Most website advice today is either overly technical or focused on surface-level design trends. That’s a problem, because the real reason websites work or don’t work has very little to do with technology.
Over 2,000 years ago, Aristotle described three forces that influence how people decide: ethos, pathos, and logos. Strip away the philosophy, and what you’re left with is a simple way to understand why certain website elements exist at all.
Once you understand this, websites stop feeling mysterious or arbitrary. They start to make sense.
The three questions every website is answering (whether intentionally or not)
When someone lands on a website, they are subconsciously trying to answer three questions:
- Can I trust you?
- Do I feel understood?
- Does this make sense?
Aristotle gave these questions names.
- Ethos: credibility and trust
- Pathos: emotional resonance
- Logos: logic and clarity
Every effective website addresses all three. Bad websites usually over-index on one and ignore the others.
Ethos: “Can I trust you?”
Ethos is credibility. It’s the foundation.
On websites, ethos shows up as things like:
- Testimonials
- Client logos
- Certifications and affiliations
- Awards
- Years in business
- Clear explanations of who you work with (and who you don’t)
This is why testimonials exist. Not because they’re trendy, but because people need reassurance that others like them have made this decision and didn’t regret it.
For most B2B websites, ethos matters more than anything else. If trust isn’t established early, nothing else really matters.
Pathos: “Do you get me?”
Pathos is emotion, but not in the dramatic sense. It’s about feeling understood.
On websites, pathos looks like:
- Language that reflects the visitor’s situation
- Acknowledging frustration with agencies, delays, or complexity
- Showing you understand what they don’t want to deal with
This is why phrasing matters. It’s why “we build award-winning websites” often performs worse than “we handle this so you don’t have to.” People don’t want excitement. They want relief.
Logos: “Does this actually make sense?”
Logos is logic. It’s the structure behind the decision.
This is where things like:
- “How it works”
- Clear pricing
- Timelines
- What happens next
- What’s included vs not included come into play.
Logos answers the practical questions:
- What am I agreeing to?
- What happens after I say yes?
- How long will this take?
- What will this actually get me?
Without logos, a website can feel inspiring but confusing. Confusion kills decisions.
The mistake most websites make
Most websites lean too hard on form instead of function.
They obsess over:
- Visual design
- Animations
- Clever copy
but fail to clearly establish:
- Credibility
- Emotional alignment
- Logical clarity
Understanding ethos, pathos, and logos helps you spot this instantly. You start to see why a site “looks good” but still doesn’t convert.
Why this matters for you (even if you don’t care about websites)
- You don’t need to become a website expert. That’s not your job.
- But understanding this framework gives you something far more useful:
- You can evaluate whether an approach makes sense
- You can explain why certain elements are included
- You can push back when something feels like fluff
- You can confidently justify decisions to stakeholders
In other words, you stop feeling like you’re guessing.
How Stackify uses this thinking
This is why we take a strategy-first approach.
- Before design.
- Before technology.
- Before features.
Because websites aren’t just art projects. They’re decision-making tools.
When you understand what actually persuades people, the rest becomes much simpler — and far less painful.
The takeaway
- Good websites don’t convince people with tricks.
- They reassure them with clarity.
And it turns out we’ve known how to do that for about 2,000 years.
