You’re almost there.
The collective annual breather where you pause, reflect and celebrate your highs and lows of the year.
Mince pie crumbs settling on your new frock.
It’s been a tough one in many ways.
But honestly, for most of my clients, they’ve seen growth.
Not because I’m a miracle worker.
But because I only work with brands I can genuinely help.
Brands that are ready to see a real return from their eCom store and are willing to invest even when the wider sentiment feels… heavy.
Even though they are different sectors, different price points and different founders.
The same niggles showed up again and again.
The patterns I saw on repeat
Almost every brand came to me thinking they needed more traffic.
In reality, they needed to start convincing the visitors they already have:
It can never be too clear. Show people that you’re THE brand to choose in your category. Don’t assume they know.
Iconic brands build resonance instantly.
Go too minimal and people will trust your site as much as their next Temu purchase.
The brands that converted best made decisions easier.
Clear cues. Clear hierarchy. Clear reasons to choose.
Bestsellers. New in. Trending. Gifts. Ideal for X.
Signals that nudge someone closer to the Add to Cart button.
Product pages mattered more than ever.
In 2025, many visitors arrived cold.
From ads, search, or increasingly, AI!
The best-performing brands treated every product page like a first impression, not an afterthought.
The overused ‘storytelling’ played a bigger role too.
Less pushing products.
More helping customers see who they become with them.
Clear value proposition, paired with social proof.
Good for people. Good for SEO. Good for GEO.
The proof is in the pudding
Here’s what that looked like across client work this year:
A premium food brand more than doubled revenue year-on-year. A 106% increase after a rebrand and revised website
An interiors brand delivered its strongest Christmas in 5 years after upgrading their site in November
A snack brand lifted conversions from 1.5% to 4.4%
An organic olive oil brand increased AOV by 32%
Same traffic in most cases. Same products.
Clearer structure and sharper storytelling did the heavy lifting.
Interestingly, the biggest shift founders noticed wasn’t just revenue.
It was confidence.
Product launches felt calmer. Socials became seen as more of a stepping stone.
A high performing foundation making all other marketing efforts feel breezy.
Let it grow, let it grow, let it grow ❄️
My biggest takeaway from 2025
The role of the website is changing before our very eyes.
With LLMs increasingly acting as an entire shopping funnel, the question becomes:
Why would someone bother visiting your store?
If people can buy directly in ChatGPT, the role of the site leans even harder into brand.
An educational, immersive experience.
A place where you understand what you stand for and why you exists.
People still want to step deeper into your story.
They still want to learn, explore, and feel confident in their choice.
And yes, the practical stuff still matters too. Subscriptions, account management, order updates, browsing etc..
Blog posts, reviews, and community aren’t extras.
They’re part of what will define iconic brands in 2026.
Next year, I want to do more of the same.
Support more founders.
Build stronger foundations.
Create ICONIC brands of the future.
If you’re heading into the new year feeling like your site stats should be working harder for you, this is exactly what I help with.
I’m booking projects for the end of January onwards.
Enjoy the merriment,
Laura
