Julianna
Establishing an online presence is no longer a “nice to have” option, but a necessity for businesses of all sizes now that upwards of 80% of North American shoppers use the internet to research products or services before making a purchase decision.
Fortunately, building a professional looking business website, including one that has features you formerly would have needed a developer to implement such as an online booking system or eCommerce, has never been more achievable thanks to a range of user-friendly website building platforms like Wix and a growth of generative AI website building tools. With 75% of internet users admitting to making judgements about a company’s credibility based on the design of its website, the way you present online can significantly impact your bottom line.
As a Wix partner, we have been exploring the capabilities this innovative AI-powered tool when it comes to building Wix websites and have been impressed with how it expedites the process of launching a new website. Through regular updates and enhancements based on user feedback and advancements in both technology and artificial intelligence algorithms, Wix has significantly evolved its AI builder in the years since they first released it under the name of Wix ADI to provide users with an even more intuitive and streamlined website creation experience.
After helping tens of thousands of mostly Canadian business owners get online over the past 20+ years, we understand the depth of considerations in play when it comes to selecting a website creation platform: cost, scalability, marketing integrations, customer support, plus other tools and features that are all very important. However, from our years of experience, we have learned that ease of use is the primary determining factor of success when it comes to non-technical users creating a website that looks professional and functions to their business expectations – and this is precisely where Wix’s AI Builder shines.
For those looking to build a website and considering Wix as an option, we’ve put together an overview of its AI Builder’s features and functionality, advantages and limitations, tips for usage and user feedback below to help you make an informed decision.
What is Wix AI Builder?
Wix’s AI Builder is an AI-powered tool and workflow designed to simplify the website creation process for users who may not have technical expertise or design skills. ADI leverages artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze things like its user’s preferences, existing created content and the industry of the business to automatically generate a personalized website design from these “inputs”. Users are guided through a series of questions about their business or project, including design preferences, required features, and what type of content should be included. Based on the answers provided, AI Builder generates a customized website design, complete with layout, color scheme, and content suggestions.
The goal of the Wix AI Builder is to provide users with a professional-looking website tailored to their specific needs and preferences, quickly, without the need for them to do any manual design or coding. It takes you through a workflow of questions, gathering your preferences and responding to your feedback, in an quick yet iterative process to build your website.
How Does AI Builder differ from the Wix Editor for creating a Website?
Wix users have two main ways of going about the website creation process – they can use the Wix Editor or use Wix AI Builder to do the heavy lifting. It’s important to note that AI Builder and the Wix Editor are not different products. They’re better described as two “options” or “modes” that you can choose between to build your Wix website and are available with all Wix plans, including the free one.
The Wix Editor is more or less a traditional website builder, albeit an incredibly powerful one that Wix is always enhancing for increased capabilities and a better user experience. After first choosing a custom designed template that aligns to your genre of business, the editor is what you use to build and then edit your website on an ongoing basis. The editor has a huge range of features and functions – referred to as Elements in Wix – that you can use to customize virtually any aspect of your website to the finest detail, from dropping in a button to building a sophisticated eCommerce storefront or adding custom elements via HTML tags in the source code.
Wix AI Builder, in contrast to the editor, can create a site that’s fully customized to your business without compromising on quality, style or originality in under 10-minutes or so, rather than the typical days to months time frame for building a new website from scratch. And if you don’t love the proposed design that AI Builder creates for you, the website styling can still be tweaked and the content edited.
Advantages of using the Wix Editor:
Full Control: With Wix’s standard editor, users have almost complete control over nearly every aspect of their website’s design and functionality. Users can choose from more than 900+ custom templates, have access to a wide variety of embeddable apps and design elements, customize layouts, colors, fonts, and add or remove features as needed.
Flexibility: The Wix editor offers a high level of flexibility, allowing users to create precision websites tailored to their specific needs and preferences. Users can design their websites from scratch or retain as much of the pre-designed template content as they wish, modifying it to reflect their branding and style.
Learning Curve: While the Wix editor provides extensive customization options, it has a steeper learning curve for most users compared to Wix ADI. That being said, the Wix Editor is not difficult to use and is consistently the top rated among website creation tools. Users with no prior experience in web design or limited history using different online platforms may find it more challenging to navigate and use effectively out of the box, but with a little practice it quickly becomes very intuitive.
Advantages of using Wix AI Builder:
Fast, Automated Design: AI Builder automates much of the website creation process by generating a personalized website design based on user input and preferences. Users answer a series of questions about their business, industry, and design preferences, and the artificial intelligence algorithms take over to create a customized website design while also pulling in content, images and information from sources where you already have a presence, like Facebook, LinkedIn or Google Maps.
Easy to Use: Wix AI Builder succeeds in being exceptionally user-friendly and accessible to users of all skill levels, including those with no technical expertise or design experience. The guided setup process makes it easy for users to create a professional-looking website quickly and without a lot of pre-planning, lining up of assets and organization.
Limited Customization: While Wix AI Builder offers some customization options, it has many more limitations compared to the full control available when using the Wix editor. While you do have some editing capabilities once your website is built, there is less flexibility to fine-tune the more fixed ADI design elements and fewer options for customizing layouts, colors, and fonts.
But here’s why we think Wix’s AI Builder is pretty amazing …
While we have already touched on some of AI Builder’s best qualities, it’s worth spending a few moments recapping where it shines brightest.
