Branding is an all-compassing term that includes many marketing aspects for a business. Usually, entrepreneurs will start with the logo, get a website and move on from there, not thinking about how the two contribute to the brand identity. While logos are important (and we have written countless times of their importance to branding), for this article, we will focus on web design and why it’s important to your brand.
Website design is as relevant as ever to a brand and there is no substitute for a well-designed and developed website. Your business’s online presence is a vital component to a marketing strategy, and it could be the most important factor for a brand identity for an ecommerce business since all transactions are conducted over the internet.
Web design is important to your brand, and here are a few reasons why:
Graphics and Typography
This should go without being written: the graphics on your website should not simply be thrown on without evaluating its contribution to the brand. It’s still common to go on a website that has graphics that have nothing to do with their brand and disrupts the flow of the web design. If you don’t do graphic design work for your business, seek help from a graphic design agency that can analyze your brand identity and give you graphics that will make sense for your brand. In addition, avoid too many iStock photos, as that would make your website look too basic and not differentiate your business from others.
The typography of a website—which at first seems like a tiny detail— is a foundational aspect of your branding. If your brand is minimalistic, avoid funky or scripted fonts that will distract from your identity. It’s interesting to think that a customer will look at your typography and feel an emotional connection to your brand, but that’s exactly what happens when people visit your website.
Branding through Web Content
Creative content is imperative to have for many reasons; search engine marketing (SEM), search engine optimization (SEO), and educating/entertaining your clients are a few of the outcomes of creative content. Don’t be afraid to film videos of yourself or your business to put on your website, as it also falls under the creative content category and can add some originality to your web design. All of those components are important to your branding, but how can you compose a content strategy that tailors your website to your brand?
One of the simplest measures to take is to have weekly or biweekly blog posts. This fuels your SEM and SEO very easily, but it also needs to fit your brand. If you have a business that is branded for luxury, avoid blogs posts that are too playful or distracting from the simplicity of luxury. In addition, your landing pages and interior pages should all have content that will give your website higher rankings on Google, and should fit your web design layout. Ensure that your headers have meaningful keywords in your web design and that some images are included in your content as well.
Branding, Trust, and your Web Design
Ultimately, the world as we know it is mostly on the internet, and careful research is usually done before a call-to-action button is clicked by a potential client. No matter the company or industry, every brand wants to feel trusted by the consumer. Your web design should convey that level of honesty and humility that should lie at the foundation of your brand that would convince your potential customers to give you their business.
Trust can be conveyed through many artifacts on your website. It could be the layout, the graphics, typography and content. Either way, if trust is important to your business, incorporate it into your web design. Don’t let potential clients on to your website without illustrating to them that your business is not a scam and is going to provide them with a product or service that will be very valuable to them.
If you need assistance in building a website or need help connecting your web design with your brand identity, feel free to reach out to us at Mad Mind Studios and we can provide you with creative direction.