How To Make Your 2026 Website Win More Of The Right Clients

Want a website that quietly does the heavy lifting—qualifying visitors, building trust, and turning the right people into clients? We dig into the 2026 web trends that matter for design professionals and remodelers: practical customer experience improvements, content that speaks directly to an ideal client, and AI tools that uncover what you’re missing behind the scenes.

We start with the visitor journey and show how to spot friction by asking someone outside your business to navigate your site. You’ll get simple prompts to guide their feedback and translate it into clear fixes: sharper headlines, stronger proof near claims, and CTAs that meet visitors at the right moment. From there, we make personalization concrete with a tight client avatar that shapes your service pages, portfolio blurbs, and resource hubs. Instead of broad promises, you’ll learn to write specific, outcome-focused copy that mirrors the language your prospects actually use.

Then we put AI to work as a practical auditor. By combining your URL and your client avatar, you can get focused suggestions that touch SEO, messaging, imagery, and internal linking. We explain how to turn those insights into a smoother path from homepage to contact, and when to offer low-friction steps like a quick fit check or a project readiness guide. Along the way, we share a simple method for competitor research so you can fill local gaps with real differentiation—clear process visuals, case summaries with constraints and outcomes, and transparent next steps.

If you want a site that feels custom-fit to your best clients and easier to manage month to month, this conversation lays out a repeatable plan: test, refine, personalize, and measure. For deeper coaching, templates, and live feedback, join our Academy where we review member sites and map upgrades that move the needle. If this was helpful, follow the show, share it with a colleague, and leave a quick review so more designers can find it.

If you would like to get the links and show notes for this episode, click on the link below:​

• https://www.designerdiscussions.com/episodes/episode-153-Website-Trends-for-2026

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Designer Discussions is a partnership of three experts: Jason Lockhart, CEO of KABMS; Maria Martin, founder of DesignAppy; and Mirjam Lippuner, founder of Get Ink DIY

Episode Transcript

Mirjam Lippuner (00:00):
Hi everybody and welcome to Designer
Discussions.
Today, Jason is going to talkto us about website trends in
2026.

Maria Martin (00:11):
Welcome to the Designer Discussions Podcast
with Jason, Miriam, and Maria,where we talk about marketing,
PR, and business advice fordesign professionals.

Jason Lockhart (00:25):
All right.
Miriam, thanks for the intro.
This is a topic that I've beenasked about lately with all
that's happening in AI, whichand what's happening with the
trends for websites for nextyear.
And we've done a lot ofresearch on this.
There's a lot of trendshappening in terms of how to
build the website.
So I'm not going to talk somuch about that because I assume

(00:47):
a lot of our listeners mayalready have a website.
If you want to learn more abouthow building the website will
change in 2026, I can I cantackle that in a future episode.
But right now I'm going to talkabout more so what changes will
be happening or that are on thehorizon for if you already have
a website.
So I'm going to start with thecustomer experience.

(01:08):
So that that is huge now.
What happens when an end useror a prospect enters to your
site?
Are they finding exactly whatthey're looking for?
What is that experience like?
And what do you want theexperience to be like for your
client?
One of the things I wouldsuggest is if you've had a

(01:28):
website over a year and youhaven't had any redesigns, have
someone that does not know whatyou do go onto your website and
tell you what they think.
So this can be uh, this couldbe a spouse, this could be one
of your kids, this could be oneof your friends that at a high
level know what you do, but notreally.
And just ask them to go ontoyour website and tell them what

(01:51):
is the experience like.
Are they finding what they'rehoping to look for?
Do you understand exactly whatI do?
If you understand, is it easierfor you to reach out to me and
contact me?
So ask them all thesequestions.
And it's easier for somebodythat does not really know the
website because if you ask oneof your employees or anybody in

(02:13):
the business, they've seen yoursite over and over again.
Oftentimes they're used to it,so it's hard for them to judge
critically.
So that's why I said asksomebody that on the high level
know what you do, but notreally, and ask them to look at
your website to help you on thecustomer experience aspect
because this honestly can helpyou out.
You can also ask one of yourpast clients.

