A small business is free to approach the brand building process from different angles, but the simple truth is that your website should make the starting point. It doesn’t take a marketing expert to figure out why – your website is a genuine brand fortress and the first thing customers are looking for when they want to learn more about your company.
According to the study, a staggering 94% of first impressions are closely related to your site’s web design. This can mean only one thing – you have to create a beautiful and highly functional website for your small business in order to attract customers.
But how do you build a memorable brand with web design?
It’s a combination of strategic planning and following the best practices of web design. The goal is to emphasize brand personality without breaking the key principles of modern design. In this post, we will show you seven ways to do that.
1. Keep It Simple
Too many entrepreneurs fall into trap of adding too many elements to their websites, so the whole thing ends up looking intricate, sloppy, and amateurish. Is this how you really want customers to perceive your brand?
We hope the answer is no, so we recommend keeping the small business website simple. The tip is particularly important for the homepage because that’s where most users get first. As an example, let’s see the only elements that the average homepage really needs:
- A header with a headline, subheading, and hero image or video
- An elevator pitch along with key product benefits
- Featured products or services
- Reinforcing statement and social proof
This is usually more than enough to design a perfect homepage, while everything else is just an unnecessary show-off.
2. Emphasize the Logo
Every business has a logo because it represents an anchor of the visual identity. In other words, a logo is one of the most important features of the entire brand and you’ll see it on every website.
Luckily enough, logo positioning is a no-brainer as you only need to place it in the upper left corner of the website. It’s a must-follow rule of branding and web design since users tend to consume content according to the F-Shaped Pattern.
A typical visitor will start reading from left to right across the upper section of a webpage. In such circumstances, positioning your logo in the upper left corner guarantees to make the brand symbol highly visible.
3. Pick the Right Color Scheme
Do you know that every color has a very specific meaning and connotation? You read it right – colors like green or white or purple have their own symbolism, so making a color scheme for your website becomes a critical aspect of brand building.
For example, IT companies like IBM typically rely on the color blue to highlight trust and authority. On the other side, brands such as Coca-Cola use red to send a message of passion and energy.
You should do the same thing with your color scheme. Try to find the combination of colors that matches your brand style and use it while designing the website.
4. Add Eye-Pleasing Images
People process images significantly faster than plain text, which is why designers add appealing visuals to the websites they’re making. Your imagination is the limit here and you can play with images any way you want, but try to follow a few basic rules:
- Always make sure that your images correspond with the webpage copy.
- Don’t overuse visual content. A single meaningful image is usually better than two or more.
- It must be a high-quality visual.
- Avoid generic stock photos that anyone can find in free photo libraries.
5. Choose the Finest Font for Your Site
If you think typography is irrelevant in web design, you are probably a fan of Times New Roman (aka one of the most boring fonts in the digital universe). We urge you to choose the finest font for your website because it tells a lot about your business.
Once again, it depends on the overall style of your company and the way you want customers to perceive the brand. For instance, some small businesses play the nostalgia card and use retro fonts such as Palm Canyon Drive or Transistor. Others like modern typography and they end up using Futura PT or Mantra.
You have the freedom to choose the font for your small business website, so make sure to do it properly.
6. Let the Words Speak the Brand Language
Another thing we need to mention is that words make some 90% of website content. This means that your brand building strategy largely depends on how you write website copies. You can be anything you want – witty, passionate, mysterious, informative, etc. – as long as it suits your brand.
Let’s say you are running an IT company and using clear typography for copywriting.
In this case, you probably need posts that are highly informative, authoritative, and actionable. Perhaps there is room for a small dose of humor every now and then, but the average visitor does not expect you to be an entertainer. You are an educator and your text posts should prove it.
7. Beware of Consistency
A report reveals that it takes five to seven impressions for customers to remember a brand. But if your web design is not consistent, how can you make people remember your company?
The easiest way to ensure branding consistency in web design is to apply all of the previous suggestions from our list to every webpage you create. We are talking about consistency in terms of colors, typography, copywriting, and imagery.
If you do it like that, rest assured every page on your website will scream: This is my brand!
Let Big Site Media Build a Stunning Website for You!
Web design tricks we discussed above may seem intimidating if you are building a website for the first time in your career. We totally understand your position as it is the main reason why we launched Big Site Media.
Our web design team will make a perfect website for your company, so you won’t have to bother with anything else but your business. Our website design solutions will not only help you to attract more customers but also to build a memorable brand that can have a long-lasting impact on the target audience. Give us a call and we’ll show you how!
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