Let me share a little story with you.
Before I got into branding and web design, I worked as a fashion designer. And I think that’s probably where my obsession with details comes from.
I’ve always been interested in why some things just feel right. Why one outfit can completely change the way someone carries themselves. Why certain images stay with you. Why some brands immediately make you want to know more, while others are forgotten five seconds later.
I see branding in a very similar way.
You can have an amazing business, a great offer and years of experience behind you, but if your website and brand doesn’t communicate that, people landing on it won’t necessarily know.
And I see this all the time with businesses that have grown a lot since they first created their website.
They look at it and think, “It’s not terrible… I just don’t feel like it represents me anymore.”
Usually, there’s a reason for that.
Your business has changed, but your online presence hasn’t quite caught up.
Because sometimes I’ll look at a business and immediately think, this person is doing really good work.
Then I look at their website and… you wouldn’t know it.
Not because the website is necessarily bad. It just doesn’t communicate the level they’re actually operating at.
So, if you’ve been feeling a little disconnected from your website lately, these are the five things I’d look at first.
01. Your website looks good, but it could belong to anyone
This is probably one of the first things I notice when I look at a brand.
There are so many websites that are beautiful.
Beautiful typography. Beautiful photography. Beautiful colours. Beautiful layouts. And then… nothing. To be honest, I forget them almost immediately.
I think we’ve become very good at recognising what a “premium” website is supposed to look like.
Neutral colours.
Elegant serif fonts.
Editorial photography.
Minimal layouts.
Lots of whitespace.
And there is absolutely nothing wrong with any of those things. The problem is when everyone starts using the same visual language.
If I removed your logo from your website, would I still know it was yours?
Would I recognise your taste? Your personality? Your way of doing things?
That’s what I care about when I’m working on a brand identity.
I’m not interested in taking a generic luxury aesthetic and changing the colours.
I want to understand the person and the business behind it first.
What makes you different? What do you notice that other people don’t? What kind of experience do you want your clients to have? What are the little details that make something immediately feel like you?
That’s where design gets interesting for me. It’s not about finding one beautiful font or one amazing image and calling it a day. It’s about understanding how everything works together.
The typography, photography, colour, layout, spacing, imagery, details, even the things we choose to leave out. They all have to speak the same visual language.
That’s really where I think my strength as a designer lies. I love taking everything I learn about a brand, the personality, story, positioning, audience, references, little details, and translating all of that into something visual.
Because one element on its own can be beautiful, but if it doesn’t work with everything around it, it doesn’t really matter.
The magic is in finding the balance between all of it and creating a visual language that feels completely right for that particular brand.
And when that happens, you don’t need your website to scream that you’re premium. You can feel it.
It needs to give people a reason to remember you.
02. Your website makes people work too hard to understand what you actually do
I love a website that makes me curious.
I love an unexpected headline.
I love storytelling.
I love when a website doesn’t look exactly like every other website in its industry.
But there is a difference between making someone curious and making someone confused.
If I have to scroll through half of your homepage before I understand what you actually offer, there’s a problem.
And no, I don’t think your website needs to explain your entire business in the first section. You just need to give me enough information to make me want to keep going.
Who are you?
What do you do?
Who is it for?
Why should I care?
That’s usually enough to start. I see the same thing happening on service pages all the time. The page tells me exactly what’s included:
Six sessions. A workbook. Email support. A strategy call. A PDF. Three revisions.
Great.
But what does any of that actually do for me?
What’s going to change?
What problem are you helping me solve?
What am I going to walk away with?
That’s the part I want to know.
And this is where website copywriting and website design need to work together.
Your website shouldn’t just tell someone what they can buy.
It should help them understand why they want it.
The deliverables are important, but they’re not usually the exciting part.
If you’re a coach, your client isn’t buying six Zoom calls.
If you’re a photographer, your client isn’t buying 300 edited images.
If you’re investing in branding, you’re not really buying a logo and a colour palette.
You’re buying what those things are going to help you create, communicate or become afterwards.
That’s the story your website needs to tell.
03. Your visuals don’t feel like they belong together
This is probably another thing I picked up from working in fashion.
I think about a brand almost like a whole look. You can’t just have one beautiful piece and ignore everything around it. The pieces need to work together.
Your website.
Your photography.
Your typography.
Your colours.
Your social media.
Your graphics.
Your copy.
They don’t need to be identical, but they should feel like they came from the same world.
Sometimes I’ll look at a brand where everything is individually nice, but together it feels completely disconnected.
The website feels editorial. The photography feels corporate. The Instagram feels playful. The copy sounds extremely formal. And suddenly there are four different personalities behind one business. Especially if you’re building a personal brand, photography can make a huge difference.
And I don’t mean having one perfect headshot and calling it a day.
I want to see your world. How you work. The details. Your environment. Your process. The things you naturally gravitate towards. If you’re a photographer, I want your website to give me a sense of your creative eye before I’ve even looked through your portfolio.
If you’re a coach, I want to understand something about your personality and approach.
If you’re a creative entrepreneur, I want your website to feel like an extension of your taste. Your photos don’t have to look like a luxury campaign.
They just need to feel like you.
And this is one reason I love bringing branding and web design together.
Instead of designing the website first and then trying to figure out how the photography fits, we can think about the whole visual world from the beginning.
