Vibe coding your website sounds appealing - it's fast - it's cheap - it feels empowering.
Vibe Coding: A software development practice assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) such as by chatbots or AI agents. The user describes a project or task in a prompt to a large language model (LLM), which generates source code automatically.
Before you decide to vibe code your next website, be sure you are making an informed decision. Here are some immediate and long term considerations from Allison (Director of Project Management) and James (Senior Developer) on the JH team.
Immediate Pitfalls of Vibe Coding
It Looks Fine, But Doesn't Convert
Your new site looks fine. It may have some cool features or animations. It's functional. But having a "working site" and a "site that works well" aren't the same thing. A generic site layout that doesn't reflect your brand or convert visitors is asking for trouble.
Assuming you also used AI to generate your site's content, you've fallen into the "generic and forgettable" category. AI generates content and structure based on patterns, and not your actual business needs. The same goes for those images. Do they really reflect your service team or your product offering?
Mobile and Browser Inconsistencies
While AI generated websites may look good and behave well in a single browser it can be tricky, even for a human developer, to provide a consistent experience across the variety of web browsers and devices available to users. Can you be certain that the code it generates looks good across desktop, tablet, mobile and accessibility focused browsers? Will it scroll smoothly and animate content without leaving some content obscured on all device sizes? When AI fixes a bug in one browser will it cause the site to break in a different browser? Will impaired site visitors be able to navigate and consume the content on your site? These are just a few of many things an experienced web developer has to navigate to ensure a consistent experience for the many users that will visit your site.
Long Term Pitfalls of Vibe Coding Your Website
SEO Who?
AI-built sites rarely account for the proper framework for best practices in SEO. Things like structure of content, schema, crawlability and speed all factor into SEO results. A quickly vibe-coded website isn't taking this into account. While you may not feel the impacts immediately, the long term impact is huge.
A cool looking website that doesn't get people to it or that doesn't show up in AIO answers isn't doing its job. The whole point of your website is to gain business. If nobody can find you, how's your business going to be affected?
Security Gaps
When you’re building a site with AI it isn’t usually going to think to check for outdated libraries or compromised code. It may find a great plugin to use on your site and install it. It may be months later (or never) before it’s discovered that version of the plugin was compromised and has been collecting visitor information and sharing it on the dark web. Proper code review is paramount for human and AI code, but AI is going to try and build a site quickly and efficiently. Even if you do remember to have it check for vulnerabilities it may not use reliable sources to verify the safety of the code it just generated or installed. Are you willing to risk your brand's integrity by compromising your visitors with a quick and cheap website?
Knowing How It Works
AI isn’t perfect and it often does make mistakes when writing code. The code it writes should be treated just like any other code and be reviewed by a knowledgeable second party to prevent problems created by the changes. Many times these mistakes and problems stem from a limited scope of the project - the AI usually cannot be knowledgeable about every piece of code on the entire website. So while the AI may be able to fix things when they break, it can just as easily break something else on a different page when implementing that fix. This can lead to a lot of churn and inconsistent code that may just get harder and harder to fix. This is why being knowledgeable about how the code for the whole website works is important and best managed by a human.
Your Business Changes, Does Your Website?
Over time your business will change. You'll have new product offerings, new services and maybe even a new target audience who you want to reach. Adding onto your vibe coded website can bring an instant headache. How do you add these new features to a code base you don't understand? Will your updated AI agent understand what was done previously to make enhancements to the site? This can end up being more expensive (in time and token usage) than building it right the first time around.
Say Yes to AI Usage The Right Way
The question isn't "can AI build your website?". It's "can that site actually do the job you need it to?". AI is an incredibly useful tool, but your website is a business asset that deserves strategic thinking. You don't want to end up regretting your choice for the cheap solution. A vibe coded website can quickly turn into a website that is costing you business. At JH, we offer three options for your next website to meet your business' needs. Learn more about Amplify.
