In today’s business world your website is the window into your corporate brand.
Over the last couple of months Junction Media has been involved in creating new websites for small businesses. There is of course nothing remarkable about this. Indeed it is bread and butter stuff for any self respecting marketing agency. But it has highlighted a few considerations we think are worthy of note.
As part of setting up their new businesses, most start-ups rightly identify the need for a website. With minimal budgets the directors often take advantage of one of the free DIY website templates to establish their online business presence. Their expertise, as is the case in so many instances, is centered on the services they provide. What they end up with is a perfectly functional online brochure, spelling out what they are, what they do and how to get in touch. But what did that first stab at a website say about who they are? In other words their brand, their values and the what they are like to do business with.
As is common with growing businesses, they realise that they have outgrown their websites and needed something better, created professionally, which makes a strong statement about them and is on a par with their competitor’s sites.
Because a company’s website is so important, and as we have already said is the window into your corporate brand, from experience we recommend the first step is a review of the client’s brand strategy. This involves identifying: who they think they are; who their customer is and who they want it to be; who their largest competitors are and what they are doing; what their vision is and how they see themselves achieving it. In so many cases small businesses get wrapped up in the day to day grind of making money and it is easy to overlook this bigger, but massively important, picture.
It is a very useful exercise. Not only does it provide an independent view of where the company is, it also helps them to focus on how they can take their business forward. But in terms of any new website, it helps to shape that first impression. Who you are and your vision should influence the look and feel of your website in terms of its design. It influences the content of the website; the imagery used; the tone of the voice used; the level of detail of the content and how that is presented to the user – your customers or potential customers. It means that the “About Us” page is about them and, why them and not about what they do. That’s reserved for services. From it you can identify a clear mission statement and objectives and how they will be delivered. All this can be used to steer and structure the content copy writing process. If the brand strategy exercise reveals they are a no nonsense business with a clear direction and a strong focus on the customer, this can be communicated effectively through the the overall look and feel of the website.
Creating a new website can be costly in terms of time. It is important to get it right first time, as rectifying mistakes at a later stage can be very costly in terms of money. If you are thinking about reviewing your website, or your corporate brand Junction Media would like to help you. You can contact us here.
