Website design and your brand

Good website design is not just about functionality and ease of use. Both of those things are vital of course, but ensuring your website is designed so that it communicates your brand’s identity is critical too.

Many businesses (of all sizes) fall into the trap of their website following a basic template style – one that the big digital agencies have rolled out a thousand times before and with a few tweaks will create your website in the same style and format. On the opposite end of the scale, there are online platforms that promote their websites as not needing any design or web skills to create a website yourself – all you need to do is choose one of their templates, drag and drop your images and text and get it live. It sounds so simple and cost effective, but what’s the catch?

The catch is that your website will end up looking the same as every other business out there. Yes, it will function as a website, and it will have your logo on there and some images you’ve chosen, but it will be completely devoid of your brand’s personality. There is no room for your brand’s ethos and values to really shine – the digital agencies are focused on functionality over design, and the ‘do it yourself’ website platforms have to make it so easy for you that it forces the design options to be severely limited.

So, whether you’re paying the big bucks for a large digital agency to build your website or if you’re doing it yourself for free, the result will usually be the same. A website that does not have your brand at the core of its design.

Here at Wetdog Creative, when we design your website, we’ll already have created your branding and we know exactly what your values are and how these need to be communicated to your target audience. Website design is an extension of the branding work we’ve already completed for you. We don’t use templates, we’re not technical nerds (but our web developer that will build your website for us is!) and we start from scratch every time with your brand’s unique identity designed into every single page of the website.

Whether it’s a simple 1-page website or a multi-page website with online payments, we apply the same design logic and attention to detail to ensure the website we design is bespoke to your brand, whilst still achieving all the functionality, SEO and technical details needed including how the website design perfectly adapts to the screen size it is being viewed on. But don’t just take our word for it, here is some feedback we’ve had from three clients we’ve designed websites for in recent years…

Let’s Get Naked is a small refill store in Launceston, Cornwall. Along with their branding and shop signage, we designed and built them a 1-page website that is packed full of their personality and all the graphical elements we’d created as part of the brand. They loved it…

“After seeing previous work Jan & Caroline had done for my Dad’s business, I was always going to work with them when it came to my branding, and I am so glad I did. From start to finish they were great, professional, friendly and so helpful. Even now Caroline is always at the end of the phone if I have any questions. My shop is a business but I also wanted it to represent me, and they helped me bring that vision to life. With the bright colours and funky logo – it’s eye catching and stops people in their tracks walking by. That’s exactly what your branding is supposed to do. It’s perfect, and I’m very pleased I got to work with them on my first little business.”

This is an extract from the testimonial from the Managing Director of Willow & Puddifoot in Oxfordshire specifically about the website we designed and built for this new people development and training business:

“…Once I had chosen my preferred design, they provided me with everything I needed to build the brand including image files, a brochure and a website. I’m proud of the website they’ve built and feel confident that it conveys the right impression of Willow & Puddifoot…”

This is the testimonial from Nomads in South Devon about the branding and website we created for their new campervan conversions business:

“Caroline and Jan have been excellent every step of the way through our rebrand and website build. They are extremely knowledgeable and passionate and are super easy to work with. They went through everything thoroughly and were really patient with us when explaining the ethos and depth of branding they provided for us. Thanks guys!”

Good website design needs a good designer at the heart of the process. It’s not about how much it costs, or how much it doesn’t cost! You need a branding agency that lives and breathes good design to create a website that truly reflects your brand. It doesn’t have to cost a lot to be good, but it’s not going to be free either! We sit in the middle when it comes to website fees. Charging enough to cover our design time, copywriting and project management of the process and to pay our web developer (the techy one!) to build your website to the exact design we have created for you, that communicates your brand’s personality, values and ethos to the world.

If you’d like to talk to us about website design and your brand, please get in touch today. We look forward to hearing from you.