Any form of branding essentially means being recognized. A positive website
brand image means that your potential customers will recognize your brand and begin to associate that brand with
a particular product or range of products. In achieving this, those same customers will begin to turn to your brand
when they need the product you sell or require information that you provide.
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Branding Is More Than A Pretty Logo
A lot of websites and website owners mistakenly believe that creating a brand means a compelling and relevant name,
and well designed logos and web pages. While these are a part of website branding, they are far from being the
whole story. In fact, every aspect of your website and online business needs to convey your brand image. This includes
design, narrative voice, advertising, and marketing. Customer communication is equally as important, and provides
the opportuníty to strengthen your brand even further.
Your Target Market
Branding needs to concentrate on the target market you are aiming to attract. Market research and some competitor
analysis will usually garner you with relevant information regarding the people you are aiming to attract. What
products and services are they looking for? What information do they want access to? Do they expect to be able
to interact with you or other members of your online community? These are all important questions that you not
only need to ask but answer as well.
The most effective branding will also consider the demographics of a target market. Age, sex, nationality, religion,
and disposable income bracket are important factors. Again, the savvy online business owner should have at least
a reasonable understanding of their target market demographics. Knowing this information ensures that you not only
create a brand, but that you create a relevant and powerful brand that is attractive to the right people.
What's In A Name? Everything
The first aspect of your brand is your company or website name. It doesn't necessarily have to portray the products
you sell, but it does need to be memorable. Brands like Google and Ebay relay little about the service they provide
but they are short, catchy, and easy to remember. You can consider other aspects of branding when choosing a name
– PayPal clearly conveys the fact that the service is related to paying and payments, while the addition of the
word Pal implies that the service is user friendly and intuitive. It still sticks to the format of being short
and memorable; the use of alliteration making the name roll off the tongue even easier.
Domain Names
Once you've determined a brand name and ensured that domain names and company names are available, it's time to
register domaíns. .com domaíns are the most effective because they are the ones that we, as surfers,
generally remember. We may remember a company name and forget the domain extension. Nine times out of ten we would
add .com as the extension and hope to find the right site. It will pay, in the long run, to purchase a number of
domains including regional domains (.eu, .co.uk, etc...) and others. Some potential customers like to deal with
local firms and these customers will use local extensions.
Headers And Logos
Many websites now utilize a header rather than a true logo. Whichever option you plump for, it is usually a good
idea to have your graphic designed by a professional. This design can cost $100 upwards but the results should
be more than worth it. A logo will appear on all communication you send to customers, every page of your website,
every newsletter, brochure, and virtually any other form of communication or promotional material. It needs to
be strong and instantly memorable to prove effective.
Providing The Brand Your Market Wants
The design of your website and other online media needs to be attractive, but it needs to provide the level of
usability and functionality that your target market expect. Website design, in particular, needs to be easy on
the eye, give simple guidance to the most important parts of the page, and appear professional. It should also
cater to your target market. A younger audience will gladly appreciate a more modern design, while the older generations
may prefer a classic and more simple design.
Bringing all aspects of design together in all of your media is important. If you intend to use video marketing
as a tool to drive traffic and promote your brand, then you need to try and include your logo and a link to your
website within that video. Emails, newsletters, faxes, and invoices should largely match the design of your site
and should certainly include any logo you have.
Website Content And Narrative Voice
Narrative voice is another important facet of website branding. The main reason that we go online and search for
certain terms is to find out more about that term, and not usually to directly purchase a product. As such, website
content should provide the information that your visitors are looking for and throughout your website and other
media you need to convey the same type of voice.
Websites that are geared towards individual consumers can adopt a more friendly and personable style. This conveys
an image that you and your brand are equally friendly and personable – an attractive perception to most consumers.
B2B websites can approach content in a more formal and businesslike manner. CEOs and other business executives
prefer to know that their budget is being spent on a professional service that will deliver, rather than push an
amicable brand.
Giveaways To Promote Brand Awareness
Offering free newsletters or promotional giveaways is an excellent way to kick start your website's popularity.
It provides visitors with the information they crave and it provides you with an opportuníty to further
enhance your new brand. Blogs, forums, and web applications provide similar advantages and they convince visitors
to bookmark your pages and visit more frequently. This, in turn, helps to improve brand awareness and makes your
brand much more memorable to your visitors.
Start creating content for use outside of your site. Articles, videos, blog posts, and news stories are all good
material that can be branded effectively and distributed in various areas of the Internet. This extra push will
help to improve your brand image because it will begin to convey you as being an expert within your field. It will
give you and your brand greater exposure and will also help drive traffic to your website.
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