(02:35):
So one of one of the clientsyou've had that may be in
contact with still, reach out tothem to say, yes, we're, you
know, thinking about doing aredesign.
Can you look at our website andlet us know from your viewpoint
what do you think about how ourwebsite is now?
Is it answering what you'relooking for?
If you were looking for aremodel today, would our site

(02:58):
help you decide you want to workwith us?
And so that'll help to give yousome information that you may
need to change.
Okay.
So once you have that, sothat's one of the trends.
The next trend is actuallypersonalized content.
There's a lot of content outthere now, as you know with AI.
There's a lot of content outthere now.

(03:18):
So making sure the content ispersonalized for your ideal
client will be vital next year.
One of the easiest ways you cando this is the exercise we
always talk about.
If you've heard us on thispodcast, you know we always talk
about the client avatar.
Okay.
I'll have a link in the shownotes to the client avatar
workbook to help you iron outwho that client avatar is.

(03:40):
But once you know who that is,that helps you because now you
know exactly who you'retargeting.
You've probably heard me say ahundred times.
If you're trying to market toeveryone, you're actually
marketing to no one.
So knowing who your idealclient is helps you create
content that is actually foryour ideal client that is

(04:01):
personalized for them.
And so that's going to help youstand out over everybody else.
Exercise you can do here alongwith the client avatar.
Look at your competitors inyour area.
Look at all your competitors'websites, see the type of
content.
How are they writing to theirideal client?

(04:21):
Oftentimes you have the sameideal client.
So look at how they're usingtheir content.
So you could say, is that how Iwant to communicate or do I
want to be a little differentthan that?
Are there any gaps that they'renot talking about?
So research your competition inthe area that is offering the
same type of services to yourideal client as you are, and

(04:44):
also look at the client avatarworkbook so you can actually
personalize the content for yourideal client.
Okay.
And then the last one I'm gonnatalk about is the obvious one
is AI.
So AI has changed a lot.
I if you heard me talk earlier,I had talked about how it's
helping to change how you designa website.
But like I said, I'm nottalking about that.

(05:05):
But more so you can use AI nowto actually have your URL in
either chat, GPT, mid-journey,any of the AIs that you want to
use.
Have AI analyze your website,and it will spit out a report on
terms of the SEO, in terms ofcontent, in terms of the

(05:25):
imagery, all of this informationthat will help you optimize
your style.
What you can also do is youcould tell AI who your ideal
client is heading back to yourideal client avatar.
Let them know I do XYZ, I'm ABCremodeling in Chicago is our
ideal client is 50 to 60retirees, yada yada yada.

(05:47):
And here's my website.
How well does my websitecommunicate to my ideal client?
Let AI tell you what thatanswer is and it will hand you
some insights that can help youedit your site.
And so use AI for advantages itcan provide to you because it
could provide information thatif you remember when I had
talked about looking at theoverall client experience, I had

(06:11):
said if you use either somebodythat knows who you are high
level, you can use AI for thatsame thing, also.
But it will give you even moreinsight into what's happening
behind the scenes, like anythinglike I talked about with the
SEO, it can help you out there.
Anything with content, images,and how well is it communicating
to your ideal client if youcommunicate that to AI.

(06:34):
So those are just a few of thetrends that are happening in
2026 that you need to look outfor.
We and we talk about all ofthis in the academy.
So if you're interested, wetalk about all this information.
We have a month on websitedesign where I go over what are
the trends for the year and howyou need to optimize your site.

(06:55):
Any of the members, I look attheir website and I hand them
some uh suggestions on how theycan increase a conversion.
So that's just a hint.
If you have not thought aboutthe academy, you may want to
think about it now.
I'll also have that link in theshow notes.
So that's all I want to talkabout today.
And we hope to hear and see youin two weeks on Design
Discussions.

Mirjam Lippuner (07:16):
Your business is unique and your marketing
should be too.
Discover how to personalizeyour approach for SDO, PR, and
beyond to attract more of theclients you love to work with.
In our Academy membership withus Designer Discussions podcast
hosts as your personal coaches,we show you how to customize

(07:36):
your marketing.
With weekly live sessions andexclusive community, practical
resources, and expert guidance,we're here to simplify your
marketing and boost yourbusiness.
Sign up at DesignerDiscussions.com or follow the
link in the show notes.

Maria Martin (07:53):
We hope you've enjoyed this episode of Designer
Discussions and all of thehelpful information.
Subscribe to our podcast, leaveus a review, and share it with
your friends.
We look forward to having youback next week.
For more information on thepodcast and the marketing
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