Establishing Your Business Brand
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For centuries, branding has referred to a visual symbol or logo that represents your business. Today it includes everything from the way you answer to the phone to the amount you charge for your services. As the face of your business, your personal brand is also important.
If you haven’t yet built your brand, or you need to fine-tune your current brand, take some time to consider 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?
Source: The Basics of Branding, John Williams, Entrepreneur.com
If you’ve been in business for a while, you may already have a clearly defined brand. That’s great, because your brand should be the foundation of your website, influencing both the way it looks and the message it conveys.
Since your logo is a big part of that, I recommend you create your logo before, or as part of, your web design project. It’s easier to design a website around your logo than it is to design a logo that works well on an existing site.
Develop brand guidelines that includes not just your logo, but other visual elements, such as colors and fonts. Applying these standards consistently on all of your marketing materials will help to establish and reinforce brand recognition and show that you are a serious professional.
My next two posts will help you decide which colors and fonts should be part of your business brand.
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I totally agree! It makes designing a site so much easier when you have a logo already. Thanks for sharing your wisdom!
It’s easier to design a site without a logo than to try and modify the design afterwards if the new logo isn’t a good match!
I think branding is such an interesting topic. It actually applies to our personal lives in a way, even if we don’t have a business. Being aware of who we are, and what message we want people to hear every time they encounter us/our business, is critical.
That’s very true, Seana! There are even coaches who specialize in personal branding.