Killed the services page
The strategist who needs a services page isn't the strategist Maren wants to be perceived as. Cut entirely. Her offer is implicit in her writing, and prospects who can't read the offer between the lines aren't the prospects.
← Back to workStudio concept · 2026
Maren Cole
A concept brief for a London brand strategist with a private, referral-only client roster. Built end-to-end to show the work — live client work shown on request.
Year
2026
Role
Concept · Design + Build
- Personal brand
- Astro
- MDX
The brief
Maren is a concept brief for a strategist who works with a handful of founders a year. The category problem: most strategists' personal sites read like a freelancer's CV when their offer is the opposite. The brief: a site that signals the price bracket she works in, hosts her essays as the lead asset, and quietly handles enquiries from a referral-only roster.
Live site
View the full siteOpens in a new tab
Build me a site that reads like I think.
Design decisions
The four specific calls that defined this build.
Astro over Next.js
Essay archive is 100% static — there's no reason for it to ship JavaScript. Astro ships 0kb of JS to the essay routes. The homepage uses Astro islands for the few interactive elements, so even there the JS footprint stays tiny.
Enquiries behind a passcode
Public contact forms attract noise. New clients arrive via referral with a passcode shared at the call. The homepage stays editorial, the inbox stays clean, and the few enquiries that come through are pre-qualified.
Pagefind, not Algolia
An essay archive of 30 pieces doesn't need a SaaS search bill. Pagefind generates the index at build time, gives instant local search, costs nothing per month. The bill scales to $0 forever.
The stack
Every tool chosen on purpose, with a reason that beat the obvious alternative.
- Framework
- Astro
Zero JS by default, MDX-native, fast static export. The right tool for an essay-first site.
- Content
- MDX in repo
Maren writes in Markdown. No CMS. Drafts are git branches; publishing is a merge.
- Search
- Pagefind
Builds a static search index at compile time. Instant, free, works offline. No SaaS dependency.
- Hosting
- Cloudflare Pages
Free tier covers the traffic, edge cache is faster than Vercel's free tier for static-only sites.
- Substack import + custom signup
Maren's existing essay list is on Substack. Kept the back-end, replaced the front-end form to match the site's typography.
- Analytics
- Plausible
Cookie-free means no banner. Maren cared about not showing a cookie banner on first paint.
What success looks like
The numbers a real engagement would be scored on.
+40%
Goal · day rate, 90 days post-launch
1.9×
Target · avg. essay read time
0kb JS
Shipped to the essay archive
Like this for your business?
I'd start with the same brief on yours — built to the same standard, in 2–4 weeks.
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