website branding guidelines

Website branding guidelines: a style that fits your identity

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In this article, we address a frequently asked question we receive from clients: how to create website branding guidelines that align with their brand. They often ask if we can guide them in achieving this properly. Is this a familiar question for you? Read more to discover how we do this for our clients!

Researching your industry for the best website style

We understand that thinking about how to best position yourself in your market can be overwhelming. This crucial step is often even more challenging if you have recently started a new business without an existing website, as you need to build something from scratch. Another roadblock that can make it even harder is deciding whether you want to do it yourself or hire a professional web design company to do it for you.

During a consultation, one of our clients mentioned they wanted us to guide them through this process and help them research what other companies in their industry are doing. This is always part of our process, from small to large projects. It’s not optional but is always included in our service because we know how important it is for the best results possible.

Here is how a part of such a research process looks like at our studio, in this case for an online B2B store selling sports equipment.

We research companies in your industry, learn from them (without copying), and ensure that your style aligns with the current website guidelines for your specific target market. The budget required for our advanced research process depends on the complexity of your project. More complex projects simply require more hours from our designers during the research phase compared to smaller projects.

Logo as part of the branding of your website

To create a unique visual identity for your new website, a professional and strong logo is a must. It’s an important element as we will work with colors that complement your logo. At the beginning of each project, we review your logo and ask questions if necessary to understand its meaning better.

In rare cases, you might want to redesign your website, but your existing logo holds you back. For example, due to its poor quality or because it doesn’t represent the desired message. At ESight Studio, we can assist you in this scenario by designing new logos for our clients.

So, if this turns out to be necessary, rest assured that we can help you with this too. We will always advise you on what we believe is best for your business based on your goals.

Website branding guidelines: picking colors

When creating a new corporate identity for your website, it should match with your company. We can help you by suggesting colors that best match your logo and concept.

To give you the best possible advice, you’ll need to let us know what images you’d like to use on your new website. Why? Because the colors of these images will also influence the color scheme we want to use on your website. If you’re not sure about the images you want to use, don’t worry. At ESight Studio, we can also help you in selecting the right images as part of a website project.

Would you like to learn more about the meaning of color? Adobe’s guide explains the meaning of all the different colors. We recommend checking this out.

Choosing the right colors might sound simple. But, for best results, it’s recommend to leave this job to experts with years of experience. Each business has its own preferences when designing a new site. Most likely, you have also thought about what you want to achieve with your new website and branding. The right colours help you hit your goal easier. And help you to add them to your website branding guidelines for easy future reference.

A lot of the times, we see that business owners didn’t do this right. They think that what they chose helps them to achieve their goals. But they are unaware of how potential customers see their brand. Because a certain set of colours, actually have a meaning. And so if you’re not aware, people get a different message than you want them to get. That’s why our advice is to sit down and figure this out right from the start. Think about what your company stands for. And how selecting the right colors can strengthen rather than weaken your message.

There are lots of business owners that end up doing this themselves. And pick colours they like. But, at ESight Studio, we know that this approach often does not bring the desired results.

Colors that resonate with your target audience

Don’t get me wrong. It’s important that you resonate with the colors too. But, more importantly, the colors should resonate with your target audience. This cannot be solely based on your preferences. That’s why extensive research in your industry is so important. To also be able to add or adjust a new set of colors to your website branding guidelines. So, sometimes it’s necessary to hire professionals who are not afraid to push back.

Yes, at ESight Studio, clients work with us because they see us as experts and value and trust our expertise. At our studio, we don’t only listen to the wishes of our clients. Based on our research process, we show what’s necessary. If the client already knew exactly what to do, our help wouldn’t be needed. So, if you only want us to work with your input and not listen to what we have to say, we are not the right fit for you.

Images

We always support our clients by letting them know which images we need from them. For more advanced projects, we will provide suggestions for images on each web page. To get the best results possible for you.

Sometimes, the client tells us what kind of images they want to use. If we see the suggested images aren’t going to fit well with the new website… Then we need different images. This happens because sometimes the images that the client sends us, do not fit with the new branding. We’ll let the client know and explain that the chosen images won’t help them to achieve their goal.

Depending on the complexity of the project… We will spend quite some time on “image consulting”. Meaning time we spent to suggest, find and edit images to help them match your brand. For other projects, we rely a little more on the images a client sends us. For instance, a car detailing company that sends us project images of previous work. But we’ll still consult and share advice for best results. Yet for other projects… We have also recommend professional photoshoots to only create the best result possible.

Here’s an example of a result of a recommended photoshoot. The images are a result of providing our client with specific directions for the shoot.

Interested in rebranding the website of your B2B business?

If you are unsure how to create a new website style that fits your company… And need help from designers with years of experience… Then ESight Studio is a decent option for you to consider.

Contact us today for a free consultation. We always listen to your needs and then provide advice based on what we see is best for your business.

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