I tried having an AI build my website — what should I watch out for before hiring an agency?

The biggest flaw of AI builders is bloating the HTML with unnecessary div wrappers and generating hundreds of lines of inline CSS. When the browser renders the page, the DOM tree blows up and chokes the CPU on mobile devices. That unoptimized code dump is the main reason your speed test scores are in the trash.

Even if you go the agency route, be careful. The market is full of places calling themselves agencies that just feed three prompts to an AI behind the scenes or slap on a cheap template and bill you 50 thousand TL. Never sit down with an agency without running their previous custom-coded portfolio sites through a speed test first.

If all you need right now is to showcase a portfolio there is no need for custom development. A lightweight, clean block-based WordPress build will easily do the trick. When approaching an agency, don't ask for custom software from scratch; just tell them you want a clean-coded, mobile-responsive easy-to-manage corporate site.

I made the exact same mistake last year. I was celebrating building a site in three hours with AI, only to realize a month later that half of our corporate quote requests were never actually routed to the mail server. The value of the business I lost far exceeded what an agency would have charged me.

The domain name absolutely must be registered in an account you set up yourself. Don't start any project if you don't hold the password; they'll hold the domain hostage down the road and try to squeeze exorbitant annual fees out of you.

the layout breaking on mobile is usually down to auto-generated responsive settings AI sets up desktop nicely but completely loses it when the viewport shrinks. honestly a decent freelance designer could easily sort this out instead of an agency if your budget is tight.

Handoff clauses you must include in your agency contract: 1) Super admin access. 2) Server and FTP credentials. 3) At least a 30-day free bug-fix warranty. 4) A short walkthrough video covering content entry and image uploads.

Trying it on your own was still a major win; at the very least, you learned what components a website needs and what your actual requirements are. When you sit down with an agency, you'll be an informed client who knows what they want which will save you from unnecessary expenses.

Correct in theory, but it doesn't work that way in practice. The cheapest quote is usually the least thought-out one.

When you try to change everything at once, nothing settles. If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

There's a common mistake people make when doing this. Implementing a change request process doesn't slow things down, it speeds them up.

Just leaving this note, it might be useful.

Let me share what happened to me; it might be useful. If it's your first time, start small; scaling comes later.

The harder it is to reverse a decision, the slower you should make it.

the most overlooked point about building a website with AI is this: If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

if you have questions write them; I'll answer as best I can.

I'm a small business, let me explain from my side. Hasty decisions become decisions you have to fix six months later.

If you have questions, write them; I'll answer as best I can.

There are three things to check when doing this. Everyone rushing into building a website with AI gets stuck at the same point.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

This thread is archived.

I felt relieved reading this answer, so it's not just me. The system lives on after delivery; maintenance is a separate line item.

The opposite happened to me, that's why I'm writing. If you get three different answers on a topic, the question was asked wrong.

If you don't write this down from the start it leads to arguments later. Proven by experience.

I can't fully agree with this. In legacy systems, the most expensive thing is unknown dependencies.

If you post the result here, it will help others too.