Table of Contents
Your website is having a conversation with every visitor before you ever get the chance to say hello.
Within seconds of landing on your site, people are picking up signals. They’re forming impressions. They’re deciding if this place is for them, if you’re trustworthy, if they feel welcome here.
The question isn’t whether your website creates feelings.
It’s whether it’s creating the RIGHT feelings.
The Feelings People Are Searching For (And the Ones They're Actually Getting)
When people talk about wanting a “good website”, what they’re really after are specific feelings.
They want visitors to feel welcome. To feel like they’re in the right place. To feel trust. To feel confident enough to take the next step.
But here’s what actually happens: websites accidentally create completely different feelings.
A site might feel overwhelming because there’s too much happening at once. Or cold and corporate when the business owner is actually warm and approachable. Or confusing because the navigation doesn’t make sense. Or outdated because nothing’s been touched in two years.
None of this is intentional. It just happens when we focus on ticking boxes (got a homepage, got an about page, got a services page) instead of thinking about the experience we’re creating.
Your Website Isn't Neutral
I once worked with someone whose website felt boring, dull, and old-fashioned. The colours were dark grey and burgundy. The logo was an old-fashioned ampersand. Everything about it said “thinks inside boxes.”
But when you talked to her? She was vibrant. Bright colours every time we met. Talked with energy and warmth. Her whole approach to her work was about being both spiritual and practical, grounded yet creative.
The disconnect was massive. Her website was telling a completely different story than who she actually was.
Once we changed the branding to bright, uplifting colours and brought in natural elements, everything shifted. Suddenly the website matched the person. It felt inviting instead of dull. Open instead of boxed in.
The work she did hadn’t changed. Her expertise hadn’t changed. But now her website was telling the truth about who she was.
The Gap Between What You Think and What They Experience
Most of us assume our website is saying what we intended it to say.
We think: “I’ve explained what I do clearly.” → They experience: “I’m not sure if this is for me.”
We think: “This looks professional.” → They experience: “This feels cold and impersonal.”
We think: “I’ve covered everything people need to know.” → They experience: “I can’t find what I’m looking for.”
We think: “This still looks fine.” → They experience: “This feels outdated.”
This gap exists because we’re too close to our own websites. We know what we meant. We know what we were trying to communicate. We fill in all the blanks automatically.
But visitors don’t have that context. They only have what’s in front of them, and they’re making split-second judgements based on how it feels.
Why "Looking Professional" Isn't the Goal
When people hire someone to help with their website, they often say they want it to “look professional.”
But here’s the thing: professional to who?
A website can look very polished and corporate and professional, and completely misses the mark if you’re trying to attract people who want someone warm, creative, and approachable.
The goal isn’t to look professional. The goal is to feel like the right fit for the people you want to work with.
Sometimes that means clean and minimal. Sometimes it means colourful and energetic. Sometimes it means calm and spacious. Sometimes it means packed with personality.
There’s no universal “professional” that works for everyone. There’s only: does this feel like me, and does it feel right to the people I’m trying to reach?
So if “professional” isn’t what we’re aiming for, what actually creates those right feelings?
What Actually Creates These Feelings?
It’s not just one thing. It’s everything working together (or not working together).
The visual elements set a tone before anyone reads a word. Colours create mood. Images either feel like you or feel like stock photos everyone else is using. Spacing gives people room to breathe, or it overwhelms them.
The words tell people if you’re speaking their language or using jargon they don’t understand. If you sound like yourself or like you’re trying to be someone you’re not. If you’re talking about what matters to them or what matters to you.
The flow and structure either guide people naturally through your site or leave them clicking around trying to figure out where to go next. When it works well, people don’t notice it. When it doesn’t, they get frustrated and leave.
The technical bits matter more than you’d think. A button that doesn’t work, a form that never sends, a page that loads slowly on mobile, these all create feelings of friction and frustration.
All of this is happening simultaneously. And it’s all communicating something about you, your work, and whether this is the right place for them.
What You Don't Say Also Communicates
Sometimes the problem isn’t what’s on your website. It’s what isn’t there.
You might say you work with “entrepreneurs” without clarifying if that means established businesses or people just starting out. Or “small businesses” without specifying if you mean solo practitioners or teams of 20. Or you might mention your rates are “accessible” without giving any indication of what that actually means.
