Asymmetric Website Rebuild — Next.js Strategy
Overview
In a marketing sync in late March 2026, the Asymmetric team decided to rebuild their company website using Next.js (a JavaScript framework) rather than continuing to iterate on the existing WordPress installation. The decision was driven by accumulated pain with WordPress reliability, a desire to automate content workflows, and confidence that the team had enough in-house capability to execute the build without external help.
This is an internal-first experiment — the Asymmetric site is the test case before any consideration of applying the approach to client sites.
The Decision
"I think we'll try to build this site using JavaScript and not WordPress."
— Mark Hope
The rebuild was approved during the call. Mark will lead development in Next.js, translating Figma designs produced by Michał into code.
Rationale
1. WordPress Plugin Conflicts & Instability
WordPress sites in the Asymmetric portfolio suffer from recurring breakage caused by plugin updates conflicting with one another. Debugging is time-consuming and the root cause is often opaque. The team cited the La Marie Beauty site and Reynolds Transfer site as examples of WordPress builds that are "constantly fighting."
"We can't get the speed right, or we're having problems with some plugin where they update the plugin and it breaks the whole website."
2. Content Publishing Friction
The current blog workflow requires writing content in one tool, optimizing it in another, exporting it, then manually building the post inside WordPress. Next.js enables a streamlined path from document to published page — potentially a single command.
"You can push a blog post directly from a doc. You write that doc and you just say, post it, and it goes onto the website."
3. Scripted Automation for SEO & Maintenance
Tasks that require clicking through every WordPress page individually (meta descriptions, alt text, title tags) can be executed as single commands against a Next.js codebase. Mark estimated that SEO work that previously took hours can now be done across an entire site in ~15 minutes.
4. No Scaffolding Overhead
WordPress themes and plugins introduce hundreds of lines of code per component, most of it not designed to interoperate. A Next.js build starts clean — every line of code is intentional and the team controls the full stack.
"You can make a site that's free of scaffolding overhead."
Process & Roles
| Role | Person | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| Design | Michał Bielerzewski | Creative vision, Figma mock-ups, layout direction |
| Development | Mark Hope | Next.js implementation, translating Figma to code |
| Feedback | Full team | Review rendered pages, request changes iteratively |
The workflow is intentionally iterative: Michał produces designs in Figma (linked from Miro), Mark renders them in Next.js, and the team responds with "more of this, less of that" feedback. Non-technical team members are not expected to touch the codebase — content changes are designed to be simple once the site is built.
Michał was also encouraged to explore what the site could look like without WordPress constraints — to treat the rebuild as a creative opportunity, not just a technical migration.
Goals
- Eliminate recurring technical firefighting so the team can focus on creative strategy
- Streamline content publishing (blog posts, SEO updates) via scripting and automation
- Produce a clean, fast, custom site that tells the full Asymmetric story on the homepage
- Validate the approach on an internal site before considering it for client work
Scope & Constraints
- In scope (now): Asymmetric's own marketing site only
- Out of scope (for now): Client sites — WordPress remains the default for client builds unless this experiment succeeds
- Possible future candidates: Reynolds Transfer (small, simple), La Marie Beauty (complex but broken — a rebuild-from-scratch candidate)
Homepage Design Direction
The rebuild coincides with a significant homepage redesign. Key decisions from the same meeting:
- Tell the full company story on one page — who we are, what we do, who we work with, why trust us
- Hero section: Replace placeholder with real work footage or client creative
- Client logo banner: Move to top for immediate social proof (Coca-Cola, etc.)
- Results section: Add a concrete case study example (Doodle Farms — quadrupled sales) immediately below high-level claims
- Services section: Remove numbers and slashes; use icon + label only to reduce visual clutter
- CTAs: Add action-oriented CTAs ("Schedule a Free Consult"); consider a persistent floating element
- Case studies: Mix client-specific studies with capability/channel examples (out-of-home, e-commerce, Spotify ads, calculators) — not all tied to named clients
- Former client images: Remove from general layout; only use in dedicated case study sections
See also: [1] for broader client context.
Related Tooling
The Next.js rebuild sits alongside a broader shift toward API-first and scripted workflows at Asymmetric:
- HubSpot & Salesforce via API — Mark now handles all HubSpot tasks through the API rather than the UI, enabling automations that were previously impossible or prohibitively slow
- Custom web scraper — built by Mark to extract competitor pricing and product data from any site, including those with anti-scraping protections
- Pomelli (Google Labs) — free AI image generation tool for fast social posts; one brand profile per Google account
Open Questions / Next Steps
- [ ] Michał: Revise homepage Figma based on call feedback (add Doodle Farms case study block, simplify services section, remove former client images from general layout)
- [ ] Michał: Explore unconstrained creative directions now that WordPress limitations are removed
- [ ] Mark: Begin Next.js build planning; reference Figma link in Miro (Website Overhaul folder)
- [ ] Team: Evaluate Reynolds Transfer and La Marie Beauty as future Next.js rebuild candidates once Asymmetric site is underway