Tell ChatGPT what your business does, who the website serves, and what a successful visit should accomplish. Add approved business facts, the pages you need, a visual direction, and instructions for checking the result. A specific brief gives you something you can review and improve instead of a generic homepage.
Want the complete build and publishing process? Explore BUILD • PUBLISH • OWN IT, the $99.99 Colby Technologies guide to working with ChatGPT, GitHub, and Cloudflare.
Gather business facts before asking for a design
Start with the information only you can verify. Write down your business name, service area, phone number, contact email, services, opening hours, and the next step customers should take. Choose one primary goal, such as a quote request or a phone call.
Collect your logo and photos you have permission to use. Identify details that still need a decision. If you have no approved prices or testimonials, say so. A placeholder is easier to fix than a convincing claim that your business never made.
Describe the actual customer. A local contractor may need service explanations and a call button. A consultant may need project examples and an inquiry form. Those differences should shape the website before you choose colors or animations.
Use a starter prompt that gives the project boundaries
OpenAI's official prompting guidance recommends explaining the outcome, relevant context, desired output, and meaningful boundaries. You can apply that approach with a brief like this:
Build a mobile-friendly website for [business name], serving [area] with [services]. The main goal is [customer action]. Use the attached logo and approved facts. Create Home, Services, About, and Contact pages with clear navigation and a visible contact option.
Use a [visual direction] design. Do not invent testimonials, credentials, prices, or photos of completed work. Flag missing facts. Prepare the website for my GitHub repository and Cloudflare Pages deployment. Explain the project type, build settings, and how I can verify the result before it goes live.
Replace the brackets with real details. If you are updating an existing site, identify its repository and the pages that should stay unchanged. Ask for a reviewable preview before publishing when you want to approve the design.
Review the website like a potential customer
A polished screenshot does not prove that the site works. Read the copy and ask whether a new visitor can quickly understand the service, location, and next step. Remove vague claims and language that does not sound like your business.
- Check business details against your approved notes.
- Open the menu and every page on a phone.
- Try the phone link and every contact button.
- Submit a test form and confirm that you receive it.
- Check that images fit their containers and text remains readable.
Ask ChatGPT to report what it checked and what remains unverified. Independently test the actions that customers will rely on, especially payments, bookings, and messages.
Separate creating the website from publishing it
Website files in a conversation are not automatically a public website. GitHub stores the project and its revisions; Cloudflare Pages can build and serve a connected project. The repository, build settings, and domain configuration all need to match the actual site.
ChatGPT's ability to make changes depends on the tools and permissions available in your account. OpenAI's current product documentation explains those differences. Ask it to identify available access before assuming it can publish.
Use the GitHub and Cloudflare workflow overview to understand each tool's role. Verify the deployed website at its real address after publication.
Refine one meaningful change at a time
Give concrete follow-up instructions: “Make the quote button visible without scrolling on mobile” is more useful than “Make it better.” State the problem, the desired behavior, and what should remain unchanged.
Keep a short record of approved content and decisions. When you resume the project later, share those details so the next update starts from the correct version.
Before approving publication, use the AI-built website launch testing checklist to record the version reviewed, confirm real customer outcomes, and test failure states as well as the successful path.
Before starting, check which beginner skills an AI-assisted website still needs. When you have the structure, use the website copywriting worksheet to turn approved facts into customer-ready wording.
Follow the complete website-building process
BUILD • PUBLISH • OWN IT costs $99.99. Colby will personally assist if you get stuck while following the guide. If you need Colby to perform hands-on work, additional fees may apply, with the scope and price approved before work begins.