Web design and branding are intertwined. The moment the potential customers or target audience visit your website, the color themes applied, layout, tone of text, pictures and audio should be consistent with what your merchandise or service should look or feel physically, emotionally, and digitally to your intended audience.
THERE SHOULD BE NO CONFUSION
The website and its contents should coincide.
Have you ever found yourself on a website and you felt confused on whether you landed on the right spot? You were expecting a certain color theme, a specific company which you felt is authentic, a certain product or service which you need and you were directed to something else?
What if your website had contradicting data, cluttered design elements and functions and buttons that were unnecessary in the first place?
Because of the short attention span of most website visitors, and because there are thousands of other websites trying to get your attention, most likely, you will lose that prospective client forever.
BRANDING EXPLAINED
What you have read above is the result of a mismanaged branding strategy or actually a lack of a brand image, in the first place.
Branding, as defined by Entrepreneur, is the marketing act of creating a symbol, design or name that differentiates your product or service from the competition. A strong brand image together with an effective website with the coordinated color themes, layout, text, pictures and videos, will impact your target market and boost your sales.
PROVEN STATISTICS
The consistent presentation of your brand on a great website increases your revenue by 23 percent on the average. And, 54 percent of all shoppers turn to your brand’s website for the information they need, customer service support and the personalized shopping feel that they desire.
HIRE THE BRIGHT BRAND AND WEBSITE CREATORS
It is also important to hire the right people to create and sustain your brand. As for the technical aspect, it is also essential to get the right developers to build a website that is effective in communicating what your brand stands for, and what it can offer to fulfill your needs or wants.
You also need to determine if your brand and website people will be hired on a continued basis. This means you must pay them a salary, month after month, for the medium or long term. Or you can pay them on a per project basis so that you do not need to give them the benefits of regular employees.
EXPENSES ARE WORTH IT
You will be spending a bit at present for the strengthening of your brand image and the construction of your website. But it will all be worth it when the revenues come in to prove that all your efforts have paid off.
Along the way, you need to fine tune your brand image according to the fickleness of your customers and also the changing marketing strategies of your competitors.
You also need to revisit your website the next couple of weeks or months to see what information needs to be updated according to the needs of the season.