Website Builders Evolution: From GeoCities to Sites Generated With AI

Automation in website development dominates the modern world when it comes to creating and promoting, particularly on the internet. Today, you can create stylish websites and utilize innovative design tools thanks to their rich and diverse history. 

Web development began in its most raw form and, over the years, evolved into AI-powered tools — smart, efficient, and easy to use. Now we have access to a diverse selection of no-code website builders, including Mottor, Weebly, Craftum AI, Nicepage, GoDaddy, and others. 

They provide unlimited opportunities for integrating the off-the-shelf templates and creating your website in just one evening! But things weren't always like this.

1990s as Starting Point: Manual HTML

The history of website builders, which began to appear and develop in 1990, is notable. At those times, developers created websites manually, so knowledge of HTML was the first requirement. The pages looked rather strict and primitive, with static pages, strange design, and simple, though inconvenient, interfaces. That was the period when developers began to think about the interactive features of digital spaces.

1994: GeoCities Platform

The year 1994 witnessed the launch of the GeoCities service. It was the first step towards shy tempts to create a tool for users with no coding knowledge. This platform has truly revolutionized the web design sphere. It has shown real possibilities for creating content and using it for easy personal website creation.

2000-2010: WYSIWYG editors

The first decade of the 2000s brought new discoveries. These were WYSIWYG editors, also known as drag-and-drop platforms. The first bright examples of such services included Adobe Dreamweaver and Microsoft FrontPage. Utilizing these products, users could manage their content in the most convenient visual way. Examining history, WYSIWYG editors have played a significant role in the evolution and development of the UX designer profession.

At the same time, platforms and services offering development options were undergoing significant transformation. Programmers of those times discovered more and more insights:

• Templates are really time-saving and convenient to apply.
• The website should be attractive, but at the same time, logically structured and convenient to work with.
• Planning the users' routes alongside the website is also important (navigation, links).

All these discoveries laid the base of future website builders, making them more сarefully crafted, intuitive, and high-performing.

2010-2020: Software-as-a-Service solutions and digital UX

The next decade also brought users new possibilities and tools for structuring websites in an easier and more efficient way than before. For example, SaaS products began to appear, offering web resource creation directly in the browser. This time period allowed developers to forget about inconvenient desktop editors and prefer drag-and-drop cloud solutions (Wix, Squarespace, Nicepage, Tilda). They solved several tasks:

• Made the whole chain of development work automated.
• Posed the UX design as a meaningful segment of a powerful business strategy.

New builders allow to create a website and at the same time help to attract visitors, promote the specific business idea, and represent the product or service throughout the digital area.

Such no-code instruments didn't require deep programming knowledge and offered:

• Improved adaptive design options.
• Efficient SaaS instruments, which focus on UX trends.
• Drag-and-drop interfaces allow a high level of accessibility.
• Integration of intelligent AI functions speeds up the development.

Benefits  for Investors for the Modern Website Builders

Introducing modern website builders with AI-powered solutions gives various benefits and advantages for investors and enthusiasts of the web development industry:

• Current UX features allow to replace designers, as AI perfectly resolves their tasks.
• Automation helps to create an MVP, check its efficiency, and get profits from business hypotheses quickly.
• High profit guarantees - investing in the platforms capable of automating UX tasks is the best solution ever).
• High potential from the monetization of AI-integrated platforms.
• Stable growth of the no- or low-code products on the market.

Conclusion

The history of website builders, from their emergence to evolution and improvement, has been a challenging yet relatively short one. Each step along the way showed a desire to improve development tools, make them more accessible to everyone, and open the door to colorful, flexible, and well-thought-out design. Despite all the ups and downs developers faced on the journey from GeoCities to today's powerful AI-based builders, they haven't stopped. They continue to work hard on making these tools even better.