How to Design Your First Branded Business Website

If you happen to’re of a sure age—let’s say 35 or older — you most likely bear in mind the awe and immersion you felt the primary time you spun up Netscape Navigator and visited your favourite model’s enterprise “web site.”

Now fast-forward to this age of AI, Uber, Roblox, Meta, Snapchat, and a lot extra… And guess what? An internet site remains to be one of the simplest ways to share your model with the world.

That’s true whether or not you’re a mega model or a humble creator, solopreneur, or small enterprise proprietor. A long time on, an internet site nonetheless offers unparalleled artistic flexibility and management over your model. It’s a spot the place guests can be taught extra about you in your phrases. An ideal web site helps you inform your story, construct belief, and even create neighborhood and followers for all times.

As we speak we’re sharing a primer on branding and web site design for on-line creators and entrepreneurs. We’ll stroll you thru how one can design an internet site on your model, whether or not you’re a creator, solopreneur, or small enterprise proprietor with a crew of workers.

This text received’t operate as a step-by-step information to launching an internet site or go into an excessive amount of depth on the subject of branding itself. (For that, The SPI Beginner’s Guide to Branding will help you outline your model’s mission, imaginative and prescient, and extra, and resolve if it ought to be a private model or an organization model.)

Reasonably, this can be a discipline information to designing an internet site that places your model entrance and middle and connects along with your target market.

Why You Want a Branded Web site

So why a branded enterprise web site? Alongside along with your email list, an internet site is a must have while you’re beginning out constructing your model. Like an e-mail checklist, you’ve got extra artistic and administrative management over an internet site than you do your presence on different platforms like Fb, Instagram, or Etsy. And apart from uncommon service interruptions or safety breaches, your website is way much less more likely to disappear the way in which a social media account will be banned or suspended.

Your branded web site is like your private home base, a focal place for shaping your model picture and narrative. At SPI, we lately revamped our web site to concentrate on our core focus of neighborhood constructing and make it cleaner and simpler to navigate.

Right here’s what a well-crafted small enterprise web site will help you do:

• Management your model: An internet site offers you full management over the way you present your model to the world, with out the artistic restrictions of third-party platforms. It additionally diversifies your on-line presence, lowering dependence on any single platform.

• Construct belief: A well-designed web site lends an air of professionalism and legitimacy to your model, instilling belief.
• Personal your content material: You personal and management the content material in your web site, lowering the danger that algorithm modifications or platform shutdowns will damage your content material’s attain and visibility.
• Generate profits: You should utilize your web site to advertise and promote services or run advertisements.
• Construct neighborhood: Web sites supply a devoted area for constructing a neighborhood and a following. You’ll be able to seize publication and email-list sign-ups, and even hyperlink to your individual membership neighborhood.
• Showcase your work: Use your web site to share case research, testimonials, and portfolios of your work along with your viewers.
• Perceive your viewers: Web site analytics present useful knowledge on person habits, serving to you higher perceive your viewers and optimize your content material to achieve them.

Your Web site Ought to Categorical Your Model Character

When lots of people hear the phrase model, they assume emblem. And true, a emblem is a key a part of your creator or on-line entrepreneur model — however your model can be much more than only a snazzy graphic. Since your web site is your private home base, it’s the very best place to convey the essence of your model via the next key components:

• Colour scheme: Make the most of a most of 4 brand-reflective colours. Align colours with professionalism; keep away from mismatch. Discover shade psychology—the examine of how colours have an effect on perceptions and behaviors—for steering.

• Tone of voice: Past aesthetics, your branded enterprise web site wants a definite voice — a tone that informs all of your written content material. Adapt your tone to your persona, area of interest, and viewers, conserving it approachable and jargon-free.

• Tagline or motto: A concise, memorable tagline helps convey your model id and worth in bite-size kind. It’s somewhat element that may matter loads!

• Signature font: Select one or two readable fonts that mirror your persona, for consistency throughout the whole lot you write and to bridge your model’s visible id with its written one.

• Unforgettable emblem: Final however not least, an attention grabbing emblem offers prompt model recognition. Contemplate enlisting a graphic designer for this one.