The silence leaves people guessing. And when people have to guess whether they fit, they often assume they don’t.
Here’s a real example: a friend of mine was looking into working with someone who specifically mentioned “working with women.” It sounded like exactly what they were looking for. But as they looked through the website, they started wondering: does this include trans women? What about non-binary people? The website didn’t say.
The person running this business probably thought “I help women” was clear and complete. They might have absolutely intended to be inclusive. But by not specifying, they left people wondering whether they were welcome.
That uncertainty creates a feeling. And that feeling might be exactly the opposite of what you intended.
Silence doesn’t feel neutral. It feels unclear. And unclear often feels like “maybe not for me.”
This isn’t about needing to explain everything in exhaustive detail. It’s about thinking through: what assumptions might people make if I don’t specify this? What questions might they have that I haven’t answered? Where might they be looking for reassurance that this is for them?
On my own website, I have a section about what’s important to me, including that I respect everyone regardless of background, identity, or how they show up in the world. That’s there deliberately. Not because I assumed people would doubt it, but because I wanted to remove any uncertainty about whether someone would be welcome working with me.
Would you like to have a Website Vibes Checklist?
Sign up to my newsletter and GET IT NOW!
By subscribing to my newsletter, you agree to my Privacy Policy.
When Your Business Changes But Your Website Doesn't
Here’s something I see all the time: someone’s business has evolved, but their website is still stuck in an old version of themselves..
Maybe you’ve shifted your offers. Or you’ve found your real voice and it sounds nothing like what’s on your site. Or your energy has changed and the website still reflects the version of you who was trying to look more “professional” and serious.
Your website becomes a time capsule. And every time someone lands there, they’re meeting a version of you that doesn’t exist anymore.
This creates a weird disconnect. You’re out there having conversations, doing great work, showing up as your current self. But your website is still introducing people to past you.
It’s not that the website is “bad.” It’s just telling the wrong story.
The Websites That Feel Wrong (Even When They Look Fine)
Sometimes a website looks perfectly fine on the surface. It’s not ugly. It’s not broken. But something feels off.
Maybe it feels cluttered even though it’s technically organised. Or it feels like it’s trying too hard. Or it feels generic when you’re anything but generic. Or it feels complicated when you want to feel approachable.
These are the hardest ones to fix because you can’t point to a specific thing that’s wrong. It’s more about the overall vibe being misaligned with who you are or who you’re trying to reach.
People often know something’s not right; they just can’t articulate what it is. They’ll say things like “I don’t love sending people to my website” or “it just doesn’t feel like me anymore” or “I keep meaning to update it but I don’t know where to start.”
That feeling of “something’s off” is worth paying attention to. It usually means there’s a gap between the feeling you want to create and the feeling that’s actually happening.Â
What to Do About It
If you’re reading this and thinking “oh no, my website might be creating the wrong feelings”, don’t panic.
The good news is that once you’re aware of the gap, you can start to close it.
Sometimes it’s small fixes that make a big difference. Updating some outdated language. Removing offers you don’t do anymore. Adjusting colours to feel more like you. Simplifying the navigation so people can actually find things.
Sometimes it’s bigger work. A full refresh of the design. Rewriting everything to sound like your current self. Restructuring the whole thing because your business has changed.
The first step is just noticing. Taking a fresh look at your site and asking: what is this actually communicating? What feelings is it creating? Is this the conversation I want to be having with people before they ever talk to me?
And once you’ve updated your website, you might want to measure how the changes affect your engagement and conversion rates.Â
Check What Your Website Is Actually Saying
Your website is already creating feelings. The question is whether they’re the feelings you want.
If you’re curious what your site is actually communicating (and where there might be gaps between your intention and visitors’ experience), I’ve put together a simple checklist to help you look at your website with fresh eyes.
Would you like to check what your website is actually saying?
Sign up to my newsletter and GET THE WEBSITE VIBES CHECKLIST NOW!
By subscribing to my newsletter, you agree to my Privacy Policy.
It covers the stuff that’s easy to miss when you’re too close to your own site: whether it still sounds like you, whether your offers are up to date, whether people can actually find what they need, and whether anything’s quietly broken.
You might be surprised by what you notice.
If you still feel a bit lost, don’t worry! I’ve got you. Sometimes we just need an extra set of eyes or to pick somebody else’s brain for a change.
Book a Pick My Brain session and let’s find a solution together.
