In my earlier years of building my real estate business, branding was a foreign word to me. I didn’t know the importance of it and how much it would come to affect my business, and essentially, my professional image.
When I started my blog three years ago, I knew what I wanted my website to look like. I had he visuals of design ad colours set out in my mind and knew the vibe I wanted to create when someone visited my website. Your entire website is part of your client’s experience, as is your email newsletter and your social media presence. So, I want you to ask yourself this question… Is your branding consistent online? If it is, that’s fantastic and not many people can answer yes to this question. If not, this is where I come in to lead you into the right path.
By branding your business and creating consistency online, it’s going to help you get noticed online. Think about it. How many times have you seen an image while scrolling through Pinterest or Instagram and immediately known whose content it was without even looking at the username? That’s because that person has a spent time on what they envision their brand to be and has thus created a strong brand identity.
A strong brand identity shows that you have put both thought and effort into creating a great experience for your readers and customers. And the aesthetics of your site can definitely impact whether or not someone will come back to read your next blog post or ultimately make a purchase of a product or service you offer. If you’re sharing images and graphics that are poor quality or you have a messy, cluttered web design, it’s likely you won’t be attracting all the page views you’re hoping for.
You should create a consistent, quality experience for your customers when branding your business. From your blog posts, the products and services you offer, your checkout process, and your entire client experience, you should effectively represent your brand.
So, what makes up a successful brand? You want to ensure that you’ve got the look and feel of your site exactly how you want it to be and focus on how that will resonate with your clients. Your logo, the colors you use, and the graphics you create can all covey a certain feeling. How do you want your readers and customers to feel when they visit your website for the first time?
But branding your business is more than just how your website looks. Sure, having the perfect logo is essential, but you need to think beyond that. The voice that shows through in your writing should be a representative of your brand. You should keep that in mind as you craft your blog posts, copy for your sales pages, your social media updates, etc.
When you’re ready to get serious about branding your business, I highly recommend reaching out to someone who does branding and design work. Consulting with someone else is a great way to talk through your ideas and bring them to life. Of course, if you’re a designer, you’ll likely do your branding yourself! I am not a designer, nor do I have any background in designing logos, websites, etc. But I had a passion and my creativity allowed me to experiment with logos and colours and n the end was able to create my own website using Squarespace as well as incorporating ideas I had noted over the last few years.
Remember that your brand extends further than your website. You should also brand your social media platforms by using the same profile photo across all the platforms, creating header images that fit your brand, and writing in the same way you would for your blog.
With Love | Nikki