What happens when a content team admits their own site isn’t working—and decides to start again, on purpose.
Let’s rebuild the website!
No one says that with joy. Come at it from the wrong perspective, and it can be the digital equivalent of replacing the boiler—necessary, unglamorous, costly to ignore—and somehow still harder than it should be for people who do this for a living.
Helpfully, we’ve been up to our elbows in other people’s website projects this year, and they’ve changed how we think about what a site should do—especially in B2B.
"Our site was fine when we built it, but we've learned other ways to express ourselves."
Our site was fine when we built it—a place to show what we do and somewhere to point people after a meeting. But nowadays we express ourselves far better through the stories, perspectives and how-to’s we’re constantly re-imagining and retelling.
The site hosts all that content—but it’s far more conversational and joyful to explore it through our zine, The Clec. Which means we have two experiences — two digital lineages — that really belong together. Our biggest ambition (among a few) is to shape them into something singular and fresh.
So that’s where we are.
What we’ve learned from rebuilding with others
With QRoutes, the challenge was helping local authorities who need to transform transport, but are stuck fast at ‘making do’. We helped redesign the site around real user journeys. That meant getting under the skin of how transport planners, consultants, and directors of service actually navigate information and make decisions. We worked on the product architecture and wrote the copy—shaping a story that works for very different audiences, all trying to solve variations of that same problem.
"Every project influenced how we think about what a website should do."
For ActionFunder (another SaaS platform) we faced a different challenge: bringing two communities together—funders and small charities—in a dance, not a transaction.
This time, the web experience wasn’t an individual’s journey to fresh ideas, direction, and confidence; more an exchange of compatible values, purpose, and outcomes—ultimately pairing money (impact investment, philanthropic grants) with grassroots momentum.
Our job was to refine the story so it speaks clearly to the businesses using the platform and the community projects it supports—creating copy that feels authentic, purposeful, and consistent across both sides.
Working on those projects reminded us that websites aren’t just digital brochures or funnels—they’re mirrors. They reflect how clearly a business understands itself and its audiences.
And looking at our own reflection… well, let’s just say it was time for a rethink.
Cohesive’s challenge
Our website doesn’t need to guide a horde of ‘ICPs’ through complex decision funnels. It just needs to help the right people recognise themselves in the stories and signals we put into the world. The kind of client who reads a few lines and thinks: “Yes—that’s exactly what’s been bugging me. That’s what I need.”
"It's not about guiding everyone—just helping the right people recognise themselves."
But that’s not what our current site does. It explains—competently—what we do, but it doesn’t connect. And it obscures how it feels to work with us, or what actually changes for our clients when we do.
So we’re rebuilding it. From the outside in.
And we’re not doing it alone. We asked Sonja Nisson to help us hone the new story and keep us honest about what really matters; Marco Frezza to think through the UX and design; and Andy Webb to bring it all to life in build. Having that outside-in perspective is essential—it’s hard to see your own story clearly when you’re standing in the middle of it.
What we’re experimenting with
We’re using this rebuild as a bit of a test bed—for ourselves and for our clients. Here’s what we’re trying:
Less selling, more seeing | We’re focusing on what it’s like to work with us—the human experience and outcomes—rather than listing services.
Fewer pages, more purpose | Every section has to earn its place. If it doesn’t add clarity or connection, it goes.
Optimising for AI search | We’re treating this rebuild as an experiment: how do you structure meaning so a large language model can understand it and quote it clearly — while a human reads the same words and finds real connection, not only information?
Plain language over polish | We’re avoiding buzzwords and replacing them with clarity and rhythm. (It’s surprisingly hard to do when you’re your own client.)
Design that feels like conversation | We hinted at this above—and we’re not sure how it will go. But definitely space to think, read, nod—not skim and click away.
The emotional bit
Rebuilding a website is oddly revealing. You discover what you’ve stopped saying, what you’ve started believing, and what you still can’t quite articulate. It forces you to decide: what are we really trying to do here? Who are we doing it for?
And for us, the answer isn’t “everyone who needs content.” It’s people who care about getting their story right—who want to be seen, understood, and remembered.
If our site can make those people feel that in the first few glances, it’s doing its job.
What happens next
We’ll share what we learn along the way—the triumphs, the false starts, the things we rethink halfway through. Because if we’ve learned anything from building websites (our own included), it’s that a site is never really done. It just keeps getting truer.
What do you think?