Optimizing the Visible Expertise of Your On-line Enterprise Web site

For essentially the most half, guests will expertise your web site visually, so there are a couple of extra essential issues with regards to your website’s visible belongings. Ensure the pictures, background designs, and different visuals you employ in your website are:

• Related to your model and content material: This may occasionally appear apparent, however your web site visuals ought to make sense within the context of your model and the encircling content material. Every visible asset ought to complement and improve the content material it accompanies and align along with your model’s id, reflecting its values, persona, and messaging. 
• Strategically positioned: Place visuals purposefully to information the person’s journey and emphasize key messages. Contemplate the move of the web site and the way visuals can improve storytelling.

• Constant in fashion: Sustaining a constant visible fashion throughout all photographs creates a cohesive and harmonious look and helps with model recognition. Use these model colours!

• Prime quality: Use high-resolution, skilled photographs; grainy or pixelated ones can detract out of your model’s credibility.
• Accessible: Not your whole guests will likely be experiencing your branded enterprise web site visually, so be sure that any visible belongings are accessible by including descriptive alt textual content to your whole photographs.
• Optimized and responsive: Visible belongings ought to adapt effectively to varied display screen sizes, significantly on cellular units. They need to even be compressed to enhance loading occasions (and search engine rankings).

• Authorized: All photographs ought to be both unique, correctly licensed, or fall beneath truthful use. Respect copyright legal guidelines, and get permission if it is advisable!
• Timeless: As a lot as doable, select visuals that may evolve along with your model somewhat than developments which may turn out to be outdated.
• Human: Human faces and expressions can create a stronger emotional reference to the viewers, so incorporate photographs that characteristic folks.

By ensuring the visible and written expertise of your web site is constant, skilled, and aligned along with your model id and voice, you’ll foster a way of familiarity and belief along with your viewers.

A Nice Creator Web site Wants a Nice Consumer Expertise: Format and Navigation

Your web site isn’t only a static show; it’s an interactive expertise on your viewers. When you’ve established the important thing model components your web site wants, out of your model’s goal to its voice, tone, and visible id, it’s time to start out designing the precise website structure.

As you’re selecting a structure, take into consideration what is going to greatest convey your model id and message whereas making issues as seamless and intuitive as doable on your guests to navigate and discover what they’re searching for. Listed here are some common structure choices to contemplate:

• Single-Column: Clear and easy, with a single column for straightforward navigation.

• Grid: Organizes content material right into a visually interesting grid construction, appropriate for showcasing a number of objects effectively, like portfolios or product shows.
• Journal or Weblog Format: Mimics {a magazine} or weblog with a number of columns — well-suited for content-heavy web sites.

• Hero Picture or Video: Contains a hanging picture or video on the prime, capturing speedy consideration and infrequently used for product showcases or setting the model tone.
• Cut up Display: Divides the webpage into two distinct sections, offering a contemporary and visually interesting design with room for artistic components.
• Parallax Scrolling: Creates a dynamic scrolling expertise with background components transferring at completely different speeds, including depth and interactivity.
• Card: Presents content material in modular and versatile playing cards, selling visible hierarchy and straightforward group, appropriate for numerous kinds of data.

• Full-Display Background: Incorporates a full-screen picture or video background for a visually immersive expertise.

A fast observe on navigation: No matter structure you select, your customers’ ease in navigating your website will decide how lengthy they stick round and whether or not they’ll discover what they want—or in the event that they’ll get annoyed and quit. You too can assist folks navigate your branded web site via cautious placement and group of menus and footers.

The Strategic Content material Your Web site Wants

You’ve found out your model’s visible id and voice and chosen a structure for the positioning. Now it is advisable fill it with helpful content material that tells your guests who you might be, what you do, and how one can assist them!

