I feel you. At times, topics around branding and website design can be pretty daunting, especially when you’re trying to figure out what’s best for your small service-based business while juggling a million to-dos. To help you, let me bust 7 key branding and website design myths so that you’re enabled to make better decisions for the online presence of your growing business. Let’s jump in!
MYTH #1: BRANDING IS EXPENSIVE
As a brand and web designer for creatives, I hear that all the time. And sure, the investment for building timeless brands and websites that are strategy-based, and goal-focused - may run into the 4 or 5 figures. But consider this - the expense of losing dream clients and dream opportunities for your business just because your brand and website are subpar, is way more! And as I mentioned earlier, branding and website design is an investment into your future, leveled-up business rather than an expense if you choose to see it that way. So if you’ve been on the fence about the investment, I’d say make the leap with confidence!
MYTH #2: JUST A PRETTY-LOOKING LOGO IS GOOD ENOUGH
Not quite. Just a pretty-looking logo does not cut it when you’re trying to make your service business stand out in a saturated industry. Chances are if your brand identity is only about aesthetics, your brand won’t be as memorable and distinct from your competitors.
Aesthetics do matter and an expert brand designer will make sure that your logo design looks great. But more than that, with a professional brand identity system - you get a whole lot more. Starting with an in-depth brand strategy that pulls pieces from your business and ties them strategically with your ideal client values, needs, and aspirations to form a logical foundation for your brand to further build on it.
So you will end up with a great-looking logo that has meaning and a lot of character that will help attract and convert your dream clients!
MYTH #3: MY WHOLE LIFE & BUSINESS STORY SHOULD GO ON MY WEBSITE
Absolutely not! I get it though. You started your business for a reason and you’ve been building it purposefully. But just because you have so much to say, not all of it needs to live on your website for your visitors to have to go through and lose interest. Everything you write on your website should be geared toward pre-defined goals. The key is to present your website information in a concise way that keeps the visitor engaged and interested enough so that they take action like booking a call, filling out the contact form, or booking your services directly.
Keep it real but keep it short and sweet. To share more bits and pieces about your story, your business background, etc - the perfect way to make a personalized connection with your dream clients is by using social media. Take people behind the scenes with the help of stories, posts, etc. It’s a good way to create authentic content too!
MYTH #4: MY COMPETITOR IS DOING WELL, LET’S JUST COPY THEM
Never ever. There are a million reasons why that’s a very bad idea but let me state the basics. Every business is unique including yours. If your competitor is doing well that means that they have found their unique positioning and honed it to serve their clients in the best possible way. For your service business success, it’s important to create a clear, unique positioning, a memorable identity, and a website that portrays all of that cohesively to speak to your dream client. When you work with a brand and website designer, they have a well-crafted process that includes a lot of research, competitor analysis, industry study, etc based on which they are able to create a meaningful, fully custom brand that truly represents your business.
Blindly copying someone else’s branding and website design won’t help you create a connection with your dream clients and rather would have you end up looking like everyone else. So hopefully by now, you agree on how bad of an idea this is.
MYTH #5: THE RANDOM PHOTOS I HAVE ON MY IPHONE ARE PERFECT FOR MY WEBSITE
If you’re an introvert or a camera-shy person like me, I know how you feel about brand photography! But here’s the thing - even if professional brand photoshoots are not your thing, you do need a few decent pictures of yourself to go on your website and social media. So rope in a friend and get creative! Remember that the problem is not with the iPhone photos, it’s with bad lighting, random backgrounds, etc that make images look low quality and gives off a less than perfect impression to your website visitors. Here are a few tips to capture decent, consistent brand photos:
· Make sure you pick a spot/s with good natural light coming in. Face the light for best results (you can also turn on the studio light effect, and background blur feature that’s available on newer iPhones. These make regular photos look so professional, instantly!).
· Another great way to get a consistent look and feel for your brand and website design is color coordinating. Try and add in 1-2 colors from your brand color palette in your photos. Wearing something that has the color or adding a prop are cool ways!
· Choose either a plain background for your photos or a nice wall with some artwork. Make sure you add that blurry background effect and you’re good to go!
· And finally, be yourself and let your own personality shine :)
MYTH #6: MY WEBSITE SHOULD FOCUS ON ME
Nope! Your website is a marketing tool and more than that it is a sales tool. For effective sales, your website should be primed to focus on your ideal clients, their current situations, and their biggest pain points. Having said that, your website should focus on you but only 10% of the time as you bring the solution to solve your ideal client's problems. 90% of your website’s focus should be on potential clients as people tend to make decisions emotionally rather than logically. Feeling heard and seen by you when they land on your website, can be the reason they hire you for your services! So make sure you research your target audience really well so that your brand and website can speak to them on an emotional level.
MYTH #7: I DON’T NEED A WEBSITE
This is the worst of them all! Not having a website when you’re selling services would be a nightmare. As established earlier, your website is a marketing as well as a sales tool for you that even works when you’re not working. Dream clients can find you anytime if you have a strategic online presence. Even if you have alternate ways to get clients, not having a website would mean so many lost opportunities that limit your business’s growth potential. If you’re looking to build a strategic website to allow your dream clients to connect and convert with ease, schedule a free consultation call with me!
CONCLUSION
Don’t let a subpar brand and website design stop you from growing your service business to the dream next level. If you know that your brand has the potential to level up and confidently stand out in the crowd but you’re not sure what steps to take - reach out to me and I’ll gladly help you figure it out!
Be the boss, take action, and do the work. You’ve got this!
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