What Makes a Custom Kajabi Website Actually Custom (And Why It's Not Just Design)

Dianne Empeynado
Vetted Kajabi Expert | Website Designer
Where sleek design meets bulletproof tech & support.

A custom Kajabi website is one built around a specific business's content, structure, and technical setup — not a template with the logo, colors, and a few images swapped in. The word "custom" gets used loosely in this space, so it's worth being specific about what it actually requires: design, yes, but also platform knowledge and page-level strategy working together.

If you're comparing Kajabi website designers right now, this is the question worth asking before anything else: what does "custom" actually include with this person?

Key Takeaways

• "Custom" should mean the structure and layout are built around your business — not just a template with your colors and logo swapped in.
• A Kajabi website needs three things working together to actually hold up: design, platform knowledge, and structure. Most providers only bring one or two.
• Page structure and planning are handled before any design work starts — separate from full copywriting or brand strategy, which is best handled by a specialist.
• Functionality testing, mobile optimization, and basic SEO setup come standard on every project, not as an upsell — and they matter: 53% of mobile visitors abandon a page that takes longer than 3 seconds to load.
• Custom code has its place, but I default to Kajabi's native tools first — so you can still edit your own site after launch.
• Real projects — like a template-to-custom redesign for Her Speaking Coach — show what this looks like when a site has outgrown where it started.

Jump to a section:

• What "Custom" Actually Means (And What It Doesn't)
• The Three Things a Kajabi Website Needs to Actually Work
• How I Plan the Structure Before Any Design Happens
• What I Do Differently
• It's Not Just Design — Here's What Else Goes Into Every Project
• Built to Be Edited, Not Just Built to Launch
• What This Looks Like in Practice
• How to Know If This Is the Right Fit for You
• Common Questions About Custom Kajabi Website Design

What "Custom" Actually Means (And What It Doesn't)

A template with new brand colors and your logo is still a template. Nothing about the layout, the page order, or the way content is structured changed — only the surface did. That's not a criticism of templates; they're useful for getting a site live fast, and Kajabi builds good ones. But it means the word "custom" gets attached to a lot of sites that are really just re-skinned.

True custom work starts earlier than the visual layer. It starts with your actual content, your actual offers, and how someone should move through your site to get from "just found you" to "ready to buy." The design is the last thing that happens, not the first.

The Three Things a Kajabi Website Needs to Actually Work

Most Kajabi websites fall short in one of three places, not because the person building them isn't skilled, but because they're usually only strong in one or two of these:

Design. Whether it looks considered, cohesive, and like it belongs to your brand specifically.

Platform knowledge. Whether the person building it actually understands Kajabi's pages, settings, forms, domains, and automations — not just how to make something look good inside the builder.

Structure. Whether the pages are organized around how your business actually works and how a visitor should move through them — not just a generic page list.

A general designer working in Kajabi for the first time usually has the first without the second. Someone who only knows Kajabi's technical side but isn't a designer usually has the second without the first. Structure gets skipped by almost everyone, because it's invisible when it's done right and only obvious when it's missing.

How I Plan the Structure Before Any Design Happens

Before any design work starts, the real first question is: what does this site need to include, and in what order, for this specific business? A coach selling one-on-one calls needs a different structure than someone selling a self-paced course library. A membership site needs a different visitor journey than a single sales page for a live workshop.

This is where I map out what pages the project actually needs, what job each page is doing, and how someone should move from one to the next — before a single design decision gets made. It's structural thinking, not decoration.

To be clear about where the line sits: this isn't full copywriting or brand messaging strategy. If a project needs deep copywriting or a full marketing strategy layer, I bring in a specialist from my Kajabi Experts Circle rather than stretching outside what I do well. But the structure — what pages, what order, what each one needs to accomplish — that's mine to plan, every time, before design starts.

What I Do Differently

The process stays consistent across every project:

Plan. Brand, content, references, goals, and page structure — gathered and mapped before design begins.

Design. Visual direction developed around your brand, audience, and the structure already in place.

Build. The approved design gets built directly in Kajabi — setup, configuration, responsive optimization, functionality.

Review & launch. Tested by hand, reviewed line by line, and launched working on day one — not fixed the week after.

A few specifics that come standard, not as an upsell: basic on-page SEO setup, mobile and page-speed optimization, and a Loom walkthrough after launch so you're never stuck wondering how to make your own updates.

It's Not Just Design — Here's What Else Goes Into Every Project

A beautiful website that doesn't function properly is still a broken website. A few things that get checked on every project, beyond how it looks:

Conversion structure. CTA placement and page flow built around how a visitor actually moves toward booking or buying — not just visual hierarchy for its own sake.

Technical correctness. Domain and DNS setup, mobile behavior, and page speed — the parts a visitor never sees directly but absolutely feels. This matters more than most people realize: mobile devices now account for roughly two-thirds of global website traffic, and according to Google's own research, 53% of mobile visitors abandon a page that takes longer than three seconds to load. A site that isn't optimized for mobile and speed isn't a minor gap — it's turning away the majority of the people who find it before they see anything else.

Brand-and-audience match. Design decisions tied to who you're actually trying to attract, not a generic aesthetic applied the same way to every client. That's why projects range from modern and minimalist to editorial, bold, or ethereal — the style follows the audience, not the other way around.

