Jul 12, 2025·7 min
“Make My Website Like This”: Copy the Style, Not the Content
Learn how to recreate the look and feel of a website you like—without copying text, images, or layouts. A practical, ethical step-by-step guide.
Learn how to recreate the look and feel of a website you like—without copying text, images, or layouts. A practical, ethical step-by-step guide.
When a client says “make my website like this,” they rarely mean “copy every pixel.” They’re usually pointing to a feeling: clean and modern, bold and editorial, friendly and playful, premium and minimal.
Your job is to translate that reaction into decisions you can defend—then rebuild those decisions using the client’s brand, content, constraints, and goals.
Most clients are trying to communicate one (or more) of these:
Using a reference site to set direction is normal. The key is to borrow principles, not assets.
Borrowing style cues is usually safe and expected. Copying content is a hard no. Copying layout can be acceptable in broad strokes (common patterns exist), but cloning a distinctive structure too closely can still create legal and reputational risk.
Even if you redraw everything, a near-identical page can look like a knockoff—hurting trust and inviting complaints. The risk isn’t only legal; it’s also reputational. People notice when two sites feel like twins.
A strong agreement sounds like this:
“We’ll match the vibe—clean type, generous spacing, confident headlines—but we’ll design original pages, write original copy, and use your own visuals so it clearly belongs to your brand.”
That one sentence prevents weeks of misaligned feedback later.
Treat other sites as references for design direction:
These are “design ingredients” that help you reach a similar vibe while still producing an original result.
Where people accidentally cross the line:
General structures (hero → benefits → testimonials → CTA) are common. It starts to feel like copying when you match the same section order, same grid, same spacing, and same visual hierarchy, and it’s instantly recognizable side-by-side.
A good rule: keep the idea (e.g., “three benefit cards”), change the expression (content, proportions, typography, imagery, and component styling) so it’s clearly yours.
A single reference can trap you into copying specifics. Asking for 3–5 examples creates range, which makes it easier to extract repeatable signals.
With multiple references, you can identify patterns like:
Once you see the pattern, you can recreate the style logic without recreating any single page.
Don’t accept “I like it” as usable feedback. Ask for quick annotations:
Equally important: collect the negatives.
Examples of useful “no” statements:
A lightweight checklist reduces meetings and keeps feedback comparable:
From your 3–5 references, choose 5–8 adjectives: calm, premium, playful, editorial, bold, minimalist, cozy, technical, friendly.
Then define them as decisions:
This becomes your translation layer from “vibe” to buildable choices.
Write one sentence for who it’s for, and one sentence for the primary outcome.
Examples:
A “premium” vibe for luxury retail and a “premium” vibe for B2B consulting may look very different once the audience is clear.
Choose 2–4 metrics tied to the goal:
Metrics keep taste debates from derailing the project.
Combine the above into a short brief anyone can reference:
“We want a calm, premium, editorial feel for operations leaders. The site should build trust quickly and drive booked calls. Use simple layouts, strong typography, restrained color, and clear hierarchy. Success is more qualified bookings and higher engagement on services and case studies.”
A reference site is still a full website. To capture the feel without copying the execution, break the feel into parts you can describe and reproduce.
Your mood board should answer: What should this website feel like when someone lands on it? Keep it tight.
Include 3–8 items total across these buckets:
Add screenshots with short notes like: “Large, confident headlines,” “Soft shadows, rounded corners,” “One accent color used only for CTAs.”
Convert the mood board into consistent rules:
If you maintain design tokens, this is where they start (font sizes, spacing steps, color roles).
Create a simple “Do / Don’t” list with examples:
That constraint list prevents accidental cloning and keeps new pages consistent later.
If you want a similar feel without the “knockoff” look, rebuild from first principles: type, color, and spacing.
Identify what the reference typography is doing: editorial and calm? techy and precise? playful and rounded?
Choose typefaces that match the mood without matching the exact font. If the reference uses a high-contrast serif for headlines, pick a different high-contrast serif (or a sharp, elegant sans) rather than the same family.
Then define a type scale so pages stay consistent:
A readable baseline for many sites: comfortable body line-height (often ~1.5–1.7), slightly tighter headings, and generous paragraph spacing.
Many “copied” designs give themselves away with the same hero background and accent. Build a palette that’s yours:
Also define states: link, hover, focus, and error/success colors.
Spacing is one of the fastest ways to create cohesion without copying layouts. Use a spacing system (e.g., 4/8/16/24 or 6/12/24/36) and stick to it for:
When everything aligns to a consistent rhythm, the design feels intentional—even if the page structure differs from your references.
