Why every brand needs a plan before a single pixel is placed

I’ve often noticed that when people start thinking about a new website, they have a tendency to jump straight to the fun stuff. It’s completely understandable. We all want to see the colours, the fonts, and the images that make a brand feel real. But starting there is a bit like picking out a party playlist before you’ve actually found a house to host it in.

Don’t get me wrong, I love this part of the process but, before we even touch the canvas, we need a plan. And that plan starts with the words.

The key is nailing the copy first before moving to design. I believe that the copy is the engine of your website, and that copy is decided entirely by the brand identity. If we don't nail the message first, the most beautiful design in the world will still feel hollow.

Digging for the essence

My background in marketing and teaching has taught me that my first job isn't to be a designer, but to be an investigator.

If you already have an established brand, my role is to hone it. We dig around to find the essence of what you do; the parts that might have been buried under years of updates or temporary fixes. If there is no brand yet, we work together to define it from the ground up.

Part of this digging involves uncovering exactly how you want a visitor to your site to feel the moment they land. Should they feel a spark of excitement? A sense of total relief? Or perhaps just a deep, quiet sense of trust that they are finally in the right place? Understanding that emotional reaction is vital, because it dictates the tone of every headline and the flow of every page.

Copy before design

Design should serve the message, not the other way around.

If we try to fit your story into a pre-made design, it will always feel slightly off. It’s why I insist on nailing the copy first. We find the narrative, we refine the headlines and we make sure the pathway for your visitor is clear. Once the words are doing their job, the design becomes easy. It becomes a visual reinforcement of a story we’ve already told.

By the time we actually start looking at the aesthetics, the hard work is already done. We aren't just making it look pretty; we are finishing a structure that was built with absolute intention.

If you like the sound of this process and think it could help your business, why not Call in the Cavalry?