The Importance of Branding in 2020

What\'s your 2020 business vision?

It\'s the start of a New Year and a brand new decade!

When making your resolutions, have you thought about ones for your business? What\'s your 2020 business vision?

Does your current branding support this or does it seem like the two are following very different paths?

Here at Holly Small Design, we have decades of experience in making sure your branding aligns to your business strategy and this means focusing on creating a website that meets all of your business needs.

Why is it important for your website to reflect your brand and strategy?

Your website is the customer gateway to the services you offer. It needs to represent what your business stands for, the services it provides, and the audience you are trying to target.

If it doesn\'t, you run the risk of losing potential business from the audience you want to reach which can have devastating effects for your business and a significant amount of money wasted.

We work closely with you so we can understand exactly what you want to achieve, what your goals are so that you have a website completely aligned to your needs, and one that brings in the right clients. There are many things to consider, and as a business owner, you may not have the time or endurance to create and manage a website yourself…this is where we can work with you and help.

First Things First

The first things you need to really look at and nail down is:

• Who do you want to visit your website?
• What are they looking for? Are they looking for specific products? Are they interested in a certain service?
• What is the main action you want them to take once they land on your website? For example, is it to book in an initial call? Or is it to place an order for a certain amount/product?

A website designer should be looking into the soul of your business to clearly understand its goals, vision purpose. And this is exactly how we work at Holly Small Design.

To customise or not to customise?

For many, the perceived affordability of off the shelf website templates makes this an easy decision for some business owners. But is it the right one?

While you can choose from pre-defined templates and make limited changes to content, it can be quite restrictive.  You may find that your branding efforts are being shaped by the selection of templates and fonts available to you.

A bespoke website, gives you much more freedom, allowing you to create a website AROUND your branding, not the other way around.

Content, Content, Content.

You\'ve now got your website looking spot on but wait….you\'re not finished yet!

What about the detail and information you want to provide your target audience? How many pages do you need?

Content is something that requires planning and careful wording. The last thing you want is for potential customers to leave your site halfway through a page, never to return again.

Take time to understand the journey you want your customers to go on and with that, how to show the value of your brand consistently across all pages so that their last action is one that gets you that order or contact.

The nitty gritty of the customer journey.

Online sales are expected to grow by another 30% by 2024 and if you want a piece of that market, make sure the customer experience from start to finish is simple and memorable.  Adding e-commerce functionality is no longer complex, but again, it\'s all about consistency.

Does the shopping cart page need to follow suit with the rest of the site? Do you need to manage inventory levels? How will you accept payments?

See yourself as your potential customer for a moment and spend time to walk through the journey yourself to identify what it should look like and what it will require.

Always keep in your mind that your website must be consistent, usable and easy to navigate.

Team effort.

Here at Holly Small Design, we work very closely with you from start to finish so that we are all on the same page with what you\'re looking to achieve.

With our years of experience, we may suggest improvements as we go along.  There will always be changes needed, but honesty is key and its important that if you don\'t like a suggestion or are not happy with the way something is done, that you raise this as soon as you can so we can work with you on the changes until you\'re happy.

Finding the perfect partner.

The relationship between a business owner and a web design agency is a crucial one.  For it to be successful, you need to select the right web design agency who can bring your vision to life.   Do your research, set up calls and meet them for an initial chat.

Take a look at their previous work and don\'t be shy of asking questions.

Remember that your website is the first thing customers will see about your business. And first impressions always count.

If you\'re interested in what we can do for you and would like to see our previous projects or be put in touch with some of our clients for their feedback, please get in touch, we\'re looking forward to hearing from you!