You’re reviewing your website. Or maybe you’re comparing it with a competitor’s. It looks... fine. But something feels off. You’re not sure if it’s the colours, the layout, or just that intangible sense that your site isn’t quite doing the job.
Now imagine someone landing on your site for the first time. They’re a potential customer, but they don’t know your brand. The way your site looks is their first impression, and in those first few seconds, they’re deciding whether to stay or leave.
This is where the idea of "good design" gets tricky. Because what feels premium and trustworthy in one industry can look completely wrong in another. And getting that wrong can quietly cost you sales, trust, and opportunities.
Why this matters in business terms
- Sales and conversion: A mismatch between your design and your industry can confuse or turn off customers, even if your product is great.
- Brand perception: Your design sets expectations. If you look high-end, people assume your product or service is too. If it feels outdated or messy, they’ll make assumptions, and not good ones.
- Standing out (in the right way): Being "different" works when it’s intentional. Being off-brand or off-cue just feels odd.
- Efficiency and ROI: Clear design decisions based on your industry mean fewer redesigns, better performance, and a website that actually supports your business goals.
Key Tip: Customers often trust design cues that feel familiar. Trying too hard to stand out with a totally unique look can backfire if it makes you feel less credible or harder to trust.
What Changes By Industry
Let’s break down what varies between industries and what doesn’t.
1. Visual expectations shift with context
A high-end jewellery brand should feel totally different to a logistics SaaS company. Here’s how expectations vary:
- Luxury, fashion, and lifestyle brands usually lean on clean design, high-end photography, muted colour palettes, and a lot of space. The experience is meant to feel elevated and uncluttered.
- Tech or SaaS companies often focus on sharp typography, smart iconography, clear CTAs, and functional layouts. It’s about clarity and confidence.
- Industrial, manufacturing, or B2B suppliers need substance. Specs, credentials, real product shots, proof of scale. The design should feel solid, grounded, and trustworthy.
- Ecommerce stores need clear product shots, smooth shopping experience, visible prices, and trust badges like reviews and delivery info.
- Professional services like law or finance do best with conservative palettes, clean lines, and trust-focused content. No gimmicks. No chaos.
Designing a SaaS homepage like a perfume brand won’t feel right. And making your handmade homeware store look like an enterprise dashboard is a miss too. Context is everything.
2. Your brand personality still matters, within reason
It’s not about copying your competitors. It’s about understanding the expectations and then building in your brand personality.
If you’re a cheeky challenger brand in finance, great. Just wrap that in a clean, structured layout so people still trust you with their money.
If you’re a local maker selling ceramics, warmth and imperfection might work beautifully. But it still needs to look intentional, not messy.
What’s Universal: Design Cues That Always Work
Some parts of good design don’t change, no matter what industry you’re in.
1. Quality imagery
Blurry photos, stretched stock images, or poor lighting all make a site feel amateur. Real photography, or at least well-chosen stock, instantly boosts trust.
2. Clear typography
People don’t read what they can’t see. Use clean fonts, proper sizes, and spacing that’s easy on the eyes. This matters even more on mobile.
3. Cohesive colour and layout
Your palette doesn’t need to be trendy. It just needs to feel thought-through and consistent. Pick a few colours that work together. Don’t overload the eye.
4. Performance
Speed and responsiveness matter to everyone. If your site is slow or broken on mobile, users leave fast.
5. Consistency
Style your buttons, headings, spacing, and content blocks the same across the site. When things look and behave consistently, users feel more in control.
Real-world examples
A tech startup vs a luxury skincare brand
A SaaS company in NZ was trying to be "creative" with bright gradients and playful fonts. But it made their product feel more like a hobby project than an enterprise tool. When they switched to a more restrained design, with crisp fonts, focused content, and clean lines, their conversion rate improved.
Meanwhile, a skincare brand had an overly technical design with too much text and bland visuals. Their audience wanted a lifestyle feel. Once they leaned into mood-led photography and pared back the copy, customers responded better.
A local homeware store vs a national law firm
A boutique ceramics studio leaned into warmth. Soft colours, hand-shot photography, and a loose layout worked well. But when a law firm tried a similar style, it clashed. Clients need their lawyers to feel steady and confident. The law firm’s redesign moved toward clean lines, solid colours, and strong typography. Trust improved.
How to Align Your Website With Your Industry
Here’s how to make sure your site feels right for your business and your market.
1. Review your competitors, but don’t copy them
Visit five to ten websites in your space. Look for common visual patterns like colour, layout, tone, and image types. Note what works and what doesn’t.
Ask if your current site feels like it belongs in that group. Or does it stand out for the wrong reasons?
2. Define your brand attributes
List three or four words that describe your brand. Think trustworthy, fresh, bold, local, luxury, fast. Your design should reflect those qualities.
Match them to visual choices:
- Bold means strong contrast and confident headings
- Trustworthy means clear layout and minimal distraction
- Fresh means a balanced colour palette and modern fonts
3. Focus on the first impression
The top of your homepage, the hero section, is where design impressions are made. Make sure it includes:
- A clear, relevant headline
- High-quality visuals
- Visible brand and navigation
- Trust signals if possible, like "Made in NZ" or customer logos
If you do nothing else, get this area right.
4. Test with your audience
Show your designs to actual customers or prospects. Ask:
- Does this feel right for our kind of business?
- Would you trust this brand based on the homepage?
- What feels confusing or off?
You’ll get fast, honest feedback, and it’ll be more useful than internal opinions alone.
Common objections and how to respond
"But we want to be different."
Being different is good. But it still needs to feel familiar enough that your audience trusts you. You’re not designing for designers. You’re designing for your customers.
"We don’t have budget for new photos or custom design."
Start small. One great image is better than five bad ones. A thoughtful layout with clean typography can carry you further than a fancy theme.
"Isn’t design subjective?"
Somewhat. But trust isn’t. And many design cues are about building trust. This guide helps you avoid decisions that feel nice internally but don’t perform with real users.
What to Do Now: Checklist
Start here. These five steps will make your site feel more aligned and trustworthy.
- Audit five competitor sites. Look for patterns in layout, colour, imagery, and tone. Spot what works and what doesn’t.
- Define your brand words. Choose three or four that represent how you want your site to feel. Build your design choices around them.
- Fix the hero area. Make sure your homepage opens with a strong headline, clear message, and quality image. Test how it looks on mobile.
- Standardise your visuals. Clean up fonts, button styles, and spacing. Aim for consistency across the site.
- Ask for feedback. Share your site with customers or advisors. Ask how it feels. Refine based on real reactions.
Good design isn’t one size fits all. It’s about aligning with your industry’s expectations and your brand’s personality, and building trust from the first glance.
If you’d like a second opinion or want help figuring out what matters most for your industry, get in touch. We're happy to talk it through.
