Full Transcript
Lauren: So my cousin calls me the other day, super excited. She's like, I just asked ChatGPT to make me a website for my business. And I'm like... wait. Can it actually do that?
Honor: Welcome to the 805 Web Minute with Lauren and Honor... We make interwebs and website stuff make sense... Let's get into it.
Honor: So the short answer is... yes, ChatGPT can generate website code. It can give you HTML, some styling, a layout. It's not nothing.
Lauren: Okay so... problem solved? Show's over? Everyone go home?
Honor: Not quite. Because getting code is like step one of a twenty step process. And most people don't realize that. A tech reviewer actually spent three hours trying to build a full site with ChatGPT and said the result was... quote... nothing a basic website builder wouldn't do much faster.
Lauren: Three hours! And it still wasn't great?
Honor: Right. And here's the thing people miss. ChatGPT gives you code. It doesn't give you a live website. You still need a domain name, a hosting account, SSL certificates... you need to upload it, configure it, connect everything.
Lauren: That's like... asking someone to write you a recipe, and then being surprised that a cake didn't just appear on the counter.
Honor: That's exactly right. You still need the oven, the ingredients, and you need to know how to bake. The recipe is just the beginning.
Lauren: Okay, but let's say someone figures all that out. They get it live. Is it at least a good website?
Honor: It's... generic. Because AI generates patterns it's seen before. So your plumbing website looks like every other AI-generated plumbing website. No personality, no local feel. And here's a number for you... 75 percent of people judge your business's credibility by your website design.
Lauren: Wait, 75 percent?
Honor: And 94 percent of first impressions are design-related. People form an opinion about your business in 50 milliseconds. That's less than the blink of an eye.
Lauren: Oh... so if it looks like it was made in 30 seconds... they can tell.
Honor: They absolutely can. But there's an even bigger problem that nobody talks about... accessibility. Your website needs to work for everyone, including people with disabilities. Screen readers, keyboard navigation, proper contrast. And in California, this is a legal issue.
Lauren: Wait... legal? Like, you can get sued?
Honor: ADA website lawsuits went up 37 percent in 2025. Over 2,000 filed in just six months. And 64 percent of businesses that get sued make less than 25 million a year. Small businesses are the main targets.
Lauren: Oh no...
Honor: And when researchers tested ChatGPT's default website code for accessibility... it failed badly. Color contrast way below the minimum. Missing labels on forms. No keyboard navigation. They needed over 200 rounds of back-and-forth to get it up to standard.
Lauren: 200 rounds! That's like asking your GPS for directions and it takes you to the wrong state... 200 times... before it figures out where you're going.
Honor: And there's one more thing. Let's say you somehow get it live and it works. Who updates it when your hours change? Who fixes it when something breaks? ChatGPT doesn't maintain anything. It generates once and it's done.
Lauren: So it's like a contractor who builds you a deck and then vanishes. And now you're out there with a screwdriver trying to figure it out yourself.
Honor: Exactly. And for a business, your website isn't a project you finish. It's a tool you maintain.
Lauren: So the moral of the story is... before you hand your website to a chatbot, ask yourself one question. Who's going to take care of this thing after day one? Because that's the part that actually matters for your business.
Honor: That's it. The building is the easy part. The maintaining is where it counts.
Lauren: And if you want someone who actually handles all of it... give YouGrow a call!
Honor: Yeah, we build your site, we handle hosting, security, accessibility, updates... everything. 79 dollars a month, month-to-month, no upfront costs. When you need something changed, you call me directly. I'm right here in Arroyo Grande.
Lauren: Alright, this has been 805 Web Minute. Thanks for listening.