Fit with your business model. A site built for 1:1 coaching calls needs a different structure than one built to sell a course library or run a membership — the plan changes with what's actually being sold.

Built to Be Edited, Not Just Built to Launch

Not all custom code is created equal — and inside Kajabi specifically, more of it isn't automatically better. I lean on Kajabi's native design tools first, and bring in custom code only where it genuinely improves something Kajabi's built-in settings can't do on their own — not as a default approach to every project.

Sophie Josephina, polarity teacher who works with masculine & feminine energetics in relationships, came to me after working with an agency that had built her Kajabi website almost entirely in custom code. The result looked polished, but she couldn't actually use her own website afterward — not to change a font, not to make a simple text edit, nothing. Every small update meant going back to the agency that built it.

The fix wasn't just a visual redesign. It meant rebuilding her site using Kajabi's own native tools wherever possible, so the things she'd actually need to update — fonts, copy, layout — were hers to manage again, not locked behind code only a developer could touch.

This is part of why ownership matters as much as design. A beautiful website you can't touch isn't fully serving you. Custom code has a real place — for details Kajabi's native settings genuinely can't achieve — but it should never come at the cost of you being able to run your own site.

What This Looks Like in Practice

Annelise McCarthy, Director and Founder of Her Speaking Coach, started with a Kajabi site built from an off-the-shelf template — functional, but not built around her specifically. When I came in to redesign it, the work wasn't a visual refresh layered on top of what was there. It meant rethinking the structure itself: what the homepage needed to accomplish, how her offers should be organized, and how a visitor should move from "just found her" to booking a session — then rebuilding the design around that.

Kelle Jacob of ASRI Wellness has come back for this exact reason more than once — this was actually the fifth project we've worked on together, each time picking back up as her business grew into something the previous site didn't fully reflect anymore. Every round, the focus stayed the same: design, UX, and flow that fit both her brand and where the business was headed next, not just a fresh coat of paint on the same structure.

That's the pattern worth noticing: the projects that go well aren't just design refreshes. They're structural catch-ups for a business that's already outgrown what it's working with. As designer and educator Chris Do, Founder and CEO of The Futur, has put it, strong branding isn't really about aesthetics — it comes down to strategy first. The same is true for a website: the parts that make it work happen before any design decision gets made.

How to Know If This Is the Right Fit for You

This tends to be a strong fit if:

• Your business has grown or changed since your last website update, and the site hasn't kept pace
• You know roughly what you want but building it yourself in Kajabi keeps sliding down your to-do list
• You want one person or team handling design and platform setup, instead of managing a hand-off between two

It's probably not the right fit if you're looking for the lowest-cost option available, or if you need full copywriting and brand strategy built from scratch as part of the same project — those are better handled by a specialist first, with the website built around what they produce.

If you're weighing this against your own situation, the full Kajabi website design page breaks down exactly what's included, pricing, and the process, so you can see whether it matches what you need.

Common Questions About Custom Kajabi Website Design

What makes a Kajabi website "custom" instead of just a modified template? A custom Kajabi website is planned around your specific content, offers, and audience before any design work happens — not built by adjusting colors and images on an existing layout.

Do I need a copywriter or brand strategist before working with you? Not always. Page structure and planning are included in every project. Full copywriting and brand messaging strategy are outside what's included, and are best handled by a specialist — I collaborate with trusted copywriters and strategists in my Kajabi Experts Circle when a project needs that layer.

What happens if something isn't working after my site launches? Every project includes hands-on functionality testing and a pre-launch review before going live, plus a walkthrough so you know how to make your own updates. Reach out directly if anything comes up after launch. For ongoing help beyond the initial support window — regular updates, small fixes, day-to-day maintenance — monthly Kajabi Virtual Assistant support is also available.

Can you redesign an existing Kajabi website instead of building a new one? Yes. Many projects are redesigns of an existing Kajabi site — keeping the current setup and content where it still works, and rebuilding the structure and design around where the business is now. If your project involves moving from another platform (Wix, Squarespace, Teachable, etc.) into Kajabi as part of the redesign, that falls under Kajabi migration services — happy to talk through which one fits your situation.

Do I fully own my website after the project is done? Yes. Your Kajabi website lives inside your own Kajabi account — not a third-party platform or a system I control. Once it's built, it's yours: you can edit it, hand it to someone else, or move on without needing my involvement. There's no lock-in.

Ready for a Kajabi Website Built Around Your Business, Not a Template?

If your Kajabi website needs more than a new coat of paint, let's talk about what a custom Kajabi website design actually looks like for your business.

See what's included and start your project →

The Author

Dianne Empeynado is a vetted Kajabi Expert and former member of Kajabi's own Technical Support and VIP Implementation team — she's seen the platform from the inside, not just as an outside freelancer. She's a top-rated Kajabi specialist on Contra, a Fiverr Vetted Pro, available on Upwork, and a member of the Experts Circle, a peer-vetted network of Kajabi professionals.

What began as a solo website design business has become a creative studio — built to support creators through more stages of their business, while keeping the same thoughtful, personal approach that's always mattered. It's not about getting bigger for the sake of it. It's about being better equipped to serve the creators who trust us.

Learn more at dianneempeynado.com, or start your Kajabi project here.