The result feels much more cohesive.
And much less like a collection of things you liked on Pinterest.
04. Your brand doesn’t really have a point of view
This is probably my favourite one.
Because your brand isn’t just what it looks like. It’s what it believes. And I think a lot of businesses accidentally become generic because they’re afraid to be too specific.
Their website says they’re passionate.
They’re dedicated.
They’re authentic.
They care about their clients.
They’re here to make an impact.
I’m sure all of that is true. But I still don’t know what makes you different.
What do you actually believe?
What do you think your industry gets wrong?
What are you unwilling to compromise on?
What do you wish more of your clients understood?
What do you do differently?
What would you happily talk about for an hour without getting bored?
Those things are part of your brand too.
You don’t need to have some controversial hot take just to stand out.
You just need to have a perspective.
Because when someone lands on your website and thinks:
“Oh my god, yes. This is exactly how I see it.”
that’s a much stronger connection than “I like her colours.”
And this is why I don’t think branding is just about visual identity.
Your personality should show up in the way you write.
Your perspective should show up in your content.
Your taste should show up in the visuals.
Your beliefs should show up in your offers.
And all of it should come together on your website. The goal isn’t necessarily to appeal to everyone. I’d much rather have the right person land on your website and think:
“I want to work with her.”
05. Your website is still representing an older version of your business
This is the one I come back to again and again. Sometimes your website isn’t bad. You’ve just changed.
Maybe you created it when you were starting out.
Maybe you weren’t sure who you wanted to work with yet.
Maybe you were charging half of what you charge now.
Maybe your work has become much more sophisticated.
Maybe you’ve simply developed a much stronger sense of your own style.
Whatever it is, your business has moved forward.
But your website is still telling the old story. You can usually feel it.
You hesitate before sending someone the link.
You think, “I really need to update that page.”
You explain to people that your website is a little outdated.
Or you find yourself sending them to your Instagram instead because somehow that feels more like you. That’s usually a pretty good sign. It doesn’t necessarily mean you need to throw everything away.
Sometimes you need a better copy.
Sometimes you need new photography.
Sometimes your brand identity needs refining.
Sometimes the structure of your website isn’t working anymore.
And sometimes you’ve genuinely reached the point where you need a full rebrand and website redesign.
But before changing anything, I’d ask yourself:
Does this website attract the clients I want now?
Does it reflect what I charge now?
Does it communicate the level of work I actually provide?
And probably the most important one: Does it feel like the business I’m building, or the business I used to have? Because your website shouldn’t just document where you’ve been.
It should support where you’re going.
So, What Actually Makes a Website Feel Premium?
It’s not a particular font.
It’s not beige.
It’s not having expensive photography.
And it’s definitely not putting the word “luxury” into every other sentence.
For me, a premium website is one where everything feels like it belongs.
The branding makes sense.
The photography makes sense.
The copy sounds like a real person.
The offer is clear.
There is personality.
And nothing feels like it’s desperately trying to prove that the business is premium.
This is probably one of the biggest things I’ve learned from working in design.
Good design isn’t always obvious. You just get a feeling that everything works.
Nothing is fighting for your attention. And somehow the whole thing feels more expensive, more confident and more memorable.
That’s what I’m interested in creating. Not websites that look expensive for the sake of looking expensive.
Websites that make the business behind them feel clear, personal, distinctive and worth paying attention to.
Try This Before You Redesign Your Website
Before you start changing your fonts or picking a new colour palette, open your website and pretend you’ve never seen it before.
Give yourself ten seconds. Don’t analyse it. Just look at it.
Then ask yourself:
What do I immediately understand?
What do I feel?
Who do I think this business is for?
What do I think they offer?
What catches my attention?
What feels confusing?
What feels generic?
And then ask yourself the bigger question:
Does this feel like the level of business I’m building?
If the answer is no, you don’t necessarily need to panic.
It might not mean your website is terrible.
It might simply mean you’ve grown.
And honestly, that’s a pretty good problem to have.
Your business changes. Your offers change. Your audience changes. Your confidence changes. Your taste changes. Your website can change too.
Maybe you need a few strategic website improvements.
Maybe you need a new visual identity. Maybe you need better photography.
Maybe you need a completely new website.
Or maybe you just need to stop trying to make your business look like what you think a successful business is supposed to look like.
And start making it look like you.
Your Website Should Feel Like You
This is ultimately why I love working across both branding and web design.
Because a website isn’t just a collection of pages.
It’s where everything comes together.
Your positioning. Your personality. Your visual identity. Your messaging. Your photography. Your offers. Your client experience.
And when those things finally start making sense together, you notice it.
You stop apologising for your website.
You stop thinking about what needs to be changed every time you send someone the link.
You stop feeling like your website is slightly behind you.
Instead, you can send someone your website and think:
“Yes. This feels like me.”
That’s the feeling I want to create for my clients.
Not a website that simply looks impressive.
A website that feels like an honest reflection of the business they’ve built, while still leaving room for where they’re going next.
If you’ve been feeling like your brand or website doesn’t quite represent you anymore, I’d love to help you figure out what’s missing.
You can also take a look at my recent work to see how I approach branding and website design for businesses that want something a little more considered and a lot more them.
Your website should make you excited to send someone the link.
And if it doesn’t yet, maybe it’s time to change that.
