Why solidifying your brand identity is an important step in building a website
Quick check-in: do you feel like you’ve got a name, maybe a logo and a few colors, so that means your branding is done?
If you said, “Yes…why wouldn’t I?” you are not alone. It’s SO common for business owners to underestimate what goes into a comprehensive brand.
Let’s assess
Answer a few questions that will help us determine if what you’re doing is working:
- Do you have a huge network of people who know your name?
- Do you already have recognition within your community and legitimacy as a business?
- Are clients falling over themselves to work with you?
If the answer is “yes” to any of these, then congrats! It sounds like you have a pretty concrete brand identity. If you answered “no” to any of them, then what you’re currently doing for branding is not enough.
Why does this matter?
The way you represent yourself as a business is immensely important to potential clients. If you have a “good enough for now” attitude, it’s going to show. And it’s very likely that your ideal client is looking for the best, not good enough.
Cohesive branding is what takes care of that. A strong brand identity carries over into your website, your messaging, your marketing, and your interaction with potential clients. So let’s get into what branding even is exactly.
People often confuse a logo with a brand, but these two things are not interchangeable. Your brand is your reputation within your community. It’s the way they see you or how they speak about you. Your logo, color palette, fonts, image treatments, this is what we would call your brand’s identity, or your visual representation.
If it’s in your budget, it really is best to work with a designer for this part. They’re the experts here, so they’ll facilitate the process in an easy and fun way. However, this can be really pricey so it’s totally okay to DIY. (Pro-tip, if you have a friend who is a designer and they’re open to trading services, totally do that!) If you are working with a designer, make sure they know you want branding as well as identity and a logo (if necessary).
When I work on branding packages for my clients, we dive into a lot of the same background information that we’ve covered so far in the first three parts of this series. After we nail down the “big picture” items, we get to the fun part which is crafting a visual identity. It’s a creative and collaborative process that often produces unexpected results.
Following this process will help you feel confident about how your business is represented. When you look good, you feel good! And it will enable you to have a consistent look and feel on your website, which in turn builds a sense of trust and legitimacy within your community.
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And there you have it! That’s a wrap for part 4. Since you’re here, I’m going to throw out a wild guess and assume you’re in need of a new (or improved) website. The good news is that you don’t need to wing it – you can plan for it. Grab the Fearless Website Workbook and plan like a pro.
