1.Prompt to Live Site
The clock starts when I submit the brief and stops when every page in the brief loads at a public address, my own fixes included. Each of the three briefs is timed; the median is the grade, and the time to the first AI draft is reported alongside.
- 5: median under 10 minutes
- 4: 10 to 19 minutes
- 3: 20 to 39 minutes
- 2: 40 to 89 minutes
- 1: 90 minutes or longer, or the site could not be published
2.Design & Mobile Layout
Every page of the three first drafts is checked at 360, 768 and 1440 pixels wide and on a real phone. Faults are counted: inconsistent spacing, no clear type hierarchy, text failing WCAG AA contrast (measured with a checker), placeholder text or images left in, images unrelated to the brief, horizontal scrolling, overlapping elements and tap targets under 44 pixels.
- 5: 0 to 2 faults
- 4: 3 to 5 faults
- 3: 6 to 10 faults
- 2: 11 to 20 faults
- 1: 21 or more faults
3.Brief & Copy Accuracy
Each brief holds 20 facts: names, prices, opening hours, products, services, contact details. Each is checked on the published first draft. Invented content (testimonials, awards, prices, staff, figures) is counted separately, and generic copy that could belong to any business is noted.
- 5: 58 to 60 right, nothing invented
- 4: 54 to 57 right, at most one invented item
- 3: 45 to 53 right, or two or three invented items
- 2: 30 to 44 right, or invented testimonials or reviews
- 1: under 30 right
4.Editing Freedom
Move a section, change the font site-wide, change the colour scheme site-wide, add a page and its menu link, edit the footer, add a form field, replace an image and set its focal point, change a button's link, duplicate a section, change the phone layout on its own, embed custom code, and regenerate one section from a written instruction. Each counts when done without a workaround or support.
- 5: all twelve
- 4: 10 or 11
- 3: 7 to 9
- 2: 4 to 6
- 1: 3 or fewer
5.Page Speed
The home page and one inner page of each live site are tested three times in Lighthouse with mobile settings: 18 runs. The median performance score is the grade; Largest Contentful Paint, Cumulative Layout Shift and Total Blocking Time are reported, with the page weight.
- 5: median 90 or more
- 4: 75 to 89
- 3: 50 to 74
- 2: 30 to 49
- 1: under 30
6.SEO Basics
Each point is checked in the published HTML and files, not in the settings screen: an editable title per page, an editable meta description, one H1 per page, editable alt text, clean custom URLs, an automatic sitemap.xml, an editable robots.txt, canonical tags, schema markup for the business or products, Open Graph tags, 301 redirects and a per-page noindex option.
- 5: all twelve
- 4: 10 or 11
- 3: 7 to 9
- 2: 4 to 6
- 1: 3 or fewer
7.Hosting, Domain & Selling
Each point is tried: the test domain connected with HTTPS working, form submissions arriving by email, a blog, AI writing help for posts, email marketing, bookings, products with variants, a test purchase through checkout, tax settings, shipping settings, digital products and built-in visitor analytics.
- 5: all twelve
- 4: 10 or 11
- 3: 7 to 9
- 2: 4 to 6
- 1: 3 or fewer
8.Export & Ownership
I try to export the site's code and run it on a plain static host, and to export pages, posts, products and form entries. I check that the domain can be moved out, and read the terms on who owns the content and what happens to the site and data when the plan is cancelled.
- 5: code export that runs elsewhere, all content exportable, clear ownership
- 4: all content exportable, no code export
- 3: partial content export
- 2: copy and paste only
- 1: no export, or terms claim rights over my content
9.Help & Support
The same three questions go to every builder: how to connect an outside domain, why a form message did not arrive, and how to change billing. Each is sent through the AI assistant and every human channel offered. I record the time to the first useful answer and whether the answer was correct when followed.
- 5: all three correct within 1 hour, with a human channel
- 4: all three correct within 4 hours
- 3: within 24 hours, or one answer wrong
- 2: over 24 hours, or two answers wrong
- 1: no reply or no channel
10.Pricing & Value
Every plan is read from the checkout, not the marketing page. The figure graded is the yearly cost of the cheapest plan that connects a custom domain and removes the builder's branding. The cheapest plan that can sell, its transaction fees, the renewal price against the first-year price and any AI credit limits are listed with the payment methods seen at checkout.
- 5: under $120 a year, no transaction fees, same price at renewal
- 4: $120 to $199 a year
- 3: $200 to $299, or renewal more than 50% higher
- 2: $300 or more, or transaction fees on every plan
- 1: poor value or hidden costs
