This post is a before and after website design breakdown of my own homepage. The decisions I made here are the same ones I walk clients through constantly. Seeing the specific changes and the reasoning behind them tends to clarify what strategic website design actually means in practice.
The original version was functional and it had served me well through multiple client projects and business phases. But functional and effective are not the same thing, and when I looked at the page through the lens of what I now know about how B2B visitors evaluate expertise in the first few seconds, I could see the gaps clearly.
Hi I’m Amy, I design brands and websites for B2B consultants and service providers who need their online presence to reflect the level of work they actually deliver.
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What prompted this homepage overhaul after years of it working just fine
The answer is that my homepage stopped matching what I actually do in my business.
When I originally designed it, I was positioning myself broadly and trying to appeal to a wider range of potential clients. The page reflected that approach and it worked well enough to bring in projects and keep things moving forward.
But over the past few years my work has become much more focused on B2B consultants and service providers, and the messaging and visual hierarchy of that original page no longer aligned with what I now understand about how these clients evaluate expertise.
This is something I see constantly with my own clients. A website can function perfectly well in terms of loading speed and basic usability, but if the strategic positioning has shifted then the page is working against you.
Visitors form impressions within seconds, and if your homepage communicates a version of your business that no longer exists, you end up attracting the wrong enquiries or losing the right ones before they even scroll.
The homepage was not broken in any obvious way, but it was underperforming in ways that only become visible when you understand how B2B visitors make decisions about credibility and expertise.
Hero section fixes that move beyond cosmetic updates and prioritise messaging and visual hierarchy
When I looked at my original hero section, the problem was that the messaging and visual hierarchy were not doing the work they needed to do for B2B visitors who land on a page with a specific question in mind: is this person credible enough for me to keep reading?
The original version led with a headline that was broad and benefit-focused in a generic way.
It worked as a statement, but it did not immediately signal who I work with or what kind of expertise I bring to the table.
For B2B consultants evaluating whether to stay on a page, that kind of vagueness creates hesitation rather than confidence.
The fixes I made addressed three specific areas:
- Headline clarity that names the audience and the outcome in concrete terms rather than abstract benefits
- Subheadline positioning that reinforces credibility through specificity rather than enthusiasm
- Visual hierarchy that directs attention to the most important message first rather than competing elements
The updated hero section now leads with positioning that signals expertise in B2B branding and web design within the first few words.
The subheadline adds context without diluting the message, and the visual layout draws the eye to the headline before anything else on the page. These are not dramatic visual changes, but they change how the section functions for the specific type of visitor I want to engage.
Why I pulled testimonials out of sliders and now use one sentence to make an impact
Testimonial sliders are one of those design features that feel like a good idea until you observe how visitors actually interact with them.
On my original homepage, I had multiple testimonials rotating through a slider because it seemed like a reasonable way to show social proof without taking up too much space.
But when I started paying closer attention to how B2B visitors engage with pages, I noticed a consistent pattern that changed my approach entirely.
Most visitors never wait for a slider to rotate. They land on a page, scan the visible content, and either scroll or leave.
If a testimonial is buried behind a navigation arrow or waiting for an automatic transition, it may aswell not exist for the majority of people who visit the page.
This means all that the testimonials I had gathered were being hidden behind a mechanism that reduced impact.
The fix was simple but counterintuitive: I removed the slider and chose to focus on one or two sentences per testimonial.
The criteria I used for selection came from patterns I have seen across client projects:
- Specificity about the outcome or transformation rather than general praise
- Language that mirrors how my ideal clients describe their own challenges
- A sentence that can stand alone without requiring context from the rest of the testimonial
One strong testimonial placed prominently and styled with enough visual weight to catch attention outperforms five testimonials hidden inside a slider that visitors never click through.
The goal is not to prove you have many happy clients but to give visitors a reason to believe you can deliver results for someone like them.
This change also freed up visual real estate on the page, which allowed other elements to breathe and the hierarchy to function more clearly. When you stop trying to show everything at once, each element you do include carries more weight.
As for visitors who are interested in more in-depth testimonials, the project page and corresponding Zoom interviews with my clients are linked in each testimonial section.
It’s important that visitors can read the testimonial easily but also that there is something to back-up the results that is highlighted in the text. The Zoom interviews I have done with many of my clients do that perfectly.
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Footer redesign as a final impression that reinforces credibility and keeps visitors engaged
The footer is one of the most overlooked sections on any website, and my original version was a clear example of treating it as an afterthought rather than an opportunity.
