Don't launch your first build

You'll probably never publish the first website you vibe code. I know that sounds strange and a bit wasteful, but it's how this is supposed to work.

Your first build is where you figure out what you actually want. You move sections around and try three different homepage layouts. All those revisions leave the code messy, and that's fine, because a perfect website was never the goal.

The first build has two jobs. It's where you practise vibe coding, set up your environment and get good foundations in place. And it's where you figure out your look and feel, like trying on clothes before you buy them.

Don't try to describe design in words. Give your AI links instead. A resource like Refero Styles lets you browse vibe coded websites and see which layouts and colour schemes you like. Then tell your AI: I like the menu on this site, the hero on this one, the tabbed section here. That saves hours of describing features in painful detail, then correcting Claude when it doesn't fully understand you.

If you were a professional designer, this would be terrible advice. You'd start with a detailed site plan and a Figma mock-up. But you're not a designer. You don't yet know what you like, so it's fine to find out as you go.

Once you're 95 percent there, start a clean project and use the old code as reference. Claude or ChatGPT will rebuild it in no time, and this time you'll know your code base is clean from day one.