Do you want your website to actually reach customers?
Many entrepreneurs approach web design and brand messaging as if they're totally different processes. One is making a beautiful website over here, and the other is crafting the brand voice over there. And, well, in case you haven't noticed, we're now living in a totally disconnected world full of consumers who are completely overwhelmed by a myriad of information.
However, the good news is that if you make sure that you align your web design and brand messaging, the world will start to magically work for you.
The visitor will get who you are and what you're offering immediately.
Here's the checklist…
Table of Contents
- Why Brand Alignment Is Vital for Web Design
- Core Elements of Brand-Aligned Design
- Putting It All Together: A Step-by-Step Guide
- Mistakes to Avoid When Syncing Design With Brand Messaging
- Wrapping It Up
Why Brand Alignment Is Vital for Web Design
Hold on a second…
When we're saying that you should make your brand and website work hand-in-hand, we're not merely talking about the general concept of making all your digital stuff look more or less like your offline stuff. Your website is your brand's online house.
This is the place where first impressions take place. You know, for better or for worse, 75% of users judge a company's credibility based on its website design alone.
And that's a big, fat deal…
Think about it this way. You see someone walk into a lavish store with fancy chandeliers in their ceiling and kitschy wallpapers on the walls. Well, what would that tell you about the brand? At the same time, if you would see this poor store's website, would it be easy to imagine that it was owned by the same person who was madly in love with these hall decors? Let me guess, NO.
And that is why companies who invest in professional Bay Area web design services understand this concept thoroughly. If you work in collaboration with web design services companies that are aware of this issue and know how to solve it, you can see how it will work wonders for your business.
Right now, businesses that maintain consistency across all touchpoints see revenue increases up to 23%. Don't take it from us; take it from the hard stats.
Core Elements of Brand-Aligned Design
In order for you to get this alignment to work for you, there are a few elements you should take into consideration.
Get one of them out of balance, and the whole universe will fall.
Visual Consistency
First of all, this is the thing. This is a vital, you need it at all times, and every single small detail matters. If the color of your logo is not coherent with the color scheme of your brand, the chance to get your brand recognized by the audience you're trying to reach will fall by up to 80%.
But it's not all about colors.
Make sure your typography is on-brand too. Make sure your copy matches what you do with your visual elements. These two go hand in hand.
Finally, the style of the images, as well as their subject matters, should support your brand as well.
Messaging Alignment
The right tone of voice used on your website should correspond with the voice your brand uses. If you are goofy and chatty when you talk to your customers, that's the voice you should use on your website as well.
A business's tone and manner of writing varies from website to website. The majority of businesses seem to use their website as a medium of communication which is completely different from other sources of marketing they might be involved in.
Make sure that this doesn't happen with you.
User Experience (UX) Match
Lastly, if your brand promise lies on being simple, straightforward, and to the point, make sure that your navigation structure and general website experience will be no-brainer.
If you have decided to become the type of brand that stands for premium service, don't ever forget that the user experience your website provides is your first customer touchpoint.
If it fails, your entire brand might fail.
Putting It All Together: A Step-by-Step Guide
If you want your web design to sync with your brand messaging and are done with searching for the ways to make it happen, follow this process.
Brand Foundation
Before you take a single step in the direction of creating or even modifying your website design, start with getting super clear about your brand itself.
- Brand values
- Unique value proposition
- Audience
- Brand voice
- Brand personality
These are the things that should inform your design decisions further on.
Website Audit
The next step would be analyzing the website you currently have and asking yourself the following questions.
- Do our design choices match who we are as a brand?
- Is our messaging aligned throughout the website?
- Can visitors figure out who we are within seconds?
- Are we actually delivering on our brand promise?
Get really honest with yourself when answering these questions.
Create Brand Guidelines
The next step is to document your findings and create guidelines that will help you to go through all aspects of your brand and ensure that they're aligned.
- Colors
- Typography
- Image guidelines
- Voice and tone
Execute Consistently
Time to create/build your website! Your brand guidelines now serve as your holy grail. Every design choice you make and every piece of content you create should be aligned with your brand guidelines.
Doesn't it sound like something?
When it's all said and done, and everything is aligned, all of a sudden your visitors will have a seamlessly cohesive experience and will start building trust in your brand in the blink of an eye.
Mistakes to Avoid When Syncing Design With Brand Messaging
You should have got an idea about the things you need to do in order for your website to align with your brand. But what about the things you shouldn't do?
Here are the main offenders businesses often commit (don't be like them)…
Stock Photos Galore
Nothing screams "we don't care" like generic stock photos. Using these overused pics on your website is the fastest way to ruin your authentic and personal brand perception.
Inconsistent Messaging Tone
One of the most annoying things to witness is a friendly-sounding homepage and full-on legal-type copy on the rest of the product pages. This is one of the most common mistakes we see online, and, yes, visitors hate it.
Mobile Neglect
Brand should translate across all channels. Desktop website design that looks broken on mobile will speak volumes about your attention to detail.
Trend Chasing
Stay true to your brand when it comes to design. That flashy trend that looks cool may be a total mismatch for what you're trying to represent. Don't fall for it!
Wrapping It Up
Syncing your web design with your brand messaging isn't a new concept. You should be well aware of the fact that it's not an option anymore.
But now you've got a deeper understanding of the how and the what and you can finally start making sure that every visual element, every piece of copy on your website would align and would result in visitors getting who you are and what you're about immediately.
You will instantly start seeing:
- Recognition
- Trust
- Instant communication
- Ease of use
- Higher conversion rates
Businesses that are doing that are outperforming their competitors big time. It's that simple.
So make sure that you first audit your current website and make a note of all the gaps between your website and your brand. Then you will want to systematically start bridging these gaps until you have nothing left but a perfect blend of design and messaging that tells the exact same story about your brand.
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