When I decided to redesign Minimo’s website, I didn’t start with the design.
I started with my positioning.
It needed clarity so badly that I didn’t even know where I stood. I needed to define who Minimo was for, what I wanted to be known for, and how my work was different from other designers doing similar work.
Working through the brand strategy helped me see that strategy needs to come before any web design project.
Once you understand how your business fits in the market, the rest gets easier. You have something to guide the copy, the offers, and the decisions you make about the website itself.
That realization is why I’m going all in on brand strategy as the starting point for my web design process.
Keeping the copy simple
I spent a lot of time on the copy for the new site.
I wanted it to be simple. No technical jargon. No big promises. Just clear language about who I help, how I work, and what someone can expect.
That became one of my rules for the redesign: if the language made the work sound more complicated than it needed to be, simplify it.
Making the offers work together
Before the redesign, my offers were all over the place. They didn’t show someone a clear path through working with me.
Now they work more like a step ladder.
The Website Strategy Session helps a founder get clear about the business and what the website needs to do. That work can lead into the Web Design Build. Once the site is live, a Care Plan keeps it supported.
Each offer has its own purpose, but they also connect naturally. That structure came from getting clear on the business first, not from arranging service cards on a page.
Choosing a simpler website
The discovery process also made me realize that I wanted a simpler website.
For this redesign, that meant moving away from WordPress and building a static site instead. I also decided not to overengineer features. If something became too complicated or required extra steps without making the experience better, I cut it.
The point isn’t that every founder needs a static website. It’s that the choice should come from what the business and its customers actually need.
The website came after the clarity
Brand strategy helped me clarify my position, simplify my message, organize my offers, and make more intentional choices about the website.
The website is the visible part, but the most important work happened before I designed it.
If you’re thinking about redesigning your own website, ask yourself:
Where does my business stand today?
Where do I want it to go?
And what needs to become clearer before I build anything?
If you don’t have a clear answer yet, that may be the real place to start: with the strategy.
And when you’re ready to talk to someone about the build, here are 12 questions to ask a web design agency before you hire them.