Most footers I see on B2B websites function purely as a dumping ground for links that did not fit anywhere else, contact details, and maybe a logo.
The assumption seems to be that by the time someone reaches the footer they have already made a decision about whether to engage, so the section does not need to work hard. But this assumption ignores how B2B visitors actually use websites when evaluating whether to reach out.
Visitors who scroll all the way to the bottom of a homepage are often the most engaged segment of your traffic. They have consumed everything above and are now looking for either confirmation that they should take action or a clear next step. If the footer feels empty or disorganised, it creates a subtle impression that the business itself might be the same way.
The changes I made to my footer addressed three specific functions:
- Reinforcing credibility through a brief positioning statement that reminds visitors who I work with and what I help them achieve
- Providing clear navigation to high-value pages rather than every page on the site
- Including a final call to action that gives engaged visitors an obvious next step without requiring them to scroll back up
The updated footer now feels like a deliberate conclusion to the page rather than the place where the design simply stopped. It carries the same level of strategic thinking as the hero section because both serve as impression-forming moments, just at different points in the visitor journey.
The cumulative effect of these changes on how B2B visitors perceive expertise and value
Each of the changes I made to my homepage would have improved the page on its own, but the real shift happened when they started working together.
This is something I explain to clients regularly: individual fixes address individual problems, but strategic website design is about how every element on the page contributes to a single impression.
When the hero section, testimonial placement and footer all communicate the same level of professionalism and clarity, visitors stop evaluating whether you are credible and start evaluating whether you are the right fit for their specific situation.
The cumulative effect shows up in ways that are difficult to measure directly but easy to observe over time:
- Enquiries that reference specific details from the homepage rather than generic questions about services
- Visitors who arrive on discovery calls already confident about working together rather than needing to be convinced
- A reduction in misaligned leads who were never the right fit but stayed on the page long enough to reach out anyway
When a homepage sends mixed signals through disorganised hierarchy, buried social proof or a footer that trails off without purpose, visitors piece together an impression from the inconsistencies rather than from your intended positioning. They may not be able to articulate what felt off, but the hesitation shows up in whether they take action or quietly leave.
The version of my homepage that existed before was not failing in obvious ways, and that made it easy to justify leaving it alone. But once I addressed the strategic gaps across these three sections, the page started functioning at a level that matched where my business actually is rather than where it was several years ago.
This is the difference between a homepage that works and one that actively builds trust with the specific type of client you want to attract.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to redesign my entire website to see a difference, or can I just update a few sections?
You do not need to overhaul everything at once to see meaningful improvement. Focusing on high-impact areas like your hero section, testimonial placement and footer can shift how visitors perceive your credibility without requiring a full rebuild.
The key is ensuring the sections you do update are working together strategically rather than sending mixed signals about your expertise and positioning.
What if my homepage changes feel too subtle for clients to actually notice?
The goal is not for visitors to consciously notice what changed but for them to form a stronger impression of your expertise without realising why. Strategic updates to messaging, hierarchy and layout work below the surface by reducing hesitation and building confidence in ways that feel intuitive rather than obvious.
The change often shows up in the quality of enquiries you receive and how prepared prospects feel before a discovery call, rather than in direct compliments about your design.
How do I know if my homepage issues are worth fixing now or if I should wait until I have more clarity on my positioning?
If you already know your current homepage no longer reflects where your business is or who you want to attract, that clarity is usually enough to move forward.
Waiting for perfect positioning often delays progress unnecessarily because the process of improving your homepage tends to sharpen your messaging rather than requiring it to be fully formed beforehand.
Starting with the areas that feel most misaligned, like your hero section or testimonial placement, often reveals what needs to shift in other areas as well.
Where to go from here
If your homepage has been functional but you know it’s underperforming, you now have a clearer picture of what improvements actually look like and why they matter for B2B visitors who evaluate credibility in seconds.
The changes I walked through in this post are the same ones I work through with clients who know their website no longer reflects where their business is. Sometimes the gap is obvious and sometimes it only becomes visible when you start asking better questions about what each section of your homepage is actually doing.
If you want to understand more about how branding creates that immediate sense of credibility and expertise, The Wow-Factor Masterclass covers exactly that. It will give you a foundation for evaluating your own online presence with fresh eyes.
For those who are ready to work through a full brand and website project with strategic support, booking a call is the next step. We can talk through where your business is now, what your current website is communicating and whether The Catalyst Experience is the right fit for getting your online presence to match the level of work you actually deliver.
