Importance Of Website Design – Hello there, and thank you for catching up with us here at The Web Squad. Here lately I have been focusing on a clearly misunderstood and underestimated division of marketing and advertising, branding. I have been working with small business owners for the past ten years and this fact has been continuously proven time and time again. Not only has it been proven on countless occasions but I believe branding has been the victim of neglect and abuse. I personally believe business owners who invest in their companies don’t take the time to learn about branding and what it means to their company. So let me go across the several issues I have come across in the past that have led me to this belief and how we as a unit can rectify the situation.

Let me start by using my experiences as the Senior Graphic Designer for a company that serviced Southern Nevada with offset printing. In it’s hay day this company would go through close to fifty new clients a day but unfortunately due to gross mismanagement the corporation was dissolved and the doors were closed. However, my time with that company helped me to truly understand the ins-and-outs of graphic design applications and it’s usefulness if properly executed.

The most common flaw I would take notice of with ninety nine percent of the clients that came through the door is they wanted to design their logos or marketing campaign based off of their personalities and to suite their sense of style. This is the first gross error a small business owner can make if they are truly serious about the health and well being of their company. Any designer worth their salt will tell you that your branding and designs should not be focused on you but the consumer, end-user or client.

So you love the color yellow and now want me to apply it to all of your design pieces and your inspiration for this color scheme is ‘Well it works for McDonalds’. Well, unfortunately only McDonald’s and China can pull that scheme off. The reason that specific color scheme grabs peoples attention is it is considered one of the ugliest and clashing colors to go together, red and yellow. Sadly, most people do not understand this, which is why you see so many banners and billboards utilizing these colors and more so often used on Nail Set $25, or Buy One Get One ads. To use these colors as the basis for your marketing and branding approach is a mistake and that is just one example.

With this thought in mind small business owners would command me to put together the most horribly designed pieces of artwork, time after time, slowly killing my creative spirit. So I have to ask you the question, where are ninety nine percent of these small business owners now? Their doors have closed permanently.

Now I am not saying they shut their businesses down because their branding was not designed properly, but if they approached their branding the same way they approached every other facet of small business ownership I wouldn’t be surprised.

So moving forward what are the key-points of designing your branding and marketing campaigns?

1. Make your brand a trendsetter. Whatever industry you are in you should design your brand to be unique and something other small businesses or corporations will want to emulate or copy.
2. Be aggressive in your marketing. I understand you have a yearly budget, but seriously, go big or go home because even if you are competing on city wide basis there are still several competitors that are willing to go harder and go faster than you are. Keep your grind on.
3. Keep your website design up-to-date and easy to navigate. Younger users have zero tolerance for website designs that are flawed or dated, if your website isn’t designed in an efficient and stylish manner your brand will be ignored.
4. Customize, customize, customize. Don’t lease office or warehouse space and leave it as is, customize your office with your brand, customize your vehicles with your brand and etc.. Long story short do not leave a single piece of real estate barren. Your image needs to be seen!
5. Consumer Involvement. Believe it or not it is highly important to engage your consumers and get them involved with your brand, essentially making them brand ambassadors.
6. Storefront Wow Factor. Again this can be an understated element in the design world but if you have a store where customers come in and make purchases it is highly important to make their visit to your store not about getting the sell but providing the consumer with an unforgettable experience.
7. Stand for something. Whatever your company sells or provides it’s important to be involved in a ’cause’, doesn’t matter what cause, anything will do really.
8. You are not a designer. I listed this last but essentially this is very important, listen to your designers and do not brand your company catering to your sense of style. Your graphic and website designers are professionals and know what could and couldn’t be considered trend-setting. If your marketing and design branding fails, so will your company.

So when you decide to launch a new business, heed my warnings and go hard!