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What to Build

Part of Create a Simple Website

Quick Summary

Before building a website, it helps to decide what you want to create and prepare a few tools that support the process.

In this guide we will build a simple personal branding website using modern tools and AI assistance.

A personal website is a practical first project. It lets you introduce yourself, share projects, and create a place for your ideas online.

You do not need to be an experienced developer. The goal is not perfection but building something real that can improve over time.

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A personal website might include:

  • introduction
  • projects
  • ideas or writing
  • contact information

Prerequisites

Before starting, prepare a few tools that will help you build and launch your website.

These tools act as the development environment, AI assistant, and deployment platform.

Install Cursor (AI Coding Environment)

Cursor is an AI-assisted coding editor that helps you build software using natural language and AI agents.

You can describe what you want to build and the AI can help generate and modify code.

How to install Cursor · Download

Once installed, Cursor will be the main environment used to build the website.

Create a ChatGPT Account

ChatGPT can help you plan your website, generate ideas, refine prompts, and solve problems during development.

How to create an account

You can use ChatGPT alongside Cursor to improve prompts and workflows.

Create a Vercel Account (Deployment)

Vercel is used to deploy and host your website so it can be accessed online.

After connecting your project, Vercel can automatically publish updates when you push new code.

How to get started · Sign up

Later in this guide, we will connect the project to Vercel and publish the site.

Create a Supabase Account (Database)

Supabase provides a simple backend for storing data.

It includes a database, authentication, and APIs.

How to get started · Sign up

You may use Supabase if your project needs to store data such as user information or logs.

Optional but Helpful

These tools are not required to start building a website, but they can help with development, payments, and sharing your project.

ToolPurposeLink
GitHubStore and manage your code using version controlhttps://github.com
StripeAccept payments if you want to add subscriptions or productshttps://stripe.com
RedditShare your project and get feedback from communitieshttps://reddit.com
InstagramShare updates and build awareness for your projecthttps://instagram.com

GitHub → code management · Stripe → payments · Reddit → early feedback · Instagram → sharing and visibility

What we will do next

Once the tools are ready, the next step is deciding what kind of website you want to build.

Instead of starting directly with code, we will begin with a simple idea and use AI tools to help generate the first project structure.

This approach makes it easier to move from idea to a working website.