Most "how to build a website" guides start with: pick a domain, pick a template, add your pages.
That's why most websites look the same.
Building a website is the easy part now. AI does it in minutes. The hard part is knowing what you want it to say, and making it feel like you. So this guide starts there, the way a brand strategist would. Then we get to the buttons.
Eight steps. Grab a coffee. Not a big one.
Step 1. Decide the one job of your website
Before colours, before fonts: what should a visitor do at the end?
Book a call. Buy the course. Come to the shop. Ask for a quote. Pick one. Maybe two. Not seven.
A website with one clear job feels confident. A website that wants everything feels like a flea market.
Write it down: "When someone leaves my site, I want them to ______." Everything else serves that line.
Step 2. Know who's reading (and where they are right now)
This is the step everyone skips, and it's the one that sells.
Think of one real person who needs you. Then answer three questions:
- Where are they now? Their "point A". What does their life look like on a bad Tuesday? Tired? Stuck? Googling at midnight?
- Where do they want to be? Their "point B". Not "a website". The feeling after: calm, proud, free, finally organised.
- What stops them from saying yes? Too expensive? "Not for me"? "I'll do it later"? Write every doubt down.
Those doubts are gold. Each one becomes a line on your site, or a question in your FAQ. Answer them before they ask, and the "yes" gets much easier.
Little tip: describe their life, not their job title. "You answer client messages from the school car park" hits harder than "for busy entrepreneurs".
Step 3. Say what you do in one sentence
If you can't say it in one sentence, your visitor won't get it in five seconds. And five seconds is what you have.
Try this formula:
I help [who] [get what result] through [how you do it].
For example: "I help new mums feel strong again through 20-minute home workouts."
It won't be perfect on day one. That's fine. It's a muscle. You'll rewrite it ten times, and the tenth one will feel like you.
Step 4. Collect what you love (and don't judge yet)
Now the fun part.
Open a Pinterest board, or a folder on your phone. Save every website, colour, photo, font and layout that makes you feel something. Fashion sites, restaurants, magazines, a hotel in Lisbon. Doesn't matter if it's "your industry".
Two rules:
- Dream first, filter later. When you collect, don't criticise. When you choose, be ruthless. Never both at the same time, or you'll get nothing.
- Inspired is not copied. You're not stealing their style. You're finding yours. Look for what keeps coming back: lots of white space? Big bold type? Warm film photos? That pattern is you.
This board is the most underrated tool in web design. Keep it. You'll use it in step 5.
Step 5. Choose how you'll build it
You have four roads in 2026:
| Road | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| A web designer or agency | A fully custom site, if the budget is there | Thousands of euros and months of waiting |
| A template builder (Wix, Squarespace, Showit) | Doing it yourself with proven tools | Thousands of people start from the same template |
| A prompt-based AI builder | Speed: type a sentence, get a site | The result is the average of the internet. It looks AI-made |
| A reference-based AI builder (Big Cat) | Your site, built from the designs you love, in minutes | New on the market, so fewer integrations than the big names |
If you did step 4, you already have what a reference-based builder needs: designs you love. With Big Cat, the authentic AI website builder, you paste one of them, and it builds your site in that “feeling”, with your words. Never the other site's words, photos or logo.
Want the full comparison? Read The best AI website builders in 2026.
Step 6. Build the pages you actually need
You don't need 25 pages. You need these:
- Home: who you help, what changes for them, one clear button.
- About: your story, short and real. Why you do this. People buy from people.
- Your offer(s): what it is, who it's for, what they get, the price (or "from…"), and the button.
- Proof: real words from real clients. Never invented. If you're new, show your work, your process, your story instead.
- FAQ: the doubts from step 2, answered.
- Contact: how to reach you, in two clicks.
- Legal pages: a privacy policy, and in France and many EU countries, a legal notice ("mentions légales"). Not glamorous. Required.
Writing tip: write like you talk to one person across the table. Short sentences. No "we offer innovative solutions". Nobody talks like that. Nobody buys like that either.
Step 7. Use real photos
Stock photos of smiling people in offices: your visitors scroll right past them. They've seen them a thousand times.
Your phone is enough. Your hands at work. Your space. Your product in daylight. A bit of grain, a bit of mess, a lot of you. Real beats perfect, every time.
Step 8. Publish before it's perfect
Here's a rule from the brand course that built Big Cat: 100% completion, 70% satisfaction.
Your site will never feel finished. Publish it at 70%. A live website that's "pretty good" beats a perfect one living in your drafts for a year. You'll improve it once real people visit. That's how it works for everyone. Big brands included.
Bonus: how to get found on Google
A website nobody finds is a business card in a drawer. The basics:
- Give every page a clear title and description. Use the words your clients would type, like "yoga classes Lyon", not "Welcome".
- Tell Google you exist. Add your site to Google Search Console (free). It's how Google finds your pages faster.
- If you have a place clients visit, create a free Google Business Profile.
- Write useful things, regularly. Answer the questions your clients ask you every week. One good article a month beats ten empty pages.
- Make it fast and readable on a phone. Most visitors will see your phone version first.
The short version
- One job for your site.
- Know your reader: where they are, where they want to be, what stops them.
- One sentence for what you do.
- Collect what you love. Dream first, filter later.
- Pick your road: designer, template, prompt, or reference.
- Seven pages, written like you talk.
- Real photos.
- Publish at 70%.
And if you want steps 4 to 7 done in minutes: paste a design you love into Big Cat and see your site appear. Free for 7 days, no card.
Build my website from a design I love →
Keep reading
- The best AI website builders in 2026, ranked
- The best website builders in 2026, with prices for one site
- Build a website from a design you love
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to build a website in 2026?
From almost nothing to many thousands of euros. A builder costs from a few euros to around €50 a month. A web designer or agency usually costs thousands. Big Cat is €12 a month, or €60 every 6 months (€10 a month), with a 7-day free trial.
How long does it take to build a website?
With a designer: weeks to months. With a template builder: a few days to a few weekends. With an AI builder: a first version in minutes, then a few hours to make it truly yours.
Do I need a web designer?
Not anymore, for most small sites. You do need to know what you want to say (steps 1 to 3). The tools can do the rest. If you want a fully custom site and have the budget, a good designer is still worth it.
Can I build a website for free?
Yes, many builders have free plans, but usually with their ads and their name in your web address. For a business, a paid plan with your own domain looks far more serious.
What's the easiest way to build a website that looks professional?
Start from a design you already love instead of a blank page or a generic template. That's exactly what Big Cat does.