How to design a website that your customers love to visit using somatics.
Are you craving to redesign your website, but feel overwhelmed by where to even start? Today, I’m going to show you how to think through the design or redesign of your website using somatics as a guide. It’s a much simpler and more practical way to begin this type of work.
I bet you want to create a website that customers and clients love and you don’t hate creating. Here’s why I suggest you design it with somatics in mind.
You will create higher-value work per hour that you can exchange for more money in the world.
You will enjoy the process of creating more, and it will become easier for you as you practice it.
It’s a humane way to run a business, because you’re making the intended reader / buyer important to you while you create.
From Tech Nightmares to Aligned Action
As a founder and creator, you're pouring your heart into building an online home for your offerings. But let's be honest - the website design process often feels more like wrestling with tech nightmares than a sacred creative journey, right?
What is Somatic Web Design?
It's time for a fresh approach that aligns with the human-centered experience you want your audience to have. It's called somatic web design, and it starts by asking: What core feeling do you want people to genuinely embody when they explore your online space?
Maybe it's inspiration that energizes them. A warm sense of belonging. Expansive curiosity. Or the relief of total clarity. Whatever rich emotional state you're hoping for, this intimate design approach will guide you in intentionally crafting it.
I think entrepreneurs often forget or overlook that a website isn't just some static digital brochure. It's an immersive environment where people have real-life experiences that shape how open and receptive they'll be to your work.
When you design from that practical mindset, you create digital spaces that expand someone's emotional bandwidth and presence, rather than shutting it down through confusing or disconnected layouts, links that don’t work, font sizes that are all over the place and a general feeling that it’s going to be arduous rather and simple to find what they’re looking for.
Intuitive Online Spaces
Imagine this: Your audience arrives at your new online home, able to immediately sync up with the intended vibe because every piece welcomes them into that state of being. The natural ebb-and-flow of the pages, the visuals that spark certain emotions, the words that compel specific feelings - it all primes them to settle in and experience your offerings with their full presence.
This is the power of designing intuitive online spaces that increase capacity rather than draining it. You become an architect of resonant environments where people's emotional experiences can fully integrate with your visionary work. What this means is that they’ll be able to engage with what you have to say more fully.
Here’s how we do it.
GET GOOD AT COACHING YOURSELF TO NEUTRAL, AND THEN TO INSPIRED.
First, it’s important to decide that you do, in fact, want to use this method to build or rebuild your site. I know that sounds silly, but commitment is crucial, because it’s easy to decide to dump this strategy when the inevitable tech annoyance happens. You’ll commit to coaching yourself and working with your own body to design this, too. There’s no white-knuckle-designing here. In order to create a really thoughtful experience, you’ll learn how to create space (capacity) within yourself for the work. This looks like taking a break when you’re exhausted rather than pushing through to finish something because you know that you’ll end up giving up on a lot of your values when you’re tired or frustrated. So, making sure you have ample time for this is crucial. The more I practice this, the more efficient I am at it, and that’s why people pay me to do it it. But if you’re not a web designer by trade, you might find the process arduous and frustrating, and you’ve got to allow your body the space it needs to process all of those emotions so you don’t bring them TO your site, right? This is the biggest hurdle clients have at the beginning. They forget that being new at something can be triggering. It’s definitely not triggering for everyone (I’m one of those people) but in in my experience, we’re socially-primed to doubt ourselves or feel vulnerable when we’re new at things.
KEEP YOUR CLIENT’S EXPERIENCE FRONT & CENTER
Secondly, you’ll want to keep your customer / client’s experience front and center. Even if YOU like something, if it’s confusing or overwhelming or jarring to a visitor, you’re probably going to say no to it. There’s a lot of fancy things you can do with a website, but it’s not about that for a customer. A customer is looking for EASE, COMFORT, SIMPLICITY and sure some kind of TONE / STYLE, but the tone and style come last. And often people start there first, and it’s not the best place to begin.
FINISH THE ARCHITECTURE BEFORE YOU BEGIN THE DECORATING
Once you’ve created a really streamlined structure, then you can move on to style, but don’t do it in the opposite way because it’s harder. It’s like filling your home with a bunch of different types of tiles and wallpapers and furniture but having no cohesive look and feel to unite anything. Just because you CAN do it, doesn’t mean you should. When you begin without a cohesive design plan, you risk creating chaos.
SPREAD THE WORK BETWEEN MULTIPLE WORK SESSIONS, AT LEAST AT THE BEGINNING
I love a rough draft. Get your essential ideas out there somewhere you can then refine. Don’t force yourself to finish everything in one hour or one day or one week or one month, etc. It’s just not reasonable. If you are on a deadline, hire a professional. OR realize that you will need to push beyond your own capacity for a short period of time only if it’s absolutely necessary (aka you’re getting evicted and you need to get this work done to get a paycheck, or you won’t be able to have money for basic needs unless this gets done, etc). Most people who are creating their own businesses manufacture scarcity of time and money and that never helps in creating high-value work. Sure, there were times where I had to get my work done in order to have a roof over my head. And there were many many more times where pushing publish on something was based on my own desire to get it off my plate rather than actually not having time. Know the difference between these two, because it’s going to support you creating more value in the world. You can’t override your body’s needs constantly and think that it’s going to produce really valuable work.
In conclusion, honoring felt experience is practical for making more money and enjoying running your business, too.
At its heart, this framework is about honoring your audience's felt experience as a welcomed guest. Intentionally designing digital realms that welcome their emotional self is practical for both your customer and your business.