When I first started Hopkins Digital Marketing, my website had one very important job:
Exist.
I needed a place where people could find me, learn what I did, and understand the services I offered. And for a while, it did exactly what I needed it to do.
But as my business grew, something started to feel off.
And if I’m being completely transparent, it wasn’t just my business that had changed.
I had, too.
I’ve learned a LOT since I built my original website.
Every client project, website redesign, new tool, unexpected problem, “Why on earth is it doing THAT?” moment, and skill I’ve picked up along the way has changed the way I approach website design and digital marketing.
Eventually, I started looking at my own website with a much more experienced eye.
And let’s just say… I had notes. 😂
I wanted it to look better. I wanted it to function better. I wanted stronger branding, better organization, clearer messaging, and a design that felt much more intentional.
Basically, after spending all this time helping other businesses improve their online presence, it was finally time to take some of what I’d learned and use it on my own.
Yes, the shoemaker’s children finally got shoes.
I Wanted a Brand That Actually Felt Like Mine
One of my biggest goals with the redesign was creating a stronger identity for Hopkins Digital Marketing.
Yes, that meant colors, fonts, graphics, photography, and all of the fun visual pieces that go into building a brand. And trust me, I had plenty of fun with those.
But branding is about so much more than choosing a color palette and designing a logo.
I wanted someone to land on my website and immediately get a sense of who they’re dealing with.
Hopkins Digital Marketing isn’t a giant agency. There aren’t layers of account managers or departments to navigate. When you work with HDM, you’re working with me.
So the website needed to feel personal.
Professional? Absolutely.
But also friendly, creative, approachable, colorful, and maybe even a little fun.
Because that’s much closer to what working with me is actually like.
I Wanted to Be Clear About How I Do Business
Digital marketing can get complicated very quickly.
SEO. Analytics. Algorithms. Keywords. Search rankings. Content strategy. Conversion rates.
There’s an endless supply of terminology, platforms, strategies, and opinions about what businesses should be doing online.
But here’s the thing:
My clients don’t hire me because they want to become digital marketers. That’s my job.
My job is to understand all of that, figure out what actually makes sense for their business, and explain it in a way that doesn’t require a marketing dictionary and three hours of Googling afterward.
That philosophy became a huge part of the new website.
I wanted potential clients to know they can ask questions. They can tell me when something doesn’t make sense. We can throw ideas around together. And I’m not going to recommend something simply because it’s the newest marketing trend or because somebody on the internet says EVERY BUSINESS MUST BE DOING THIS RIGHT NOW!!!
No, thank you.
The strategy should fit the business, not the other way around.
I Wanted My Personality in There, Too
This might have been the biggest difference between building my first website and redesigning this one.
The first time around, I was very focused on making sure I looked like a legitimate business.
This time, I was comfortable enough in my business to let it look like my business.
There’s a difference.
I don’t want Hopkins Digital Marketing to sound like every other marketing company on the internet. I don’t want a website filled with corporate language I would never actually say in a conversation.
And I definitely don’t want to pretend there’s a giant team of people sitting behind the scenes when, really…
Hi. It’s me. 👋
I wanted the words, images, colors, and design to feel like an extension of the experience someone gets when they work with me.
Because I think personality belongs in business.
People aren’t just choosing a list of services. They’re choosing the person they trust to help them accomplish something that’s important to them.
I want people to know who that person is.
Your Website Should Grow With Your Business
Working on my own redesign also reinforced something I tell other business owners:
Your website isn’t something you build once and never touch again.
Businesses change.
Your services change. Your customers change. Your goals change. Your skills improve. You get better at explaining what you do. Your brand becomes clearer.
Sometimes you even discover that the thing you thought would define your business isn’t what defines it at all.
And sometimes you simply learn enough to look at something you created a couple of years ago and think:
Yeah… we can do better than that now.
That’s not a bad thing.
That’s growth.
Your first website doesn’t have to be your forever website. It should represent the best version of your business you can create at that point in time.
And as your business evolves, your website should have the opportunity to evolve with it.
So every once in a while, look at your website through the eyes of someone discovering your business for the first time.
Does it clearly explain what you do?
Does it speak to the customers you actually want to reach?
Does it reflect the quality of your work today?
Does it sound like you?
And perhaps most importantly:
Does it still feel like your business?
Mine didn’t anymore.
So I changed it.
Welcome to the NEW Hopkins Digital Marketing
The new website is brighter, bolder, more personal, more polished, and much more representative of both the business I’ve built and the marketer I’ve become.
But underneath the new design, the goal of Hopkins Digital Marketing hasn’t changed.
I want to help small businesses make sense of digital marketing and build strategies that actually work for their goals.
No unnecessary jargon. No cookie-cutter marketing plans. No pretending there’s one magical strategy every business needs to follow.
Just thoughtful marketing, good communication, creativity, collaboration, and a whole lot of cheering for the businesses I get to work with.
So, yes, the website is new.
But it’s still me.
And this time, that’s exactly what I wanted the website to say.