What is Branding?

Branding is one of the most important components of business. People tend to look for brands of a product before they decided to buy or use the service based on how they view its brand. Once a consumer likes your brand they will definitely come back for repeated services or products. Remember that brand gives consumer a reason to buy or have the confidence in your service and waste less time choosing over competitors.

Following are the steps to building your brand from definition, to design to establishing it’s foundation.

1. Define Your Brand
Your company profile description.
The purpose of the business description is to give your reader an overview of your company. Choosing the right business description gives interested people some insight on your company and help them to feel more connected to your business.

When describing your business, it generally includes:

• Ownership structure
• Company info and history
• Locations and facility
• Customer profiles and market info
• Objectives, Mission Statement and Tagline

2. Choose A Brand Name
Pick your brand name.
Something original – Make your name stand out, get something that you can really call your own, and so it will be much harder to copy. Another tip is avoid names that are hard to spell or pronounce.

3. Design Your Logo
Create a great logo.

A great logo design

• has a strong, balanced image with no little extras that clutter its look;
• is distinctive and bold in design, making it easy to see at a glance;
• has graphic imagery that looks appropriate for your business;
• works well with your company name;
• is done in an easy to read font;
• communicates your business clearly

Choose the right color scheme & font style for your logo.
Explore your imagination when creating perfect color schemes for your business to make it look appealing to consumers. A great logo design can create a great impression, emotion, style site based on color choices.

4. Do Market Research
Market research is ideally the focal point of creating a branding strategy and its planning process. Having an effective market research pushes and justifies your brand vision and builds the value of your brand as a financial asset. Like your consumers, you need to get to know them intimately through research and insight.

5. Set A Marketing Strategy
Set an insightful marketing strategy for your brand through print, web, social media and multimedia. Two of the major reasons in setting a brand marketing strategy is to see:

• Your customers’ behavior in the marketplace.
• How are they going to positively respond toward your offerings versus your competitors.

Be creative. List the features and benefits of your product / service and ask yourself this question: “How can I best highlight my brand to my audience? Is it through videos? Blogging? Literature? A website? Pricing Strategy? Or, you could do all if it will communicate your brand to your audience more effectively.

6. Develop A Strong Internal Brand Alignment
While doing the market research, make sure that everyone in your company are tuned in and understand your brand promise and how specific behaviors impact the brand. This is what we’re going to call as “internal brand alignment”.

Building a strong brand is greatly influenced by the decision makers around you. Engage everyone including your employees in all your branding efforts, in making your brand successful. Create a framework where specific roles and responsibilities are in position. This will ensure that the brand management function is successful and will eventually result to an even stronger brand experience for your customers.

7. Package your Brand
When we mean packaging, we’re not speaking about putting your products in a box with your company logo but it’s about packaging your brand messages.

Your brand messages can be represented through these common tools:

• Website

When putting up a website, you need to make sure that you have the right tools – design concepts, images, photos, content and a good web design firm to work with. It’s an effective method of showcasing your products & services to your consumers.

• Logos, Business Cards & Stationery

A logo and how it looks on all your marketing materials can speak effectively of your brand.

8. Build Your Brand Through Social Networks
The use of social networks is continuing to grow among businesses – small or large even the Fortune 500 companies. Research shows that “this year, 31% reported using Facebook for B2B communications with vendors, suppliers and business partners and 27% use Twitter for that purpose.” A case study from businessesgrow.com was also released pointing how fast growing businesses expand their social media exposure and how they accelerated social media usage.

Before jumping into the social media pool, there are just a few starting points that you need to consider like:

• What type of audience are you trying to reach – existing or potential?
• Where are you likely to find your audience?
• What do you really want to accomplish on the social web? If it’s sales, you should determine where social media/social interaction can play a role in the process. You may also seek advice from an individual or a firm that has experience in or offer social media marketing services.
• Commitment: you need to regularly interact with your audience & participate in their discussions where & when it is necessary.

Next to that is choosing major platforms as starting point. The top ones include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube and Blog.

9. A lesson that we need to understand.
Establishing your brand takes time.
Unless you are a well-known brand, establishing a brand takes time. Some companies have been working for over a year and a half on their efforts are just now reaping the benefits. The key is to keep digging in and build an audience. When your competitors finally got to the path that you’re going, you already had a big lead.

Page rank is what Google uses as a link analysis algorithm for a website that measures its overall value based on the quality of the site’s inbound link graph.

