5 Ways to Ensure Your Website Content Reflects Your Brand Identity

Quality branding is now as unavoidable as paying your taxes and keeping up with your rent. In fact, branding has become such a staple part of business that offering a corny logo and a gimmicky tagline to your audience is no longer a sufficient way to attract new customers to your services. Today, we’ll discuss your brand identity.

Website content is perhaps the single most important part of website design. By the way, check how to design your blog the awesome way! Whilst visuals draw the initial attention of consumers, it’s the quality of your content that keeps them hanging on. But well-written content means nothing if the ideas it’s conveying seem at odds with the core message of your brand.

Most consumers know when they’re being taken for a ride. If the content you write is there simply to boost traffic, it probably won’t result in the engagement you were hoping for. In order to ensure your website content reflects your brand’s identity, you must carefully consider the persona of your audience and convince them to take action.

Voice Your Opinions Not Someone Else’s

After every article, blog, video or infographic you create, you should always ask yourself whether the voice of your company is easily identifiable in the text. A simple test is to remove the logo from the page and decide whether or not the content is still consistent with the identity of your brand. In other words, can your audience tell it’s you without the visual prompt to confirm it?

Your brand voice is a way of standing out from your competitors. It should be unique to your business and demonstrate your ease of expertise. By looking back over previously written content, you can pinpoint the pieces of content that have best sold your company’s philosophy. Determine why these were so effective (tone, vocabulary, enthusiasm) and use them as a template when you construct your content in the future.

Know Your Brand Identity

If you work with a branding company, the first thing they will look for is the unique selling point of your brand. What makes it different to all the others? If you’re attempting to convince your audience that your brand voice is heartfelt and human, then work out exactly what it is about your brand that enables it to stand out from the crowd.

Online, you will probably be working with a limited word count. Because of this, you will have to connect with the consumer in a relatively short span of time. Trying to be too many things at once can be disarming and will prevent the consumer from taking away a strong idea of your company’s values. Settle on three traits that define your company and stick with these throughout. For example, if you offer a refreshing take on a well-established product, then these traits might be quirky, enthusiastic and, most importantly, authentic.

Establish a Connection With Your Audience

Content marketing only works if you’re willing to put in the effort on a regular basis. Consistency and quality are the key to any content strategy. If you’re only posting fresh content once every few months, then you won’t provide enough coverage for your brand. On the other hand, churning out thoughtless blog posts on a bi-weekly basis will only prove that you care more about marketing than you do about consumer engagement.

The best way to appear authentic is to be authentic. Whilst you can cut some corners by hiring a copywriter to compile content for you, it still has to be your identity that shines through. If it’s obvious that a brand consultant has undertaken the task on your behalf, then you aren’t going to get the reception you’re looking for. Remember, you’re an expert in your industry and it’s this expertise that your audience wants to see. See here why becoming an authority in your industry matters.

Don’t Rely on One Content Format

Content doesn’t have to be black and white. Whilst 1000 word, plain text articles can be incredibly useful resources for your consumer, they won’t necessarily engage all demographics. Alternative media, such as videos and infographics, can help you reach your audience across a broad range of platforms. Sometimes you may want to use these formats to simply reinforce the points you’ve already made in your articles. Whilst many people will only skim read a blog, they are far more likely to watch a video in its entirety.

Of course, you want to avoid over cluttering your website with vlogs and podcasts if they don’t serve any real purpose. Decide on the key ideas you want to get across from your brand and whittle these down into 1-2 minute scripts. Most branding companies will agree that content needn’t be overly complicated and its main focus should always be the reasons why your company is different from the rest.

Have a Social Media Strategy for Promotion

Whilst your audience might not visit your site every day, you can guarantee that they’ll scroll through a newsfeed on a far more regular basis. If you aren’t active on your social media, then you can’t expect consumers to actively engage with you either. Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn should all be viewed as an extension of the content on your website. Successful promotion of your posts will drive more traffic to your site and encourage customers to engage with your brand.

Also, don’t forget to check how to improve content distribution!

Social networking is also a great way to show your audience how invested in your products you really are. By answering customer queries or sharing innovative content with your consumers, you can ensure you are creating a brand that appeals to their interests. Content marketing should never end with the publication of your content. You should be willing to continue consumer engagement through brand activation strategies, in order to carry on strengthening their connection with your company.

Since website content is written from your perspective, consumers will only have your word to go on at first. For this reason, it’s vital that you make every word count, giving your audience every opportunity to accept that you’re the real deal.

Don’t forget about social listening. It can benefit your business in many ways. For example, it can be used for research to find content inspiration and improve its distribution.

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Author Bio
Joseph Hedges has spent over 25 years working in the design and branding industry. He currently heads the team at London-based branding company, Garden, functioning as Creative Director, CEO and general tour de force. His multi-disciplinary background enables him to understand all kinds of audiences and offer a three-dimensional experience to all his customers. An award winning brand specialist, Joseph lectures at industry events and was a guest expert on Channel 4’s Super Shoppers.