You're not just building a website. You're crafting an experience, a message, a digital representation of your business that has ripple effects well beyond a few clicks. For local businesses, a website isn't optional anymore—it’s foundational. But over the years in my work with clients from all over right here in Franklin, TN and beyond, I've seen how often business owners treat it like another task to check off, rather than one of the most powerful tools they have for growth.
This post isn't about convincing you to invest in a "really pretty website." It's about helping you understand why your website isn’t working how you think it should, why even beautiful templates fall flat, and what it actually takes to build a site that supports your goals, particularly if you're a local business trying to grow with a mix of online and offline touchpoints.
So whether you’re on Webflow, WordPress, Wix, or Squarespace, or you're wondering which tool to use, we’re going to unpack what matters most—not just from a technical standpoint, but from a psychological and brand-consistency standpoint, too. Because great design on its own doesn’t solve problems. But great strategy paired with real design thinking? That does.
It’s one of the most common frustrations I hear from business owners: "I have a nice website. It looks professional. But I’m not getting much from it." If that feels familiar, you’re definitely not alone.
A sleek homepage, some fresh icons, and a few text animations look sharp on the surface. But smart design starts with empathy. I’ve worked with clients who paid thousands for a template-based website that technically looked clean but had zero clarity about the actual services offered. Their bounce rates were sky high because users didn't get a clear sense within the first 3–5 seconds what value was on offer.
This is where strategy kicks in. Copywriting, positioning, calls to action, and even image selection contribute massively to user retention and eventually to conversion. That’s not something a template can solve for you by default.
I once worked with a local therapist in Brentwood, TN who came to me after hiring a designer for a gorgeous Squarespace site. The issue? It didn’t speak to her specific niche. We restructured the layout, adjusted the copy to focus on the emotional journey of her ideal client, and changed a few CTA placements. Within three months, her booking rate nearly doubled.
It's not just what your website looks like. It's how well it understands and mirrors the mind of your customer.
Think of a website template like a house flip. Imagine walking into a renovated property in East Nashville that was clearly redone with care but isn't zoned correctly, has a bad flow between rooms, and was designed for a bachelor pad even though you're a family of five. That’s what trying to customize a website template without strategic thinking feels like.
Webflow, WordPress, Wix, and Squarespace all offer great starter templates, but customization is everything. It's not just changing fonts and colors. It's reshaping layout hierarchies, dialing in typography scale for your brand tone, refining mobile responsiveness, integrating with marketing tools, and building psychological flow around user behavior. Working with a designer who understands those nuances is what elevates a site from presentable to profitable.
Your messaging is often the make-or-break component of your website. It’s not just what you say—but how quickly people can process it.
Most businesses jump straight into features. But what your audience really wants is clarity about how you help them feel better, save time, or solve a specific pain. One of the most useful frameworks is Donald Miller’s StoryBrand method, which encourages you to position your customer as the hero and yourself as the guide. I regularly use this structure, but adapt it to fit my clients’ personalities and branding more authentically.
Take a local landscaping company I worked with not long ago. Their original website led with “25 years of experience serving Franklin and surrounding areas.” That’s nice for social proof, but we rephrased the main headline to: “Take Back Your Weekends. We Handle the Yardwork.” That one change increased engagement and led them to double their call volume from organic traffic.
It’s not about dumbing down your services. It’s about emotional simplicity.
Words carry weight, but visuals control perception. A site for a law firm in Nashville used stock photos of handshakes, gavels, and courtrooms—you know the clichés. Instead, we replaced those with authentic photos of the attorneys in the community, volunteering, or in candid but professional office settings. The shift led to better engagement time onsite and more contact form submissions. Realness resonates more than polish.
So ask yourself: Does your brand visually reflect the tone, promise, and personality of your service? Are you showing up as yourself, or a stock photo version of what you think professionalism looks like?
Local SEO isn’t just something tacked on in the meta tags at the end. When done right, it’s baked into every layer of your site architecture and content strategy.
Google needs clear signals. One of my clients, a Franklin-based chiropractor, initially had their town name mentioned once on their entire site. We added structured location references in header tags, alt text, titles, and strategically throughout genuine copy on each page. We also created separate location pages for nearby communities like Cool Springs and Leipers Fork. Within six months, they were ranking top three for multiple relevant search terms in the region.
Other foundational improvements included:
Don’t underestimate how much these fundamentals matter. Every site I build or optimize includes these basics, because they are step zero in visibility.
