While a logo is the symbol of your brand, a website is your brand’s home on the internet. It is where your business lives. Have you ever taken a walk around your neighborhood to see how other people live? What about the house on the corner that never seems to have a light on ever? The last time you walked by, did you notice the cobwebs in the windows? Would you be comfortable approaching this house with your seven year old daughter selling cookies?
Do you have a house in your neighborhood that never seems to sleep? A house where there are tricycles in the yard, an ice cream stained minivan in the drive, and screaming children literally climbing out of the home’s windows. Would you call this house alive? Perhaps, even pulsating? Certainly. Now, how comfortable would you be approaching this house in your new suit?
One of the most pleasant experiences is that of having a neighbor who you have connected with and eventually become goods friends with? Maybe they were outside one day when you walked by, and you started a conversation. Or, perhaps, they dropped by with fresh baked cookies when you moved in, and you hit it off. What was it that drew you to them? The sincerity of their generosity as they reached out to you? What keeps you coming back to their house? The comfortable and attractive atmosphere that tells you their story a little at a time every time you enter?
Take a trip to your favorite shopping mall. Isn’t there always that one store that seems to have crickets chirping in the corners? No, not at Halloween, I mean throughout the year. Do you feel comfortable entering it? Five stores down however, the energy bursts out into the hall from music, people, and maybe even robotic objects with flashing lights. It certainly gets your attention. Then there is a store that you seem to frequent often, because it has an attractive environment, very pleasant staff who are skilled at making you feel very comfortable purchasing their quality product.
Websites seem most effective when they are alive, attractive and comfortable . How do you build an alive online presence? Since there are endless options to choose from when it comes to the best web design and construction, it is no wonder that small business owners are scared to death to venture into the online marketing world. No wonder, indeed, that many brick and mortar organizations turn back to old fashioned print marketing, what we in the industry might call Print 1.0. Web branding is seen as too confusing, too expensive and too elusive to bother with.
The estimates are that 55% of small businesses do not have a website. As a result, there is plenty of debate about the importance of a business having a website. Are those 55% of businesses that do not have a web presence at risk of denying their business a viable and potentially lucrative revenue stream? Many of us would say yes. Like it or not the world is now on the web. The dark dot com days are past, and today’s technology is ever improving. The reasons to fear bringing your brand and brand promise to a new online home are not as scary as you might think.
Personally, I hear more and more people in the 20-35 year old demographic say they will not do business with anyone not online. Indeed, they are serious about that. They consider it to be a trust issue. They insiste that if you are not online, you are not to be trusted. Some have held to that belief for the past ten years. That is quite significant, and it is a trend that cannot be ignored as we move further into the 21st century.
Is your business adequately branded? Do you deliver on what your brand promises? Then, I invite you to take your brand promise online with real world design. Open a new set of doors to your enterprise by creating a site that lives and breathes your brand, engages your visitors, and grows your business.
Paula Sykora is a leading Colorado-based graphic designer and author. She is focused, primarily, on real world design and providing the most effective graphic design possible for her customers.