When building a new website, or rebuilding an old website, you’ll want to try and establish your brand so that you can be identified as unique in your market. Doing this is not always easy, and depending on your market it can be very difficult. Whenever I’m involved in a build or brand project I try to follow these points below to help me along the way to hopefully building a great brand that can be conveyed through the web design, functionality, etc.
Branding Tips
- Domain Name – Choosing a great domain name can be difficult to do, especially when so many are taken already. This domain name will most likely be your company name so that adds to the importance of this name. I suggest keeping it short and simple and don’t be afraid to using something that plainly describes what you do. Example: www.bestballroomshoes.com.
- Color Selection – You want to choose colors that in most cases are complimentary and there are many tools on the web to help with this. Find a color wheel to help with your selection and don’t forget that colors can create emotions as well, so maybe read up on color theories, etc. Also, if you are an ecommerce business, choose white as your background color. Check out http://www.wellstyled.com for a couple great color tools.
- Logo – Keep your logo simple. Don’t try to include images of people in the logo, or technical photo’s etc. You want your logo to be strong and simple and convey to your audience the kind of business you are. In most cases you’ll want to hire a professional to help with this step if you don’t have someone in-house.
- Come up with a catchy slogan or tag line that you can use on your website, business cards, ads, etc. that will help keep your business jumping back into your customer’s mind when given the chance.
- Determine if you want to brand your business as a family owned business, or take a more corporate approach. Look at Coca Cola vs. Jones Soda for example. Same industry, very different brands…although I do realize Coca Cola is one of the most successful brands ever created.
- Make use of your About Us page – this is a great place for you to help define your brand as your customers read about who you are and what got you into the business of X.
Bonus Tip
Don’t forget about the little old favicon. The favicon can often get missed when building a new website. Make up a favicon and use it.
Hopefully these tips are helpful. If you have any suggestions please share them. Thanks.
Those tips are very much true and really works well. I think for me, the design of the site is really important. It plays a vital role in the success of the site. A simple yet professional design is always a winner. Colors should not be too strong and it should match the theme of the site.
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