This blog follows a previous post introducing a series on the use of AI tools for communications teams.
The challenge I'd set myself was to create a website from scratch with the help of Claude. In two days I had an entirely new brand for my consultancy business, and the bare bones of a new website with completely bespoke functionality – all for a fraction of the cost of my previous templated solution. A few days later I had an as complete as possible archive of my career's work and a suite of new blogs.
Working in between usage limits, I was able to reimagine my online presence with just a few hours of engaged discussions with the AI tool.
Hey. I've a new project I'd like to work out with you. I've a Squarespace website for my own portfolio and freelance work. It costs me £144 a year to host it. How can we find a cost effective alternative? Can we create a site and host it? Can you clone it? Just thinking out loud…
I started a new project in Claude. Explained my challenge. It took examples of my previous outputs, explored my current website in detail, and we discussed options around different solutions for a way forward. I had questions around hosting and security which we worked through. With a plan identified and pulled together, we got to work.
- We started with brand guidelines. Feeding in some of my previous outputs, we discussed why it had chosen certain colours and fonts. A bit of back and forth and we had a bespoke colour scheme, typography and digital visual identity ready to use as the foundation for my website.
- I asked it what was missing from my current site, what it would recommend to better structure the content, what information a typical portfolio site had. We worked through some of this and then went through page by page. I suggested improvements, it added them. Very rarely did we get stuck for more than a few prompts.
- I knew I could update the website through Claude, but I wanted to see whether we could explore adding a content management system (CMS). This we did in chat and in theory it is possible to vibe-code. However, a simpler solution for now was for me to continue to use Claude to edit changes in the HTML, and then swap the files over when done.
- Hosting and pointing were the final hurdles. For hosting we used the free tier at Netlify, which also allowed us to plug in the contact form. I already had a URL from my previous site which I could use.
- Testing. Before being ready to share, I tested and tested again. This is no different to any other web deployment. This threw up some issues – missing social sharing image, links, tweaks to content. Feedback from colleagues and friends helped to hone it further.
- Once I was happy, I pointed my URL, and we were live.
A multitude of practical applications
For communications teams this presents a number of opportunities. Thinking back, there are numerous occasions where you might want to create a very simple website or digital product – for example to promote an event, share a report, create an SEO-led landing page, collate digital links, or display real-time statistics on a SharePoint page.
In the past we've had to bite the bullet on a subscription for a templated website, been stuck with developer fees, or used costly third-party applications to try to make our lives easier (looking at you, Eventbrite and Linktree). However, the cost soon adds up and the solutions provided aren't as bespoke as we need them to be.
For smaller organisations with limited resources, vibe coding can provide an affordable way to bypass the impact gatekeepers. It means finally being able to provide a fully up-to-date online programme for a business conference for free, creating a bespoke daily media monitoring email for pennies a month, or a simple splash page for a new report launch in half a day.
While vibe-coding doesn't currently compete against developers or designers when it comes to entire corporate websites, it would almost certainly help in terms of reducing development time. You could see a scenario where key templates are brainstormed in-house using AI before being passed onto a developer for deployment in a build.
- This was easier because my content was already ready. I had most of my blogs, portfolio, and a structure from my previous website. Make sure you're ready and not creating content as you go.
- Write it down. Create a plan. Share it with Claude. And take it from there.
- Add your brand guidelines, colours, and typography to make it easy to create a set of rules.
- If you can't explain something, show it. Take a screenshot, or share the URL to help Claude understand what you want to create.
- By the end of the project, usage limits with the AI tool were becoming problematic. I've since found some strategies and approaches to make this easier – creating projects, starting new chats for specific problems rather than continuing one long conversation, for example.
- Read up online or watch some videos. Reddit and YouTube are full of insights, experiences and inspiration.
Verdict: a game-changing approach
I set Claude a challenge which was met with ease. I've moved my website from a £150 a year cost to £5 a year cost and in the process I have a new bespoke website which fits my current needs perfectly.
Going back and forth with the AI does take some time getting used to, but the end result is something which I couldn't have achieved without a graphic designer or web developer, both of which were unrealistic for this project.
I was able to create functionality which fitted my needs in a few prompts. I'm especially pleased with the more user-friendly filtering on my portfolio page, the full archive of my career, as well as the elegant branding we worked up together.
I have a few more ideas for the website over the coming weeks and months, and will be updating it regularly, so please come back for more.
