Customizing your website is essential to creating a credible brand, which will stand out from the competition. In order for people to remember you, you must first know what you want to tell them, then you must create a brand that will stay in their mind for several days after visiting your site. Fortunately, WordPress offers you many possibilities to develop a site that suits you and your audience. Here are our tips to take full advantage of the options available to you.

Choose the right WordPress theme

Do not go into the choice of a theme without first thinking about your content strategy and your needs. These elements are essential to the choice of your interface. Here are some criteria to take into account during your research:

  • Visual: find the balance between design quality, readability and originality
  • Code: Check the code used and consider the page download time. Loading speed is important for your users, but also for your SEO. More information in this article
  • Comments: Do not forget to consult the opinions of other users and to get an idea for yourself
  • Translation: entrepreneurs rarely think of their translation needs when creating their site. This step is essential because it will avoid you many puzzles when you want to skip the step
  • Support: Check that there is a good support platform and FAQ
  • Compatibility: think about the compatibility between the different versions of WordPress as well as with other platforms that you would like to integrate into your site
  • Security: Avoid themes found at random on the web. If you do not know where they come from, it's because they represent too big a risk

Free or paid theme? It's up to you to decide on your needs; the free themes are very well done, they are often enough for a blog or personal site. Premium themes have more features and more customization options, which is often better for e-commerce.

Customize your site

Your WordPress navigation options and menus are essential to your site. Horizontal, vertical, header, anchor, icon or footer menus? Find out and choose according to your activity and your needs, your navigation bar must be intuitive for your audience, remember that it also has an impact on your SEO. You will find more information on this subject in this interesting article.

Think also about the colors of your brand; selecting your color scheme is a crucial element in creating your branding. By choosing the right colors, you highlight your positioning, highlight your strengths and attract the right customers. A bad combination of colors could have a negative effect on your brand strategy.

Do not forget the plugins (also called extensions), especially for your social networks. Plugins allow you to add many features to your WordPress site and save time. Some are free, others are paying, you adapt them to your needs.

Do not forget to integrate your logo for more visual impact. Your logo will allow your audience to remember you.

Create the right logo

Create a versatile logo, it must be able to be adapted to different platforms and must be able to be used in several dimensions. It must also work in black and white as well as in color. That's why it's best to sketch your black and white design before adding your colors (no more than three!).

The font is a crucial part of your logo. While sans serif fonts have dominated the market in recent years, they may be right for you, especially if you're looking for an elegant, professional style.

Create a sketch of your logo with a free creative tool (such as the Shopify tool), then develop your design with Photoshop or send your ideas to a professional graphic designer.

Choose your content strategy

From the moment you treat your content as a source of revenue in its own right, you commit to producing quality content. This quality will allow you to find new customers, convert your prospects, and strengthen your relationships with your existing customers.

Use the right tone to communicate your message. Many companies think about their speech and do not dwell on how they deliver it. By setting up a style guide to determine which tone will best fit your brand, you enable deeper, more emotional communication with your audience, give it a positive impression, express your values, and promote a lasting relationship with your audience. customer. Remember, people buy the products they need from sites they love and trust.

Be consistent. Your content should cover all the different aspects of your business and all your Organisation is responsible for it. So be sure to always communicate your latest updates with your employees so they use the right visuals and tone. Also make sure to stay consistent on your site, but also on all your other communication platforms (blog, social networks, etc.).

Remember to create an editorial calendar, this way, you will better anticipate the marketing activities of the year and will be better able to plan your budgets and deadlines. When creating your calendar, keep a balance between creativity and realism, you must be able to stick while remaining ambitious. You will find more information on creating an editorial planning in this article.

Take a step back

  • Your branding strategy does not just apply to your website. Take a step back and consider all other aspects of its application.
  • Be consistent when you create your social network profiles, use the same images and graphics on all platforms.
  • If you sell products, do not forget the packaging. Your products represent your brand and it is important to remember it with the packaging.
  • Your brand image also applies when you answer the phone or when you answer an email. Do not forget all these different aspects.

In 2017, it is essential to establish your brand strategy to stand out. This is not limited to a theme chosen at random and a few matching colors. Remember that the target of your site is your customer, not you. By keeping your customers in mind, you will maximize your chances of success.

Kayleigh Toyra
Writer & Entrepreneur

Marketing Copywriter & Wife entrepreneur living in Bristol, UK. Passionate about Shakespeare, poetry, and sales (not necessarily in that order…) Come say hello on Twitter.