5 Design Tips for Creating a Successful Online Brand
Use these design tips to create a positive and memorable first impression.
Your online brand is the face of your business and is the first thing that your customers will connect with. Get the design right and you will find that most of the hard work is done for you when it comes to conveying what it is about your business that makes you unique. Let’s face it, first impressions count so why settle for second best when it comes to the design of your digital calling card?
Here, we give you our five best tips for helping you build a successful online brand.
What is Your Online Brand?
Just like your headed paper, business cards, company livery, uniforms etc, your online brand should be a recognisable and relatable design concept that creates a unique impression of your business. However, it is the impression of that brand (the recognition) that is actually the brand itself.
Confused? Don’t be. You can employ various methods to suggest what your brand should be but, by definition, your brand is actually just a concept that exists in the minds of the people that recognise it.
Your design strategy to create this recognition should be used with consistency across all of your digital content and reflect the personality, core values and services of your company.
The main place where an online brand is made prominent is on a company website but can also be seen across social media accounts such as Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Twitter and all of those places your business is represented online including advertising.
When in Rome…
Known as the capital of the world, all roads are said to lead to Rome and you should consider your website in the same way as the ‘Eternal City’.
Just like the beautiful city of Rome, your website should evoke emotion, be memorable and be built with the kind of quality that stands the test of time.
Remember that all aspects of your web design have the power to influence a person’s subconscious so make your choice of colours, fonts and images just as important as the content itself. There are plenty of design tools to help you achieve this as well as appropriate style advice that can be applied to your business, service or products.
It’s worth remembering that colour can increase brand recognition by as much as 80%. Did you know that blacks and golds are universal colours associated with luxury, whilst blue is considered a calming or peaceful hue? Or that a comic sans font is not considered ‘professional’? Black and white images are often more thought provoking and moody whilst abstract images can be considered contemporary but may also be misinterpreted.
Colour can evoke a strong subliminal and emotional response.
However you come to your design choices for your website and however you want to promote your online brand, invest in a quality design that is both responsive and functional. Don’t forget the golden rules of modernist design; form follows function.
Just remember, that Rome was famously not built in one day; your website is where you want to lead your customers and you should take your time to make it worth their while.
Be Original and Show Personality
With few exceptions, your online brand should offer more than just a clinical representation of their business. Whilst our first tip is all about the ‘look’, strong conversion figures are achieved by offering your visitors some personality; after all, beauty is only skin deep, right?
Businesses that lay down their core values, principles and show some character in their online brand appeal far more to customers than those that simply go over the motions.
This doesn’t mean sacrificing professionalism to follow the latest ‘wacky’ trends or promoting your business in a false light.
Be true to your business ethos but don’t be afraid to show who you are; it’s known as anthropomorphism and allows your customers to connect with your company as a living thing rather than a faceless corporation. Even a formal tone can reflect a personality; sure, it’s an authoritative one which may well suit your approach to branding but consider exactly what you want your online ‘voice’ to sound like.
Trust is Built With Consistency
According to many marketers, one of the most damaging impacts you can have on a brand is inconsistency.
It’s not rocket science when you think about it. A successful brand is one that is memorable and an inconsistent design across your online platforms can be confusing and lead to mistrust.
Whether this is your logo, colour design, style or the tone of ‘voice’ of your content you should focus on creating consistent actions, messages and visuals in order to achieve consistent results.
Successful online brands start with good website design.
Less is More
There’s a lesser known quote by the Serbian poet, Dejan Stojanović, that minimalism is not about deprivation but about intentionality; this applies to the design choices you make for your online brand. Being concise, using brevity and making your design simple and clean is an effective way to add to your user’s experience and not deprive them in any way.
Websites that are overtly ‘feature-rich’ busy with images, videos and slick functionality can sometimes be confusing and may result in visitors bouncing from, instead of engaging with, your site
When it comes to designing a memorable and impactful online brand sometimes the minimalist approach can deliver far more than you think.
Opace and Digital Marketing
Opace is a digital marketing agency that offers a range of design and strategy development services to help your business achieve success online. From helping you create a memorable brand that delivers consistent content with original design to working with you to achieve your business goals, our customers trust us to deliver their online brand.
Forward-thinking, honest, creative, flexible and with a no-nonsense approach, you can find out more about why we should be working together by contacting one of our team, today.
Image credits: MaxPixel, and Mukesh Yadav/Pexels.
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