- The standards to put in every design prompt
- Prompts to plan the site before designing it
- Prompts for page layouts
- Prompts for colours, type and accessibility
- Prompts for speed and stability
- Prompts for words on the page
- Prompts to review a design
- How to get better results from AI website design prompts
- My advice on AI prompts for website design
- Frequently asked questions
Good AI prompts for website design describe who the site is for, what each page must get visitors to do, and the standards it has to meet, then ask for structure before visuals. Build two standards in from the start: WCAG's minimum text contrast of 4.5:1 and Google's Core Web Vitals targets, such as content loading within 2.5 seconds.
I've redesigned my own site more times than I'd like to admit, and the mistakes that hurt were never the colours. They were pages with no clear job, text that was hard to read and layouts that jumped around while loading. AI tools like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini are useful design partners for exactly those problems, if you prompt them with the right constraints. These prompts work for a new site or a redesign.
The standards to put in every design prompt
AI tools will happily suggest pale grey text on white and tiny buttons unless you tell them not to. These are the published thresholds worth naming:
| Standard | Threshold | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Text contrast (normal text) | At least 4.5:1 | WCAG 2.2, criterion 1.4.3 |
| Text contrast (large text) | At least 3:1 | WCAG 2.2, criterion 1.4.3 |
| Tap and click targets | At least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with some exceptions | WCAG 2.2, criterion 2.5.8 |
| Largest Contentful Paint | Within 2.5 seconds | Google Search Central |
| Interaction to Next Paint | Under 200 milliseconds | Google Search Central |
| Cumulative Layout Shift | Under 0.1 | Google Search Central |
A detail the W3C spells out that catches designers: the contrast ratios are thresholds and shouldn't be rounded, so 4.499:1 doesn't pass 4.5:1. Ask the AI to give you exact ratios, then check them with a contrast checker.
Prompts to plan the site before designing it
Structure first. Pretty pages with no job don't convert.
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I run [type of business] for [audience]. Suggest a simple site map for my website, with the purpose of each page and the one action I want visitors to take on it.
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List the questions a first-time visitor to a [type of business] website wants answered in the first ten seconds, in order of importance.
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Write a short design brief for my website: goals, audience, tone, must-have pages, and the standards it must meet (WCAG 2.2 AA contrast and Google's Core Web Vitals).
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Compare three possible navigation structures for my site with these pages: [list]. Recommend one and explain why.
Prompts for page layouts
Ask for sections in order, with the job of each.
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Outline a homepage layout for [business], section by section from top to bottom, with what each section says and why it's there.
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Design the layout of a services page for [service], including where testimonials, a short FAQ and the main call to action should go.
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Suggest a layout for an about page that builds trust for [audience], with a place for a real photo and a short story.
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Plan a contact page that makes it easy to get in touch on a phone, with the fewest possible form fields.
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Give me a wireframe description of a landing page for [offer] that keeps visitors focused on one action.
Prompts for colours, type and accessibility
Name the standard and ask for exact values.
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Suggest a colour palette for [brand personality] with hex codes. For each text and background pairing, give the contrast ratio and say whether it meets WCAG 2.2 AA (4.5:1 for normal text).
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Recommend two font pairings for a [style] website that stay readable on small screens, with suggested sizes for body text and headings.
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Review this colour scheme for accessibility and suggest the smallest changes needed to pass AA contrast: [list colours].
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Make a checklist of accessibility basics for my site's design: contrast, target sizes, focus states, alt text and heading order.
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Rewrite these button labels so they say what happens when you click: [list labels].
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Prompts for speed and stability
Design choices decide most of your Core Web Vitals.
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Which design choices on a homepage most often hurt Largest Contentful Paint, and what are lighter alternatives?
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My page jumps around while it loads. List the usual design causes of layout shift and how to prevent each one.
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Review this homepage plan for anything likely to slow it down on a phone: [describe sections, images, videos, fonts].
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Suggest how to show a hero section that looks rich but loads fast, without an autoplay video.
Prompts for words on the page
Design and copy work together.
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Write three headline options for my homepage that say what I do, for whom, and the main benefit, in under ten words each.
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Write short, clear microcopy for my contact form: field labels, helper text and the confirmation message.
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Turn this long paragraph into scannable web copy with a heading, two short paragraphs and three bullets: [paste text].
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Write alt text for these images on my site, describing what matters for someone who can't see them: [describe images].
Prompts to review a design
Use these before you sign anything off.
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Act as a first-time visitor on a phone. Walk through this page description and tell me where you'd get confused or leave: [describe page].
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Critique this homepage layout against clarity, trust, accessibility and speed. Give the three changes with the biggest impact.
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Compare my homepage plan with what visitors to a [type of business] site usually expect, and flag anything missing.
How to get better results from AI website design prompts
- Describe the audience and the one action each page should drive.
- Name the standards (WCAG 2.2 AA, Core Web Vitals) in the prompt, not after the design.
- Ask for exact contrast ratios and check them yourself; thresholds shouldn't be rounded.
- Get the structure right before you ask for colours or images.
- Test the finished pages on a real phone and in Google's tools, not just on your laptop.
Choosing a platform first? My comparison of Webflow and WordPress and my list of WordPress alternatives will help, and my guide to building a professional website covers the basics beyond design.
My advice on AI prompts for website design
Use AI to think through structure, layouts and copy quickly, and to hold you to standards you might otherwise skip. Give every page one clear job, insist on readable contrast and decent tap targets, and design for speed from the start. Then check the real thing: AI can describe a lovely page that fails a contrast test or loads slowly on a phone. The best sites are clear first and clever second.
Frequently asked questions
Can AI design a website?
AI tools can plan site structure, suggest layouts, colour palettes and copy, and review designs. You still need to build, test and check the result against accessibility and speed standards.
What contrast ratio should website text have?
WCAG 2.2 criterion 1.4.3 sets at least 4.5:1 for normal text and 3:1 for large text, and the W3C says the values shouldn't be rounded.
How big should buttons be on a website?
WCAG 2.2 criterion 2.5.8 says pointer targets should be at least 24 by 24 CSS pixels, with a few exceptions such as enough spacing.
What are good Core Web Vitals scores?
Google says LCP within 2.5 seconds, INP under 200 milliseconds and CLS under 0.1 give a good user experience.
What's the best first prompt for a website redesign?
Ask for a site map with the purpose of each page and the single action you want visitors to take, before any visual design.
