In the ever-evolving landscape of web design, Duda has emerged as a leading platform designed specifically for agencies and SaaS platforms. With a focus on productivity and seamless integration, Duda offers web professionals the tools they need to build powerful, scalable websites.
We sat down with Justin Wells - the Senior Ecosystem Partnerships Manager at Duda, to uncover the platform's unique features, its use of AI, and what sets it apart from other website builders.
Exploring the World of Duda: An Interview with Justin Wells
In this interview, we dive into the inner workings of Duda with Justin, exploring the platform's journey, its unique features, and the future of AI in website-building.
Common Ninja: What inspired the creation of Duda, and how has the platform evolved since its inception?
Justin: Duda started as a solution for building mobile websites, back when we were known as DudaMobile. In 2008, our co-founders, Itai Sadan (CEO) and Amir Glatt (CTO), noticed the internet's shift toward mobile and wanted to help small businesses take advantage of this by making their websites more mobile-friendly.
Today, Duda has evolved into a leading white-label web-building platform tailored for digital agencies, SaaS platforms, and web professionals. With tools designed for efficiency and scalability, Duda helps users build feature-rich websites that enhance SEO and performance. Over 20,000 organizations have used Duda to create over one million active websites, and we remain the top platform for Core Web Vitals, which is crucial for SEO.
Common Ninja: What are the unique features of Duda? How does Duda differentiate itself from other website builders in the market?
Justin: Duda is built specifically for agencies and SaaS platforms, unlike most website builders that cater to small businesses directly. Our main value lies in productivity, offering web professionals tools that reduce operational complexity while maximizing output. We focus on agency-specific workflows, enabling them to create beautiful websites quickly and efficiently.
Common Ninja: Who is the primary audience of Duda? What are the main challenges this audience faces, and how is Duda addressing them?
Justin: Our primary audience consists of agencies and SaaS platforms looking to build websites at scale for small businesses. Their main challenges are efficiency and competition, as they need to grow their customer base while keeping existing clients satisfied. Duda addresses this by ensuring our platform is fast, reliable, and capable of producing top-tier websites that help agencies maintain their competitive edge.
Common Ninja: What advice would you give to someone new to website building and looking to get started with Duda?
Justin: Each platform has its strengths and weaknesses, so it's important to know what you're looking for. Duda excels in efficiency, offering fast, reliable, and visually appealing websites. I recommend using tools like G2 to compare platforms and read reviews, and you’ll find Duda ranks #1 in customer satisfaction. Evaluate your priorities and your customers' needs when choosing a platform. Personally, I find Duda the most enjoyable, although I’m a bit biased!
Common Ninja: Duda is investing significant effort into enhancing customers' site SEO and loading times. How crucial is SEO for SMBs, particularly when they are often competing in narrow niche local markets?
Justin: SEO is incredibly important for small businesses, especially in competitive local markets. First impressions matter, and if a website takes too long to load, potential customers may leave before seeing what the business has to offer. Duda leads in addressing these challenges, particularly through tools like our AI Assistant, which helps generate SEO-friendly content, titles, descriptions, and more—making it easier for businesses to compete in highly competitive SEO landscapes.
AI and Innovation at Duda
Common Ninja: What do you think are the main challenges for AI-driven website-building tools, and what role do they play in the industry?
Justin: Fully automated AI-driven website builders won’t replace human creativity anytime soon. These tools often generate low-quality websites that flood the market with irrelevant content. At Duda, we believe AI should enhance, not replace, the website creation process by tackling mundane tasks like writing meta tags or adding alt text to images. This way, users can focus on more creative aspects of their websites.
Common Ninja: Can you explain the role of AI in Duda’s platform, particularly in enhancing user experience and site performance?
Justin: Our AI tools are all about enhancing productivity for agencies building websites at scale. For instance, Duda’s AI Assistant helps users generate SEO metadata, write and revise content, and quickly create entire sections or pages. This is designed to streamline repetitive tasks, allowing web professionals to focus on the creative side of things while still improving site performance and user experience.
Common Ninja: Can you make a bold prediction about how AI will transform the site-building tools industry?
Justin: I predict that in the near future, we’ll see a surge in cheap, AI-generated websites filled with irrelevant content—much like when you search for a recipe and have to scroll through unnecessary information. However, on a more positive note, AI will transform the industry by enhancing productivity. For example, automating parts of the onboarding process, like gathering a client's information, could save agencies a significant amount of time, allowing them to build websites faster and more efficiently.
Duda’s Features and Technical Aspects
Common Ninja: What are the key performance indicators (KPIs) that Duda monitors to ensure optimal website performance?
Justin: Core Web Vitals is one of our top priorities. It measures real-world user experience by focusing on performance, interactivity, and visual stability, all of which contribute to a fast, reliable website. With over 82% of websites built on Duda achieving the highest Core Web Vitals rating, we lead the pack in terms of both SEO and user satisfaction.
Common Ninja: How does Duda integrate with other tools and platforms to provide a seamless experience for users?
Justin: We take user experience seriously across the platform. Our partnerships, like with Common Ninja, help us integrate necessary tools that enhance the platform's capabilities. Customers can access third-party solutions without leaving the Duda platform, thanks to our App Store infrastructure, making it easy to streamline processes.
Common Ninja: How does Duda handle API integrations, and what are the most commonly integrated third-party services?
Justin: Duda’s platform is highly composable, allowing agencies and SaaS platforms to customize their use of APIs. Whether it’s integrating payment gateways or complex widgets, our robust API system allows users to streamline their workflow and leverage third-party apps, whether for their internal use or to offer to other agencies through our App Store.
Duda continues to offer a flexible, agency-centric platform that evolves with user needs, emphasizing both scalability and performance.
Conclusion
As Duda continues to lead the way in web-building innovation, it’s clear that their focus on efficiency and productivity resonates deeply with agencies and SaaS platforms.
By harnessing the power of AI and maintaining a strong commitment to performance, Duda provides a comprehensive solution for professionals looking to build and manage websites at scale.
The insights shared by Justin Wells reveal how Duda is shaping the future of website building while keeping human creativity at the forefront.
