Thoughts On Building And Maintaining Your Image Online
When casual visitors stop by your website, what do you think is the first thing that strikes them? It’s the quality of your website design! Remember: Every website visitor is a prospective client. And every prospect that walks away because of website designing flaws, is revenue that you could have potentially earned – but now wont.
But lost revenue is probably the least of your worries. Have you considered the “hit” to your brand image and reputation that a shoddy website can deliver?
It’s All About Branding
A good web design service will tell you: It’s all about branding! In the hypothetical case of a “lost visitor” above, you may lose out on a couple of hundred Euros (or Pounds) worth of sale with this one deal that didn’t close. But that single visitor could influence about 155 other Facebook friends (that’s the number of average friends a Facebook user has. ( https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/12108412/Facebook-users-have-155-friends-but-would-trust-just-four-in-a-crisis.html ).
Assuming those friends, and their friends in turn, hear about the less than perfect browsing experience, in theory at least, poor web design could cause your brand to receive 24,025
(155 x 155) negative impressions – within a few minutes of that initial visit. Now – isn’t that a scary thought?
Branding is what resonates with first-time visitors, making them want to come back again, and again…and again. And a website designing agency that can create a good brand impression for clients, will also ensure that others in the online universe hear about your brand.
The question now is: What should you do on/with your website, in order to build and maintain your brand?
Web Site Design Branding Guidelines
There is no real “secret sauce” to ensuring your online presence projects your brand. However, the secret lies in how well the web designing services you work with follow these
common-sense guidelines:
1) Think First: Before you embark upon your branding journey, make sure you understand what you want your brand to stand for. Think in terms of single words (Service. Quality. Honesty. Choice), or small statements (“We’ll beat any price!”. “Satisfaction comes naturally!”) to get a sense of what your website should convey.
2) Be Conscious About Colours: IBM = Blue. Coke = Red. Decide up-front what colour palette you wish to use to identify with, and then use that scheme across your website. A word of advice: Choose one (or no more than two) primary colours that will dominate the theme, and then blend them with secondary (or tertiary) colours that either match or contrast each other for effect.
3) Chose Fonts and Typefaces Judiciously: If your web designer has a penchant for using too many fonts or styles across the site, it’s time for you to have a polite conversation with
him/her. Researchers agree that too many different fonts and typefaces tend to disorient readers. In the ensuing confusion, visitors and prospective clients can’t relate to the
brand message you are trying to convey.
4) Watch Your Tone: How your website designer writes content or formats layout sets the tone of your brand. Excessive use of bold letters and 20-pitch banners conveys an image that you are “shouting” or “screaming” at your audience. Also, remember whom you are appealing to: If your audience is people under the age of 20, then you need to set a tone that resonates with them.
5) Go Beyond Websites: Work with your web design agency to integrate all of these branding elements into every online presence that you maintain – not just your website. That means your Facebook pages, Twitter accounts and Instagram footprint should all reflect this brand. Image identity deviations across online media will lead to mass confusion amongst your followers/visitors.
As you can see, brand creation through good web site design isn’t all that complicated. However, as many entrepreneurs and website owners have learned the hard way – it takes skill, experience and commitment to initially build, and then maintain your brand. Deviating slightly from your plan could cast your brand negatively, driving traffic away from the site. That’s why it’s important to work only with web designing services that understand the process of branding and imaging well.
Good Branding = More Sales Conversions
The math is really simple: The better your web designer can project your brand’s image through your online presences, the more visitors you’ll be able to convert into paying customers. And the first step in good branding starts with having an open discussion with the web designing agency responsible for building and maintaining your brand.
And just as one single unimpressed visitor can give your website 24,025 bad reviews, a solitary visitor, who is impressed by your brand, can produce the inverse effect age promote your brand by referrals. But good web designing will not only boost the power of your brand’s image. It will also provide a powerful lift to your bottom line in terms of real revenue inflows.
Give us a call or email if you'd like to discuss any of the above.
