Branding: 3 Easy Ways to Start (Part 3)
For this series of posts, I’ve been riffing off of the following definition of ‘branding’…
A name, symbol, or other marker that businesses use to distinguish their products from competitors’ and foster a public identity
-Candra huff, Investopedia.
Pulling some key words from that definition, I’ve suggested 3 easy ways for anyone to start their branding efforts immediately. They are:
- Name (Domain)
- Symbol (Logo)
- Identity.
Feel free to go back to Part 1 and Part 2 if you haven’t had the chance to read my thoughts on these topics yet. For everyone else, let’s wrap things up by talking about how to start shaping a brand Identity.
Part 3: Website = Brand Identity.
Brand identity can be a pretty generic term that covers a range of topics under branding.
Building upon what we’ve covered so far, I want to propose that the last way to easily begin a branding strategy is to take the new (domain) name and logo, and begin putting together a simple website.
All Roads Lead to Rome.
As the ancient Roman empire expanded, it became increasingly critical for its sprawling colonial territory to remain connected and unified. The answer lay in its development of an extensive network of reliable roads.
While traversing the empire, ever present on a traveler’s mind was the knowledge of who built, maintained, and owned these roads. Especially since there was a pronounced effort to elevate the hub and source of such benevolence. Hence the saying, “all roads lead to Rome”.
It would be great idea to take a page from one of history’s most influential civilizations, and apply it to a branding strategy.
All your marketing channels and platforms should lead to your website.
Continuity Rules.
Of equal importance to the destination, are the wayfinders and mile markers. There shouldn’t be any confusion as to whether or not visitors are on the right road – or have arrived in the right place.
Remember that your logo also acts a street sign or freeway marker. And once the digital travelers from Facebook, X, Instagram, a business card, QR code – or wherever – land on your website, there will no question that they made it to the correct destination.
This does not happen randomly, but must be intentional and by design.
The web surfer’s online journey across the interwebs provides many opportunities for a brand’s colors, fonts, shapes, and messaging to become familiar, imprinted even, in their minds along the way.
This is why it’s so important to take the time to craft a memorable name and logo combination.
This brings me to a mind-boggling reality.
No Website. No Business.
Despite all the information and data collected over the decades pointing to the necessity for every business to have a website, roughly 30% of businesses in 2023 still did not have a website!
I can only think of a handful of reasons why a business wouldn’t have a website, and most of those have some legal issues around them.
Of those businesses that had a website, only 43% had plans to actively invest in optimizing and enhancing site performance. This is incredible considering that the average time a visitor spends on a website is about 5 seconds.
Keep in mind that if your business website is optimized to load up within 3 seconds on a mobile device, you then have .05 seconds to make a favorable first impression!
Some sobering stats indeed.
Domain vs Hosting.
The last thing I want to quickly mention regarding websites is the basic difference between a domain name and website hosting.
The simplest way I can put this is using the analogy of where you live:
- A domain name is like the address of your house. It’s how people find you.
- A web host provides the server on which you can build your website. It’s like the lot or land your house is built on.
- And your website is like your house. It too has framework (WordPress), curb appeal (themes), and utilities (plugins).
In general, registering a domain name is much cheaper than the cost of a hosting subscription.
Depending on how close you are to launching a website, it’s worth considering some package deals. Many hosting providers will include free or discounted rates when bundling a hosting subscription with domain registration.
Summary.
Anyone wanting to get their name out in public can start working on branding efforts right away. Three easy ways to begin developing a brand strategy is by focusing on
- choosing a business or domain name,
- designing a memorable logo, and
- begin building a website.
Having these 3 items are foundational to creating a memorable brand with the goal of growing a healthy business.
And with that, keep the momentum going!
Explore different ways you can introduce yourself with branded business cards, postcards, blog posts, social media, and other marketing channels.
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