--- title: Asymmetric Website Rebuild — Next.js Strategy type: article created: '2026-04-05' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2026-03-25-asymmetric-marketing-call-132669649.md tags: - website - next-js - wordpress - asymmetric - tech-stack - decisions layer: 2 client_source: null industry_context: null transferable: true --- # 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: [[clients/asymmetric/index]] 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