With new businesses launched every day, there is a need for a solid brand strategy to stand out in the market, but where should we start?
According to Beverley Designs founder Beverley Delay, ensuring coherence between website design elements and the brand's core values is the key.
DesignRush talked to Beverley who shared key strategies for developing brand-focused websites that businesses can leverage to ensure great first impressions and user engagement.
Who Is Beverley Delay?
Beverley is an experienced web and graphic designer and founder of Beverley Designs. She provides creative design work to a wide range of small businesses, from artists to nutritionists to yoga instructors, college counselors, and dog trainers. Previously, she was the European Sales & Marketing Coordinator for Duracell.
Considering that consumers base their first impression of a business on its website design, Beverley shares the most impactful features in forming these impressions.
“It's all about how it feels when you land on a website. That first glance matters a lot. If it looks sleek, and modern, and has a nice color scheme that's easy on the eyes, I'm already feeling good about it. It's like browsing books in a bookstore and randomly picking up a book when you like the book cover. If you like the cover's look, you’re more likely to read the contents!” she explains.
According to Beverley, these are the elements that matter the most in shaping how one feels about a business when visiting its site:
- Navigation: A website should be intuitive like you're being guided smoothly through the experience. Everything should be easy to find.
- Mobile optimization: Most of us are browsing on our phones, so a site needs to work well and load fast on a smaller screen.
- Content: A website is not just about looking pretty; it's about what it says. What a business offers on the site must be crystal clear at the top, with no ambiguity.
- Staying current: Being on top of design trends shows the website is keeping up with the times. If a website looks outdated, a customer might wonder if it's still on the ball with everything else.
Key Challenges WordPress Websites Face in 2024
WordPress themes are the most economical route when compared to custom-built websites, but as Beverley puts it, the lack of flexibility and personalization options on WordPress ultimately outweigh the cost savings, especially for businesses aiming to create a unique brand identity.
“WordPress themes can be a more economical choice upfront because they're pre-made and often come with a lot of built-in functionality. But here's where it gets tricky. While WordPress themes are convenient and budget-friendly, they can sometimes limit your flexibility and personalization options.
On the other hand, custom-built websites offer the freedom to tailor every aspect to fit your brand perfectly. It's like having a tailor create a suit just for you — it's all about your preferences and style,” she remarks.
Beverley believes it all depends on the priorities and finding a balance between cost-effectiveness and achieving branding goals.
Apart from customization that usually comes from the need for specific features or designs that aren't readily available in off-the-shelf solutions, she cites two most common challenges businesses face when opting for WordPress sites:
- Security: As a popular platform WordPress is a target for hackers which urges businesses to stay vigilant with updates and security measures to protect their websites and customer data
- Performance optimization: As websites grow in content and functionality, they can slow down if not properly optimized which affects user experience and can impact SEO rankings
She shares a case study of a client that launched a WordPress eCommerce store using a popular theme to cut costs but found it lacked advanced product filtering. As a result, sales dropped because customers struggled to find products.
To solve this, she reviewed plugins and custom development options, eventually integrating a custom product filtering solution via an external plugin. This significantly improved UX and customer satisfaction, leading to increased sales and happier customers, she explains.
“This case study highlights the importance of understanding the limitations of off-the-shelf solutions and being willing to invest in custom development when necessary to achieve specific business goals,” she concludes.
If you're looking for a web design agency to help you increase brand awareness and engagement, our DesignRush's listing of top web design agencies is a great place to start.
How To Develop a Strong Brand Strategy
I was curious to hear how Beverley ensures the delivery of websites that effectively support clients’ brand identities. She says that it is all about understanding their unique story and values from the get-go.
To successfully achieve this, Beverley focuses on these key points:
- Brand understanding: Diving deep into the client's mission, target audience, and unique selling points and ensuring the website reflects the brand's core values
- Visual elements: Focusing on cohesive color schemes, typography, and user interface and maintaining consistency to align with the brand's personality and voice
- User experience (UX): Ensuring the website is intuitive, responsive, easy to navigate, and optimized for all devices to prevent user frustration
- Storytelling: Using compelling content and visuals to engage users emotionally and intellectually such as impactful images, customer testimonials, or a well-crafted About Us page
- Collaboration and feedback: Staying adaptable and open to client feedback and collaborating to ensure the final product exceeds expectations
Watch our video to discover the best practices for WordPress speed optimization.
Beverley shared with me key refreshments that WordPress website owners should implement in 2024 to maintain their brand identity:
- Design refresh: Consider updating your color palette, typography, and layout to match current design trends and make the site visually appealing and modern
- Enhance UX: Optimize site speed, especially on mobile devices, and ensure intuitive navigation for easy access to content.
- Content updates: Regularly update the blog with relevant posts and keep content fresh to engage users and improve SEO
- Prioritize security: Keep plugins and themes updated and use strong passwords to protect against cyber threats.
- Embrace multimedia: Add video content, interactive elements, and podcasts and use diverse media to engage users and keep them returning.
Touching upon the rise of AI-driven chatbots in WordPress development, I asked Beverley how businesses can balance automated interactions with the need for a human touch to maintain customer satisfaction and trust.
While chatbots can handle routine queries quickly and efficiently saving time for both customers and businesses, Beverley told me they also come with specific challenges such as:
- Making interactions feel personalized and human
- Understanding and responding to complex queries
- Privacy and data security as they collect customer data
- Over-reliance on them may lead to a disconnect in customer service
“The goal is to use AI-driven chatbots as a tool to enhance customer service, not replace the human touch entirely. By carefully managing the implementation and ensuring a balance between automation and human interaction, businesses can maintain customer satisfaction and trust in their brand,” Beverley concludes.
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