How to create the best website design for your branding
Your brand will be showcased on many places online, including your website! Making sure that your site is representative of your brand story and mission, is crucial to making sure it speaks out to your ideal customers the way it is supposed to.
A website will appeal to the many senses of your audience, as well as them forming an emotional connection to your brand.
All elements of your website need to be on brand, and we’ll run through the main ones shortly in this blog post.
Website branding
This should convey exactly your brand’s colour palette, copy, and graphics. If your website design is inconsistent with your brand, then you’re risking missing out on a huge opportunity. Because whatever volume of traffic your site has the potential to have, that percentage of traffic to your business doesn't have the right perception of your brand.
Do a quick website audit of your site today! Or even better and to get an objective view, have a close friend or family member do the audit. During the audit, answer the following questions:
Do the colours used match the brand’s colour palette?
Does the font(s) used match the fonts used in the logo?
If the website uses any graphics, what vibe/feel are they creating? Does this match the feel of the logo and brand?
Are the photos used up to date? Do they create the right perception of the brand?
Brand personality
This is the personality, or set of traits your brand is made up of, and it’s how your consumers/audience feel about your brand.
When designing your website to correctly represent your brand, think about every element, like the way you’re speaking (copy), the font being used, the colours used and where and how you’re placing them.
There are five main brand personality types:
Sincerity; honest, wholesome cheerful
Excitement; daring, imaginative
Competence; Reliable, intelligent
Sophistication; Charming, upper-class
Ruggedness; Outdoorsy, tough
Have a think about where your brand fits in, and whether or not your website is fully representing that personality.
Website branding elements
Your logo
The most common place to have your logo on your website is on the Homepage, and more specifically, in the site header.
On Squarespace 7.1, you have various options of where to place your logo (like the below image shows) once you’ve uploaded it in .png format.
Squarespace 7.1 header layout
There is no one rule for where you have your logo on your site, as long as you have it placed quite prominently for your visitors to identify your brand.
Colour palette
The colour(s) used across your site will need to be the same as those used in your logo (which is the face of your brand).
As minimalist designers, we love the concept of less is more! So, think about how the colours will be placed in the background, on calls to actions (CTAs), on text, in graphics, and in the navigation. Also, it is important to think about the imagery and photography on your pages, and that your chosen colours aren’t distracting your users from them (especially if you’re a photographer, interior designer, etc).
Imagery or photography
The chosen imagery needs to be on brand! Meaning, your colour palette and imagery should complement each other.
However, of course if you’re a photographer or other creative, you may choose to have the majority of your images in a separate ‘portfolio’ or ‘gallery’ section, with mostly a white background colour. This will make sure your work stands out!
Graphics
Have a think about the feel of the graphics that you use too, if you choose to use them. If you want a completely minimal website, you might choose to not have any extras on your website.
Domain
You don’t want your domain name to be something completely irrelevant, right?! Choose a domain that contains your brand name, because this will certainly help your brand awareness too!
Website copy
When we talk about your ‘website copy’, this can consist of any of the following:
General copy across the site. Such as your tagline, & about section
CTAs
Blog posts
Forms (e.g. contact forms)
FAQs
The copy is one of the biggest elements to reflect your brand’s voice. The way in which you speak with your audience and customers is hugely dependent on who they are, what they do for a living, their age, their gender, etc, etc! And there is a reason why they’re following you and your brand.
The tagline is one of the most important parts of your homepage. It’s where your user lands and finds the first bit of copy, and this is where they either identify with, or don’t identify with your brand (basically, this is where you want to capture your ideal customer).
Check out our blog post on where we talk a little bit more about your tagline - How to attract your ideal customer online
Squarespace is one of THE best platforms to build your brand’s online presence! So if you’re ready, then do get in touch, friend.