In the past, many businesses would rebrand every 5-7 years. The problem with that approach is that you can throw away the good with the bad.
Today, a digital brand needs to evolve constantly, and it should transcend and include what’s working.
Customers are expecting brands to adapt and meet their current needs on the website and at every digital touchpoint.
Evolve Your Digital Brand on Your Site
1. Be More Inclusive
Your website often serves as the hub for the digital brand and where users are returning or starting their interactions with your business.
Your business’ digital brand though is so much more than just the logo design. It involves your business’ core values and differentiators.
Customers are looking for businesses that are people-centric, and your website should reflect that by being inclusive. Avoid any barriers to users with disabilities in terms of the color scheme, functionality and content on the site, and follow best practices for web accessibility.
Your website should also reflect your culture and diversity with a strong team or about page. Potential employees and current employees will refer to the site as a reflection of the culture and company.
2. Move Away from the Passé
With new technology always being released, customers are more and more tech-savvy. Design trends change so quickly that a cool website feature from a few years ago may look outdated today.
A few changes to your website design and copy can go long away and it may be time to tweak things if your website has:
- Outdated slide show design on home page
- Old typography or fonts
- Long pages of paragraph text & web copy
- Cumbersome drop down menus
During a website project, we often discover that the typography and font styles are outdated or difficult to translate to an online format. If you haven’t reviewed your branding guidelines in a while, it may be time to refresh them.
In competitive markets, businesses have to adapt faster to the latest design trends and customer expectations.
3. Re-Examine Your Messaging
A key aspect of your digital brand is the messaging on your site. Web visitors tend to scroll and scan website pages as they browse.
Because of this behavior, the high level messaging is the most important content on your mission critical pages. High level messaging refers to the headlines, subheadings and bullet points throughout the page.
The messaging should be customer-centric and reflect your business’ differentiators. If you haven’t reviewed your website content in a while, start with your home page since this is typically the entry point for all web visitors.
4. Create an Interactive Experience
Strong brands and websites are interactive. It’s more challenging to keep any visitors’ attention these days with distractions all around us.
Modern websites are no longer static and should include micro interactions and subtle animations to engage visitors on their journey through the site.
Adding interactive components can be a great upgrade to your site. However, be careful to not overwhelm visitors with too much movement. This is called visual bullying and it causes more distraction and harm. There is also a balance between animation and performance.
5. Build a Relationship with a Unique CTA
Customers are also looking to build a relationship with a brand, so you can stand out by offering a branded & unique call to action.
Instead of a basic contact form and page, create a custom CTA page that showcases an offering to clients and fits their needs.
The customers’ journey doesn’t end after one website visit, so consider offering multiple touch points for conversion with live chat, email subscription sign-ups and phone numbers.
By considering the customers’ entire journey, you can expand the marketing and engagement opportunities on and off your site.