Search engines reward usefulness. But usefulness goes deeper than just answering “what is Webflow.” It often comes down to anticipating the concerns your ideal client has before they ask.
One e-commerce client I worked with wasn’t showing up for any search terms related to their products. We did keyword research and built a series of blog posts and product pages optimized around more specific, long-tail search phrases like “vegan leather planners in Tennessee.” Within a few months, they saw a 3x increase in organic traffic, most of it from those hyper-specific searches. That kind of relevance converts better, too.
Create content around:
If it’s helpful in a conversation, chances are it’s useful on Google.
I work across Webflow, WordPress, Squarespace, and Wix. And I’ll be real with you: each has its place, depending on what your goals are. But too often, clients choose based on hype or hearsay instead of alignment with their vision.
For businesses who want control over layout, cleaner code, SEO readiness, and a truly custom feel, Webflow is my go-to. Content collections and CMS features allow for complex content types and scalability. But it’s not great for people who want to tinker with things daily—there's a steeper learning curve.
A Franklin-based interior design group I worked with moved from Squarespace to Webflow to better showcase their portfolio. We created CMS-driven case studies pages and sorted them by project type, color palette, and location. They finally had a site that grew with their content, and within one year their traffic was up 400%.
If you plan to house a massive library of blog content or need integrations with advanced tools, WordPress brings powerful plugins and flexibility. But you have to watch for plugin bloat and inconsistent theme development. It’s not for the faint of heart without guidance.
One coaching client I helped had a WordPress site with 37 active plugins that slowed it down to a crawl. We streamlined it to 9 essential plugins (hello, Yoast, WP Rocket, etc.), switched from Elementor to native blocks, and reworked the homepage flow. It’s now slick, loads in under 2 seconds, and finally converts traffic into leads.
Squarespace and Wix shine when you’re early in your journey or want something up fast with minimal fuss. That's okay. But they hit their ceiling fast, especially when you need strong SEO performance or platform flexibility.
That said, I’ve helped a fitness coach build a six-figure business on Squarespace. We didn’t fight the limits—we worked within them. We leaned on great content, simple structure, and real connection in the design. The platform isn’t what makes or breaks success. It’s clarity of message, consistency of use, and alignment with your brand goals.
UX (user experience) isn't just about nice buttons and spacing. It’s about intuitive flow and cognitive relief. One thing I encourage clients to do is sit with a friend or relative not in their industry and ask them to navigate the site. Where do they hesitate, overthink, or miss the point?
On a recent redesign for a local events venue, we restructured the homepage to build a guided scroll: a bold headline, a problem-agitation statement, key photos, testimonials, and then a booking button. Each scroll felt intentional. It wasn’t overload. It gave breathing room, emotional pacing, and direction.
This kind of UX thinking turns a website into a conversation, not a brochure. Your users shouldn’t have to figure it out. It’s your job to lead them, and the design should reflect that.
I often tell clients: you don’t get to choose who visits your site. So color contrast, font size, alt tags, and proper navigation aren’t about compliance. They’re about inclusivity. Tools like WAVE can audit for accessibility issues, and small fixes can open your business up to wider audiences.
Your site isn’t supposed to be a formula. It’s supposed to feel like you. That’s why I ask questions that go beyond branding, like “How do you want people to feel when they first land on your site?”
A wedding photographer I worked with in Tennessee hated her original site because it felt “corporate.” We rebuilt it in Webflow using hand-drawn illustrations, custom galleries, and warm-toned photography she shot herself. The vibe shift was massive. Not only did it feel more like her, but inquiries specifically referenced how the site made them feel comfortable before the first meeting.
Don’t underestimate emotional alignment. It builds trust before you speak a word.
Here’s the truth I keep coming back to after years of working with small businesses, creatives, solo entrepreneurs, and local teams: your website shouldn’t be a static thing. It should evolve, reflect your growth, and support your future ambitions.
The platform matters, but not as much as alignment between brand, user intent, and strategy. Templates are useful, but you can’t stop there. Copy isn’t just SEO filler—it’s messaging architecture. Local SEO starts with site structure, but bleeds into every word and photo. And design isn't the goal. It's the wrapper your strategy rides in on.
This stuff takes thoughtfulness. It takes empathy. And yeah, a little therapy, too. But when you slow down, when you build with intention, your site becomes more than a portfolio piece. It becomes an ally in your business growth.
I hope this post gave you new ways to look at your site, your business, and your role in building something worth sharing. Because when you're clear on who you're helping and how you want to show up, the website becomes the easiest part.
Copyright © Zach Sean Web Design
