26 Lessons From Building 700+ Websites

Everything We Wish We Knew Earlier

After more than 700 websites across every industry, budget, and business model, we have collected lessons that no course teaches and no book covers — because they come from doing the work, making the mistakes, and eventually figuring out what actually moves the needle.

Here are 26 of the most important ones.

On Design

1. White space is not wasted space. It is the most powerful design tool you have.
2. Most websites need fewer pages, not more. Clarity beats comprehensiveness every time.
3. Your hero section has one job: tell the visitor what you do and why they should care, in under 5 seconds.
4. Colour is overrated. Spacing, typography, and hierarchy matter more.
5. Consistency compounds. Every element that matches every other element makes the whole feel more professional.
6. Dark backgrounds work on hero sections. They rarely work on long-form content.
7. Animations should have a reason. If you cannot explain why an element animates, remove the animation.

On Conversion

8. Your CTA copy matters more than your CTA colour. "Get a Free Audit" beats "Submit" regardless of the button shade.
9. Social proof goes near the call to action. Not buried at the bottom where nobody reads it.
10. Fewer form fields, higher conversion. We have seen 40% more submissions by removing two fields.
11. Most pricing pages are too complicated. Three tiers. Clear features. One recommended option.
12. Speed is a conversion factor. Every extra second of load time costs roughly 7% in conversions.
13. The "above the fold" obsession is mostly wrong. Users scroll. What matters is that they want to.

On Strategy

14. SEO and design are the same project. Separating them creates problems for both.
15. The client who "just wants something simple" usually needs the opposite. Simplicity is complex to execute.
16. Your website is never finished. It is a living asset that should evolve with your business.
17. Good copy does more for conversion than good design. Great sites have both.
18. Mobile traffic is primary traffic. Test on real phones, not just browser dev tools.
19. Analytics without action is just data. Review, hypothesise, test, repeat.

On Client Work

20. Brief quality predicts outcome quality. The better you understand the goal, the better the result.
21. Revisions without direction are expensive for everyone. "I'll know it when I see it" is not a brief.
22. The stakeholder who approves last should be in the room first. Involve decision-makers early.
23. Launch is the beginning, not the end. The real work starts when real users start using it.
24. A great website is a conversation with your customer. It should answer their questions, not yours.
25. Clients who care about their brand get better results. Investment in quality pays compound returns.
26. After 700+ sites, the brief still matters most. We have never built a great site without a clear goal.

What It All Adds Up To

A decade of building websites teaches you one thing above everything else: the websites that succeed are the ones where someone cared enough to do it properly. Not expensively — properly. With intention, craft, and an honest answer to the question: what is this website actually for?

If you are ready to build something properly, we are ready to help.