When people think about marketing, they often picture ads, social media, or email campaigns. But one of the most powerful marketing tools is something many overlook—your website.
Your website is your digital storefront, and just like a physical store, its design, messaging, and experience all impact how potential customers perceive and engage with your brand. A well-designed website isn’t just about aesthetics—it’s a strategic part of your marketing ecosystem, guiding visitors toward taking action, building trust, and increasing conversions.
Web Design is Just One Piece of the Marketing Puzzle
Many businesses jump straight into web design without laying the groundwork first. But a website is only one aspect of a larger strategy. Before it even comes into play, several marketing foundations need to be in place:
1. Brand Strategy
Before you can build a website, you need a solid brand identity—your values, voice, and target audience. Without this, your website will lack clarity and cohesion.
2. Copywriting & Messaging
The words on your site aren’t just there as fillers—they’re strategically crafted to attract, inform, and convert visitors. Clear, compelling messaging helps guide users toward taking action.
3. Legal & Business Foundations
Credibility matters. Things like forming an LLC, securing trademarks, and ensuring legal compliance build trust with customers and search engines alike.
If you are starting from scratch in terms of building your business, we highly recommend that you download our free guide, How to Start a Small Business: Everything We Wish We Knew from Day One.
4. User Experience (UX) & SEO
A beautiful website means nothing if it’s hard to navigate or impossible to find. SEO-friendly content, fast loading speeds, and intuitive design help your site rank higher and keep visitors engaged.
The Marketing Timeline: From Strategy to Growth
Marketing isn’t a one-and-done process. It happens in stages, and web design sits at the core of it all. Before you even touch web design, these marketing fundamentals listed below need to be in place
Stage 1: Brand & Market Strategy (Before Web Design)
It's important to understand that you need to have these elements in place first as they are what help to bring your website to life. For instance, you wouldn’t publish a website with no copy (words) on it, would you? Obviously not.
But in order to have the words (aka copy) to place on your website, you will need to work with a copywriter in order to get the copy in the first place!
Brand Strategy (Visual & Verbal Identity) – Branding is way more than just pretty colors, graphics and logos – so before anything else, you need to define your brand voice, messaging, positioning, and target audience.
If you’re looking for a brand strategist or someone to help you develop and create your brand guidelines, check out the two brand strategists that we partner with.
Market Research & Competitive Analysis – Understand your audience’s needs and pain points. Take time to analyze competitors to have a better understanding of what you’re up against and how you can do it even better.
Copywriting & Content Strategy – Develop your core brand messaging, tagline, and story. The words on your website aren’t just there to fill space—they’re one of the most powerful tools in your marketing. Great copy isn’t just about sounding good; it’s about strategy. It needs to reflect your brand’s personality, speak directly to your ideal audience, and most importantly, drive action.
From headlines that hook visitors to persuasive calls to action, every word plays a role in converting browsers into buyers. Haven’t you ever heard the phrase, “language is powerful”? That’s because it’s true!
If writing isn’t your thing, work with our trusted partner and copywriter who understands how to craft messaging that connects and converts. Trust us, it makes all the difference.
SEO Research & Keyword Planning – If you have no idea where to start, take 10-15 minutes and simply brainstorm and write down all the words that come to mind when you think about your industry jargon. Consider the frequently asked questions you receive from clients or even friends. This will be a good starting point for you to then move into using a tool to help you determine what words and phrases will work work best based on data.
Next, use tools like SEMrush to identify search terms that align with your audience’s intent. Finally, take about 20-minutes to watch our introductory course on SEO made simple.
Lead Generation Strategy – Map out how you’ll attract and capture potential customers. For example, will it be through social media marketing, door-to-door marketing, affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, etc.?
And if you are going to use social media as part of your lead generation strategy, determine which platforms you want to focus on.
Stage 2: Web Presence & Conversion (Web Design as the Core)
Once you have your branding and copywriting in place, then it’s time to focus on web design.
Website UX/UI Design – Your website should be more than just pretty—it needs to be easy to navigate and designed to guide visitors toward taking action. A great user experience (UX) keeps people engaged, while strong UI (user interface) design makes everything visually appealing and intuitive.
Website Development – This is where your site actually comes to life. It’s all about functionality, speed, and optimization. A well-built website isn’t just for looks—it needs to load quickly, work smoothly on all devices, and support your business goals.
SEO Implementation – A beautiful site won’t do much if no one can find it. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) helps your website rank on search engines like Google so the right people can discover your business. This includes things like keyword placement, metadata, and structuring content in a way that search engines (and humans) love.
If you're new to SEO and have no idea where to start - check out our free 20-minute introductory course, SEO made simple.
Content Implementation – Now it’s time to plug everything in. Strategic copy, high-quality images, and engaging elements (like call-to-action (CTA) buttons, forms, and videos) work together to create a website that’s not just informative, but also conversion-focused.
Every detail should support your brand’s goals and make it easy for visitors to take the next step.
Web design doesn’t have to be overwhelming—skip the frustration and let us handle it for you! Schedule a free discovery call today, and we’ll take care of the heavy lifting while you focus on what you do best.