Recreating an inspiration site page-by-page is a common trap: you either end up too similar, or you get stuck when your content doesn’t fit the same shapes. Instead, copy the system, not the page.
Most marketing sites are assembled from reusable “Lego bricks.” List what repeats across your references:
Naming components shifts the work from “copy their homepage” to “build our hero, our pricing, our FAQ.”
Create a small component library you can reuse across pages:
If you want to move quickly, a vibe-coding platform like Koder.ai can be useful here: you can describe the target vibe and component set in chat, generate a working React-based UI, and iterate without “locking in” a copied layout. Features like planning mode and snapshots/rollback also help you explore variations safely while keeping the implementation original.
Polished sites use controlled variation. Set rules such as:
A one-page component guide is enough: what each component is for, where it’s used, and allowed variations.
Copying the reference site’s page order is the fastest way to inherit assumptions that don’t fit your business.
Before sketching, list what visitors need to know before they buy:
Those questions become the backbone of your structure.
Map the pages you actually need and give each a single job:
Add supporting pages (About, Case Studies, FAQ) only when they serve a clear purpose.
Outline headings and sections based on your offer, not the reference block sequence. Decide what proof you’ll show, which objections to handle, and what you want visitors to do next.
Wireframes are layout sketches, not decoration:
Once the structure works, apply the inspiration site’s style—without inheriting its blueprint.
To make the execution clearly different, your words and visuals must be your own.
Start from what’s true about your business. A simple framework:
You can match the reference’s rhythm (short punchy lines vs. longer explanations) while changing the underlying ideas and wording. Avoid signature phrases and distinctive metaphors.
Don’t lift screenshots, icons, illustrations, or photos—even if they feel generic.
If you want a similar hero vibe, recreate the concept: same level of polish, different subject and composition.
Even with brand-new text, copying the same section flow can read like imitation. Reorder the story to fit your strengths: lead with proof, combine thin sections, or add a section the reference doesn’t have.
Tone is allowed; phrasing isn’t. Decide your voice (friendly, premium, direct, playful) and apply it consistently across headings, buttons, and microcopy.
You’re aiming for “same genre, different song.” Before you ship, confirm you captured the vibe without matching details.
Open the reference and your draft side-by-side for 60 seconds. Close the reference and ask: what do you remember?
A site can feel similar while being better for real users. Review:
Mobile should be intentionally designed, not just “shrunk desktop.” Check for:
Before launch:
If two or more answers feel shaky, redesign one layer—spacing, typography, or component shapes—to break the “clone” feeling quickly.
You can learn from a site you admire—type hierarchy, spacing rhythm, component patterns. What you shouldn’t do is lift protected work or make your site so similar that users think it’s the same brand.
Copyright typically protects specific creative expression, not general ideas.
Even without copying exact assets, you can run into trouble if the design causes confusion.
Watch for:
A simple test: if a quick glance makes someone say, “Is this the same company?” you’re too close.
Consider a quick review if you’re:
Keep a lightweight paper trail showing independent work:
This isn’t bureaucracy—it’s clarity, and it helps keep “inspired by” work clearly on the ethical side.
It usually means they want the same vibe (clean, premium, playful, editorial), not a pixel-perfect duplicate.
Your job is to translate their reaction into concrete decisions—typography, spacing, color roles, components, tone—then execute those choices with their brand, content, and constraints.
A simple, safe framing is:
If you’re ever unsure, treat it as content and make it original.
Borrow principles, not assets:
Then rebuild with different fonts, a distinct palette, your own copy, and original visuals so it reads as unmistakably yours.
Avoid copying anything that’s likely protected or uniquely identifiable:
Even “lightly edited” versions can still be too close—start from your own message and assets.
“Close enough” can create two problems:
If a side-by-side glance makes someone say “these are twins,” change a layer fast—typography, spacing rhythm, component shapes, imagery style, and page flow usually break the clone feeling.
One reference pushes you toward copying specifics. With 3–5, you can extract the shared signals instead:
Design from those patterns so you’re inspired by a direction, not duplicating a single page.
Ask them to add quick notes per example:
This turns “I like it” into usable requirements and reduces revision loops.
Use a mood board to capture the feel, then convert it into buildable rules.
Include a small set of examples for:
Then define a mini guide: type scale, button styles/states, card padding/shadows, form focus/error states, and a short “Do/Don’t” list to prevent accidental cloning.
Build a component system instead of recreating pages:
This keeps the vibe consistent while ensuring the execution is clearly original—especially when your content doesn’t match the reference’s content.
Run a quick “too close?” pass:
If it feels too similar, change one foundational layer (type, spacing rhythm, component shapes) rather than doing tiny tweaks everywhere.