Branding and Your Website

The June edition of The Business Review USA is now live!

By: Adam Groff

Considering the average attention span of Internet users is around three-seconds per web page, if your company has something to say, they better say it fast and effectively.

Web design and branding might as well be synonymous if your company wants to get its message across.

And, in order for branding efforts not to be in vain, there are a few simple guidelines every business should follow.

Tidy Up the Typography

It may seem like a minor detail, but the font on your company’s website could be seriously damaging to your branding.

In regards to consistency alone, if your font sizes are all over the charts or the styles differ from one page to the next, you could be losing traffic.

Likewise, your website needs to set typography expectations early on and follow through with them all the way to the FAQ page.

For example, if your business uses a simple title, subhead, body layout, don’t suddenly change things up for the sake of being fresh – it’ll throw the visitor off.

Too Busy

The only thing worse than a poorly designed website is if that website is hidden underneath a jumble of various colored text, pointless links, pop-up ads, clipart, and photos. Clean and streamlined will come off as more professional and keep visitors interested.

Despite what you might think, your business doesn’t have to get every bit of information on the landing page. Instead, spread things out over a few pages, but just remember to include the call to action and contact info on the homepage.

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Break Things Up

Going along with the streamlined look, snippets are always better than blocks when it comes to text. So, break up large blocks of text into smaller, more manageable paragraphs so the reader doesn’t think they’re looking at a novel.

Also, the more headers the better; by breaking up information into to subheadings, the reader can easily choose exactly what they want to read instead of dragging their feet through information they may already know.

Navigation Complications

Visitors shouldn’t need a degree in web design to figure out how to get from the homepage to the product or contact page. If the navigation tools on your company’s website are either too complicated or non-existent, re-engineer them.

All the navigation tools for a website should be front and center or down the side of the homepage; they should follow the same layout and be in the same location from one page to the next so visitors don’t get lost.

Be Consistent, Not Boring

There is a huge difference between web design that’s boring and web design that’s consistent, so don’t construe the guidelines above as bland. Color schemes, smart graphic design, and an intuitive layout are both exciting and consistent.

Just remember, web design that exemplifies your company’s branding doesn’t happen overnight. Websites take weeks to build and the design aspect takes up a large part of that time.

If your company’s branding efforts are being squashed by bad web design, start from fresh and see where it takes your brand.

About the Author: Adam Groff is a freelance writer and creator of content. He writes on a variety of topics including social media, David Kiger, and personal health.