Stage 3: Driving Traffic & Engagement (After Web Design)
Just because you publish your website doesn’t mean it’s going to automatically start bringing you traffic — you need to actually put in the effort to drive visitors to it.
This is where active marketing kicks in:
Social Media Marketing & Engagement – Social media isn’t just about posting—it’s about building relationships. Engaging with your audience through valuable content, comments, and conversations helps create brand loyalty and keeps your business top of mind.
Paid Advertising (PPC, Social Ads) – Get your brand in front of the right people fast. Running targeted ads on Google, Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn helps drive traffic and bring in leads who are already interested in what you offer.
Email Marketing & Automation – Grow your email list through social media and then nurture leads and maintain customer relationships. Additionally, it’s a good idea (and total time saver) to set up automations so you don’t have to manually do tasks that can be automated.
If you are interested in learning more about automations and systems, check out our automation specialist that we partner with.
Sales Funnels & Landing Pages – Not all website visitors are ready to buy immediately, so guiding them through a strategic sales funnel is key. Well-designed landing pages help capture leads, nurture interest, and move potential customers toward making a purchase or booking a service.
Content Marketing (Blogs, Videos, Webinars) – One of the best parts about blogs is that it quite literally gives you the space and opportunity to include relevant keywords and questions. In addition to that, you can use the blog as the ‘umbrella’ of your content strategy.
For instance, write the blog post, and then take bits of that blog and repurpose it to different mediums. You can use it for newsletters, emails, and content for social media – just make sure to reconfigure the blog to fit the medium. For example, if you’re actively posting on TikTok, you can create videos pertaining to the blog, all while including a CTA to drive people back to the original post.
Additionally, free webinars are a great way to gain visibility, establish your credibility, gain trust and make sales.
Influencer & Partnership Marketing – Sometimes, the fastest way to grow is by tapping into someone else’s audience. Partnering with influencers, industry leaders, or complementary brands can boost your reach and build trust with new potential customers.
Public Relations (PR) & Media Outreach – Getting featured in online publications, podcasts, or news outlets can give your brand major credibility. PR helps position you as an authority in your space and introduces you to new audiences.
Free resources – These could be downloadable guides, checklists, templates, mini-courses, or even exclusive content that helps your audience solve a problem.
The key here is strategic generosity—giving away something useful builds trust, showcases your expertise, and keeps people coming back for more.
Plus, free resources are a great way to grow your email list, nurture leads, and guide them toward your paid services.
Stage 4: Optimization & Retention (Long-Term Growth)
Once you’ve built momentum, the next step is refining and optimizing your strategy for long-term success. Keep in mind that marketing is an ongoing process. You will constantly need to refine and optimize your strategy to continue to see your desired results.
Analytics & Performance Optimization – If you’re not tracking your website’s performance, you’re flying blind. Tools like Google Analytics, HotJar, and SEMrush help you see what’s working (and what’s not) so you can make data-driven decisions to improve traffic and conversions.
Reputation Management & Reviews – How often do you go and check the reviews before you purchase a new product? Probably pretty often. The same idea is true for your marketing efforts. Make sure you are asking clients/customers for reviews that you can legally share on your website and other marketing materials.
Note: Always go back and respond to Google reviews (even if someone leaves a negative review!), as this is your opportunity to engage with your customers and build trust with new potential buyers. It's also beneficial to respond to negative reviews because although you cannot delete negative reviews from Google, you can potentially change the reviewer's mind and they may end up deleting the negative review altogether.
Community Building & Customer Engagement – People don’t just buy from brands—they buy from businesses they trust. Creating an engaged community (through social media, email, or even exclusive groups) keeps your audience connected and loyal to your brand.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) – It’s not just about getting visitors to your site—it’s about getting them to take action. CRO is all about tweaking elements like your calls-to-action, page layout, and user experience to increase conversions and turn more visitors into customers.
Affiliate & Referral Marketing – One of the best ways to grow your business is through happy customers spreading the word. An affiliate or referral program incentivizes people to share your brand with their network, bringing in new leads through trusted recommendations.
Final Thoughts
Web design isn’t just a creative endeavor—it’s a marketing powerhouse when done correctly. Without the right strategy behind it, even the most visually stunning site won’t perform well.
By understanding how web design fits into the broader marketing landscape, you can create a website that not only looks great but actively works to grow your brand, generate leads, and convert visitors into customers.
At the end of the day, web design is just one piece of your overall marketing strategy—but it’s a powerful one. While having a solid brand strategy, messaging, and marketing foundation in place before web design will give you the best results, we know that not everyone starts there.
If you’re still working through Stage 1, that’s okay! We can help you build a website that sets you up for success, no matter where you are in the process. Just know that the more you have dialed in beforehand, the more value you’ll get out of your investment in web design—no matter who you work with or if you're building it yourself.
If you’re ready to turn your website into a true marketing asset, book a free discovery call with us today and let’s talk!
by:
Adriana Leos
Chief Creative Officer; vznayres
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