These are a few of the key pages to contemplate on your branded enterprise web site—some are must-haves, whereas others will depend upon your online business and choices:

• House Web page: The house web page ought to supply a snapshot of your model, engaging guests to discover additional, speaking your distinctive worth proposition, and guiding customers to key sections of your web site.
• Weblog: Past selling your services or products, blogs are nonetheless a preferred solution to share useful content material that positions you as an authority in your area of interest.
• Podcast Web page: When you have a podcast, it is best to undoubtedly have a devoted web page for it in your website. Though your podcast can technically exist with out a web site, a podcast web page can promote your present and assist listeners be taught extra about your model and choices.
• Credibility Part: Testimonials, case research, and press protection showcase the optimistic experiences of others, establishing your model’s credibility and reliability and constructing belief. This content material can dwell by itself web page or be positioned strategically at completely different locations in your website.
• Product/Service Pages: Every services or products web page ought to present detailed data, advantages, and a compelling name to motion (CTA). 
• Model Story/About Web page: Your viewers connects with the folks and the story behind your on-line enterprise. Use this web page to speak your mission, values, and the journey that led to the creation of your model.
• Store Web page: If you wish to use your website to promote issues, you’ll want a store web page with straightforward navigation, clear product categorization, and a streamlined checkout course of.

Examples of On-line Creator and Entrepreneur Branded Web sites

For somewhat inspiration, right here’s a number of nice branded enterprise web sites created by on-line creators and entrepreneurs identical to you! These of us all occur to be members of our SPI Professional neighborhood, which you’ll be able to be taught extra about at SmartPassiveIncome.com/neighborhood.

Gnome Angel

Ange Wilson’s quilting-based creator enterprise web site has a robust, vibrant visible id primarily based round a palette of pinks and blues and a playful header font. The Gnome Angel worth proposition greets you as quickly as you open the house web page, and as you scroll you study Gnome Angel’s assets and merchandise by way of a “patchwork” design fashion that evokes a quilt. The “sticky” navigation menu persists as you descend the house web page, offering quick access to the remainder of the positioning.

Piscari

The Piscari website is an organization model web site with a easy, clear, useful dwelling web page that serves as an About web page for the corporate and its founder, Mike Lander, with a hyperlink to affix the Piscari e-mail checklist on the backside. A prime nav menu that shows on each web page makes it straightforward to be taught extra concerning the firm, its companies, and different assets. The “Contact Us” button, framed in daring inexperienced, highlights the principle name to motion guests are inspired to take.

Jette Stubbs

Profession and enterprise coach Jette Stubbs’ website introduces her choices proper off the bat, adopted by a pleasant photograph of Jette that humanizes the model. The straightforward single-column structure reduces distraction and guides you down the web page as you encounter a cheerful shopper’s testimonial and be taught extra about Jette’s companies. Graphic components and pictures are interspersed all through, together with refined font shade modifications to spark consideration. The parallax scroll impact with Jette’s face within the background provides extra human dimension and a little bit of novelty. A easy prime navigation menu is duplicated on the backside, with hyperlinks to an About web page, Jette’s podcast, and testimonials.

Nonetheless on the Fence about Constructing a Web site for Your Small Enterprise? 

We’ll finish with a couple of reminders — and by debunking a couple of frequent misconceptions about making a branded enterprise web site:

• Sure, you do want an internet site. Web sites aren’t only for large corporations, and social media isn’t sufficient.
• Your web site doesn’t should be complicated or aesthetically beautiful. Easy, user-friendly designs typically carry out higher, so concentrate on readability and performance above all.
• An internet site wants consideration. Your web site isn’t simply going to draw visitors by itself. It’s essential to put it on the market and repeatedly populate it with recent, Search engine marketing-rich content material.
• You don’t should go it alone. There are many nice designers on the market who will help you craft a emblem and construct a professional-looking branded web site. (We labored with the nice folks at Rockbase for our redesign.)

If you happen to’re feeling daunted, don’t! We’ve bought all of the assist it is advisable begin constructing your model and designing a killer web site to point out it off to the world. Try our website’s Free Sources tab, the place you’ll discover content material for entrepreneurs at any stage. If you happen to’re able to take the following large step in your on-line work trip, head to SmartPassiveIncome.com/community to study our communities for on-line entrepreneurs. You’ll be able to be taught from others such as you who’ve constructed their very own branded web sites, achieve entry to our full library of programs, take part in dwell occasions, and extra.