So you’re ready to build a website? Make sure your brand is website-ready.
In a world where it’s headline news that a brand gained 100 million followers on Instagram, it’s safe to say that branding is a thing business owners should show some love to!
Whether you’re just getting started or have been wheeling and dealing in business for some time, your branding is a muy important part because it’s how your customers align with your company and its core values. A well-thought-out brand strategy means you’re attracting your best customers.
When it comes to building your brand equity, one of the first things a business owner should do is create an online place to call home, better known as your website. Side note, you’re not really out here doing business without a website in 2019, right? 👀Whether you’re a DIY business owner and want to build your own website, or you want to whip out your virtual binoculars to find the best design and development team to fit your needs (ahem...🙋🏻♀️), you’ll want to make sure your business branding is ready for the website treatment. With the following pieces in place, you’ll have a seamless experience building your own site or working with your website design team!
Step 1: Have you defined your brand? This isn’t the easiest thing to do, so it’s understandable if not. If you find that you’re grasping at straws here, ask yourself the following questions:
- What is your company's mission?
- What are the benefits and features of your products or services?
- What do your customers and prospects already think of your company?
- What qualities do you want them to associate with your company?
You’ll want to learn the habits, needs and wants of your current and prospective customers. Don’t guess, do some research. A good old-fashioned survey is a perfect way to understand your current customers. If you’re still wondering where your customers even are, think of the places the customers you want would hang out and conduct your research there. Think about online communities to join, in-person networking groups to join, hashtags to follow on social media, etc.
Once you understand where you’re going with your brand strategy, build out the basic elements of your brand.
We tapped the amazing women from our Nicely Built design team, Lexi Stout and Savannah Colbert to chat about best brand-building practices to tackle before your website buildout.
You should already have a good idea of your brand when your website is being built. You'll need a logo, color palette, typefaces, image styles and a brand voice. The website is an extension of your brand for shoppers. It's better to be prepared and develop a web presence that matches and extends it. - Savannah
Best case scenario would be all the items mentioned above PLUS a brand guidelines document that defines consistent rules for using these items.
If possible, send along additional branded assets like business cards, brochures and packaging to provide a stronger sense of how your branding comes together and the messaging used to communicate with your audience.
For logo files, try to provide in vector format (most commonly .EPS). - Lexi
The more of these items you have on-hand, the deeper the value of the resulting new website. If you were working with us, for example, with all of your items in place, we'd have more time to spend beautifying your website as opposed to wasting time looking for brand assets.
So, are you ready to start building your online home? Let’s chat!
Glossary
Vector: Vector graphics files store the lines, shapes and colors that make up an image as mathematical formulae. Also known as EPS files.
Brand Guidelines: A brand style guide is a document that lays out how a company visually presents itself to the world.
Brand Asset: The consistent signals that make it easier for consumers to recognize and identify your brand.
Logo: A symbol or other design adopted by an organization to identify its products, uniform, vehicles, etc.
Color Palette: Refers to the range of colors selected that represent your brand.
Typeface: A particular design of type.
Brand Image Style: How you build your brand’s aesthetic using imagery.
Brand Voice: The personality and emotion infused into a company's communications.
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