Guided Setup Process: AI Builder guides users through a series of questions about their business, industry, and design preferences, providing a clear and structured setup process to help users create their websites efficiently. Neither the process nor the AI that you are interacting with to build your website feel clunky; in fact, the AI is pretty natural to interact with, it understands and responds to requests, preferences, and directions very well if you take the time to give it thoughtful feedback and direction.
Automated Design Generation: The artificial intelligence algorithms Wix’s AI Builder uses to analyze user input and preferences is really neat and continues to get better. It’s fascinating to see ADI put together a website with pretty minimal initial direction.
Customization: While AI Builder generates an initial design based on user input, users have the flexibility to customize and personalize their websites further. This includes options to change colors, fonts, layouts, and add or remove elements to align with their branding and preferences. While starting off can sometimes feel uncertain, responding to AI Builder’s “first draft” website is where the magic accelerates. The AI does an great job at further refining the initial website to your vision and brand identity once the “first draft” is generated when you simply provide it specific feedback around attributes, for instance “change the colours to X”, “increase the font to Y,” “replace the images of people to show greater diversity,” “make the design more ‘edgy/exuberant/feminine'”, etc.
Content Integration: Wix AI Builder pretty seamlessly integrates user-provided and open source content, such as text, images, and videos, into the generated design. In our opinion, this is probably the biggest advantage for DIY users who struggle with the pre-planning, decision making and building of a new website, however they shine when it comes to editing and customizing.
Responsive Design: As you would expect, websites created with the AI Builder tool are automatically optimized for various devices and screen sizes, ensuring a seamless user experience across desktops, tablets, and smartphones. While most website builders do this these days, it’s pretty great that this is completely accounted for in the creation process.
SEO and Web Development Best Practices: A less discussed feature of AI Builder which has a lot of importance are its integrated SEO features. Not only will the AI guide you through adding your site to Google, submitting your sitemap, crafting your title tag, meta description and image alt tags, its embedded schema is engineered according to search engine best practices.
How’s the Quality of the Websites Wix’s AI Builder Creates?
The quality of websites produced by Wix AI Builder can vary depending on individual factors such as the specificity of the user’s initial input and subsequent responses to ADI’s prompts; the time put into supplementary fine tuning and customization; as well as the user’s specific needs. In general, user feedback shared online indicates a high level of overall satisfaction and effectiveness of websites created with Wix’s AI Builder, specifically in regards to the low-lift effort required vis-a-vis the professional looking websites it generates, its easy to follow guided set-up, and its wide range of helpful online resources that range from documentation to pre-recorded webinars and a free online “Learn to build with Wix’s ADI” Coursera course.
As far as detractors to website quality, users of Wix’s AI Builder have noted that the content it generates can sometimes be awkward or at times not completely make sense, and the images it pulls into the design are occasionally of poor quality or not necessarily the best of the available options. All of this is remediable, however, with a bit of love and attention, editing and curation after the website is initially created. For best results, AI Builder generated websites should not be treated as a “set-it and forget it” outcome; instead, think of it as a MASSIVE head start that gives you a highly customized and close to complete website that can benefit from a little polishing around the edges for better alignment with your brand, aesthetic and goals.
What Types of Users is Wix AI Builder Best for?
When it comes to building a website, users will have different goals, preferences, and expectations, just as with anything else – and the AI route is better suited to some types of users and scenarios than others.
Below are some types of users we think Wix’s AI Builder works best for:
- Those who have little to no experience in web design or coding.
- Those with basic eCommerce and service booking requirements.
- Small businesses and entrepreneurs in need of a professional, yet straightforward online presence and who don’t want to invest too much time or resources into website development or maintenance.
- Those who need to launch a website quickly or perhaps temporarily, ie. for events or time-limited projects.
- Users who don’t require multiple or advanced apps to accomplish their website goals. (Wix’s app market has limited options for AI Builder users compared to websites built using the editor.)
- Those who can’t reliably access a desktop or laptop computer or prefer use their phone to do things.
- Those who want their website to rank well in Google but don’t want to put effort into SEO.
Overall, Wix’s AI Builder is best for users who value simplicity, convenience, and speed. If your website needs include, for example, extensive e-Commerce functionality, membership portals, or custom integrations, the AI designs might be too limited and limit your ability to scale over time. Moreover, if you are highly creative, have a specific design vision, have had some prior experience designing websites, or want to recreate and build upon an existing website built on another platform, Wix’s Editor will be the better choice hands down for its incredible flexibility and range.
What if I Change My Mind About Using the AI Builder?
As we wind down our overview, it’s important to note that you’re not stuck using Wix’s AI Builder forever if you initially built your Wix website using it. While you cannot go back and forth between it and the Wix Editor when building your website, you can always move from Wix AI Builder to the regular Wix Editor if you require more flexibility. The transition from AI Builder to Wix Editor entails simply clicking a “Switch to Editor” button, however, there is no going back once this is done.
AI Builder, Wix and Webnames
AI Builder’s harnessing of advanced algorithms to create personalized websites in minutes is pretty remarkable in practice. By streamlining the process and eliminating technical barriers, Wix’s AI-driven website building process empowers individuals and businesses to bring their visions to life online relatively effortlessly, the end result being professional, visually compelling websites that work seamlessly across all devices. Take the first step towards building your new website today with Wix and Webnames – then dive into the world of Wix AI Builder to get online faster than you would have imagined possible.
Together, Wix and Webnames have the world class tools, robust security and trusted reputation you need from the service providers your online business depends on.
Whether you need assistance selecting the right Wix plan for your website, getting started with AI Builder, or picking the perfect domain, our exceptional customer support teams are standing by help. We are so excited to start your Wix journey with you and watch you conquer your business goals!