team members, but it does fill in missing prices and opening hours, and comes up with a name if you don't give one.
- Decide on the goal, visitors and one main action in advance; they come back in the most important buttons.
- Make a site map of three to six pages with what should go on each page.
- Gather your key facts, own photos, logo and colour codes; you can attach documents (6 files, 8 MB).
- Saying it up front is free; having it changed afterwards costs edits.
Quiz
Exercise
Exercise D1.3: Your preparation sheet. Make a preparation sheet for your own site, so you can build properly straight away in module 2.
Checklist:
- [ ] goal, visitors and one main action written down;
- [ ] site map of three to six pages with what goes on each page;
- [ ] key facts gathered: name, address, phone, email, company registration number;
- [ ] offer with real prices or starting prices, and opening hours or when you can be reached;
- [ ] real reviews and team members noted only with permission;
- [ ] own photos and logo put in a folder, with the rights in order;
- [ ] colours noted as colour codes;
- [ ] documents that can be attached (at most 6, each under 8 MB) ready to go.
Questions:
- What is your main action, and why that one?
- Which pages are in your site map, and what goes on the homepage?
- Which details did you still have to look up or ask about?
After "done" you'll see a sample answer: main action "Request a quote", because most jobs start with a visit to assess the work; pages Home, Services, How we work, About us and Contact; still looked up: the KVK number and the starting price for exterior painting, and asked two customers for permission to use their review.
Exercise D1.3: Your preparation sheet
You do this exercise yourself; no one checks it. Tick off what you've done and mark the exercise as done.
Main action "Request a quote", because most jobs start with a site visit; pages Home, Services, How we work, About us and Contact; still looked up: the KVK number and the starting price for exterior painting, and asked two customers for permission to use their review.
Your ticks and notes only stay in this browser; we don't send them anywhere. If you're signed in, we only save in My courses that you've done the exercise.