Your web site is often the first impression your company makes, so your site's look and feel should reflect the character and professionalism of your organization. Though there are lots of elements that help define your brand, we'll focus here on the visual look and feel.
It's often tempting to treat your web site as a departure point for exploring creative possibilities in developing the company's "new look," but this is often a mistake. Your customers need to know that they've found the right URL when they visit your site, even if your company hasn't yet developed a comprehensive brand identity program. If possible, use the same color schemes, font styles, graphic elements, and logos that you're using in other materials. Not only does this leverage your previous marketing investments, it builds consistency and trust with your audience while reinforcing your visual identity.
A key strategy for building successful brands is to consistently deliver a quality experience. This concept carries over to your customer's experience on your site. Visitors notice your site's "fit and finish," so take some extra time to polish what they'll see. Take an extra pass at your copy to eliminate typos, and use a consistent template for your page layouts so elements like copy and navigation don't jump around from page to page.
Finally, make sure to test your site thoroughly using the same environments your users will, using different operating systems, browsers, and screen settings. What your designer sees on their Mac using a 30" Apple Cinema Display and Safari browser could look markedly different from what your customer sees on his Dell laptop using Firefox.
About the Author
Dan Wilson is a marketing consultant who has been helping companies reach the next level through their communications efforts for over 14 years. Dan's passion for helping clients achieve their goals has led to many successful campaign launches for Fortune 1000 companies. Dan also served for several years on the program advisory panel for UC Davis Extension, developing course curriculum for and teaching web design and multimedia courses. Dan holds an AA in Art and a BS in Business Marketing, and is a Principal and Founder of MarketDifference Communications Group, a brand development and marketing communications firm based in the Sierra Foothills.
