As a Small Business Owner, you have a unique story. You probably started your business to reflect a niche portion of the market, or it was an idea that you’re exceedingly passionate about. At Sites n Stores, we find this incredibly inspiring, and want to help you bring your vision to life.
And what better way to tell your Customers about your brand’s story and identity than through a custom designed Website?
The short answer to this question is, there isn’t one. In reality, a template design simply won’t cut it when it comes to reflecting your business as the individual entity that it is. A custom design Site, however, allows you to portray your voice, your brand and your business identity exactly how you want to.
So, let’s take a deeper look into the ways custom Website design helps reflect your individual brand.
1. It Emphasises Your Individuality
Both your business, and you yourself for that matter, are completely unique to everyone in the world. This is an important thing to understand and embrace as a Small Business Owner, because this means you have so much to offer your Customers. Embracing your uniqueness will enable you to truly understand your story and how you got to where you are today.
One of the best ways to embrace this and reflect your individuality to potential clients is with a custom-designed Website. It puts a unique stamp on your business, marking it something different, something exciting and something that stands out against the digital masses (i.e. your competitors!). A boring template design really won’t achieve this. You don’t deserve to be lumped with the masses!
By using custom Website development, your Site can then act as the perfect vehicle through which to project exactly who you are, what you do and how you do it differently to everyone else. It cements your brand identity, and allows your Customers to have a connection with your business.
Remember, you are unique and you should make your Customers aware of this! It will make you stick in their minds and entice them to your services.
2. It Establishes Your Voice
Part of telling your story, no matter what platform you use, is about finding your perfect business voice. The voice of your business can either be your own personal voice, or that of a character, which helps grow the human aspect of your brand and strengthen your relationship with your Customers. The more they can identify or relate to your business and its voice, the more they’ll feel as though they’re getting to know you. This increases trust and endears you to your audience.
One of the most helpful ways to create your business’s voice is to consider your audience. Who is your ideal Customer? From here, you can choose whether you should be funny and witty, informative and calm, or perhaps exciting and charismatic. Whatever you choose, your individual voice is pivotal when it comes to establishing your business’s identity.
Of course, once you have established your business voice, one of the best ways to circulate it and enter it into the Online conversation is through custom Web page design. It is through custom design that you will be able to create content that is consistent across your entire Website and marketing efforts. You can use Copywriting, and even a brand-specific style guide to carry your voice through everything from your monthly newsletter, Website content, Social Media or even hard copy leaflets and brochures.
3. It Helps You Create Your ‘Look’
When it comes to telling your story as a business Online, appearance counts for a lot. Visitors to your Website will make immediate judgements about your business as soon as they land on your Site based purely on what they see.
While template-based Websites will look generic and bland, professional custom Website design can be tailored to suit your businesses visual needs entirely. You can select the kinds of colours, fonts and graphics that best tell your story and emphasise your chosen business voice. Whether you want to look professional with clean lines and soft colours, or energetic and fun with vibrant graphics, the sky really is the limit when it comes to custom design.
By establishing a strong visual presence for your business Online, you are able to strengthen your brand, better inform your target audience and really bring your business to life.
4. It Gives You Flexibility and Control
Customising your Website provides so many options to properly reflect your business, no matter what stage it’s at. Custom design gives you the control to change your Website alongside your business as it grows and develops over time.
Building a business is indeed a journey, and your Website should reflect this – your business is changing, so your Website should too! You want your growth to be portrayed Online, so that your Customers know exactly what stage you’re at as a business. Template-based websites allow none of this flexibility or control, meaning your Online presence will remain stagnant and unchanged.
Working with custom Web design companies allows you to not only design a Site that expresses your business, but gives you the opportunity and control to make changes yourself (or with the company’s help) in the backend of the Site. So, as your business grows and develops, you can make the necessary changes on your Website so it can be reflected to your Customers.
Your Site may be the only point of contact your potential Customers will have with your business, which means this is how they’ll see you – so, make sure it’s not lifeless and inactive.
5. It Strengthens Customer Connection
By really understanding who your business is and building a Website to reflect this, you are going to increase Customer engagement and relations. A custom designed Website allows you to accurately and truthfully reflect who you are, which will build trust, authority and a feeling of connectedness between you and your Customers.
Think about it in terms of real human interaction. If you meet someone for the first time and they are confusing and a little hard to ‘pin down’, you’re much less likely to connect and confide in them. Alternatively, if you meet someone who seems open, genuine and shows you exactly who they are, you’re likely to want to get to know them better and become friends!
It also ties into the User Experience you provide on your Website. It’s important to look at custom responsive Web design, so that your Site works on every device. Whether your Customers are on a desktop or their Mobile Phone, your Website looks a treat and functions perfectly (and your Customers are going to be happier for it).
This is exactly the kind of relationship a custom designed Website helps you create between you and your audience. A connection where your Customers know they can rely on your business and see your brand as one they can trust.
If you’re worried about custom Web design prices, or if it’s worth putting in the effort, we can assure you that it’s integral for your brand. And if this blog somehow hasn’t convinced you, then we don’t know what else could!
It is custom design that allows you to tell your business story, reflect who you are and establish your brand’s character.
So, don’t delay! Create a custom Website that will do your brand justice.