There is a much more detailed illustration of how a page rank is being calculated by Google, but it doesn’t really matter. What Google is getting at is how important and strong a site can be on the web. Google figures that when one page links to another page, it is casting a vote for the other page. Multiple votes to one link from the same page cost as much as a single vote. The more votes a page has, the more important the page must be. For example, if Site B has a lot of incoming links, Google perceives the site as important. If a higher ranking site, Site A, has those links to site B, it increases Site B’s relevance on the web even more.

So does page rank matter?

Well, it still does matter, but to some degree. People actually whether they take it as a misconception or a fact that page rank is a big deal would still look at it when they’re looking to exchanging web links because it indicates the site’s reliability, aside from looking at the site’s visitor rates and Alexa traffic rankings.

How much will it affect my site’s ranking in the search engines?

Page rank is an important factor Google uses to rank your site so it may help in your site’s ranking but it’s not really the number one or the only ranking factor. It’s not also 100% guaranteed that your site will rank well or will always be on top of search engine results because it has a high page rank. In fact there are sites that have a page rank of 3 or 2 but outranking their competitors that have a page rank of 6 or 7.  Or the ones with high page rank truly outrank the sites of low page rank value.

We ran some usual test to see how much page rank matters in search engine positioning.

Here are the results. The first 5 sites that topped the SE results for the keyword above:

If you notice, printable-cards.gotfreecards.com which has a page rank of 3 ranks 3rd and outranked americangreetings.com that has a page rank of 6. This test though doesn’t conclude that page rank doesn’t matter at all. It still does and counts towards your keyword rankings or helps in optimizing your site for search engines however, there are several more components beyond page rank of a site that can make your site land on the top pages in Google. This is just one occurrence (your site’s search engine positioning) when you don’t really need to worry about your page rank, even Google said this officially.

When does page rank matter?

Page rank is a website quality indicator. How reputable and well-perceived a site is. The measure is determined based on the links created to and from the site that comes from or goes to trusted and popular websites. Google does not only look at how many websites are pointing to your site but also validates its quality, relevance and its page rank as well. So if your site has a higher page rank, people would likely buy from you and link to you than a competitor whose page rank is 0 to 1 .

What’s with the green toolbar pagerank?

It’s also called the “pagerank meter” which shows a visited site page’s pagerank as a whole number between 0 and 10, being 10 as the highest (which means most popular). This is not 100% reflective though of the way Google judges the internal or overall value of a site which they use as part of its ranking algorithm.

Matt Cutts even said that “Google’s internal PageRank computations have many more degrees of resolution than the 0-10 values shown in the toolbar” in his blog mattcuts.com. Then again, from our own experience, the PageRank Toolbar still serves as good indicator of your site’s overall relevance within Google, otherwise it’ll just be a little harder to determine if this is discarded.

Where to get the pagerank status toolbar

If you’re using Chrome as your browser, you can install the extension from the Chrome Web Store.

If you would like to simply just check a site’s pagerank without the toolbar, there are online pagerank checker tools like PRChecker or SEOMoves’ Page Rank Checker.

Our Conclusion?

High page rank doesn’t mean high search ranking, but can help improve your SE ranking to some extent. That being said, we would rather focus more on building high quality backlinks and your site’s page rank will take care of itself. For basic tips, you can submit or request listing for your site in trusted directories like Dmoz.org, Yahoo Local Directory; or local directory like Thumbtack where we ourselves have our website and web design services listed.  Or, rather than getting so obsessed about it, take it to your advantage to create well-structured sites with great quality unique content pages that are well optimized with better navigation, layout and formatting. These factors will help your site’s page rank go up eventually.

So, yes – it’s not quite a big deal but it still matters.

As a company seeking a new website, you have two options: (1) Build a new site with SEO before you launch, or (2) A website re-design to include SEO after your site has been live. Before you choose which option fits you best, here are some notable thoughts to consider …

Even though websites are changeable, the longer you wait to add SEO to your website, the more harm you are doing to your business. It’s much easier to build SEO into your website before you launch, and avoid any damage.

Here is why:

• New domains usually experience a long period of low search engine rankings, or none at all. If you wait to add SEO, you are only encouraging this effect.
• A website redesign is usually more costly and time-consuming than an initial website design. The longer your site is live the more complex and difficult your website redesign becomes.
• A website redesign can cause disruption to URL structure, losing link equity that has been built over time.
• Don’t forget, core SEO can be done in a few simple steps with keyword research, keyword grouping, and keyword mapping in your information architecture. You can always opt to do a simple version of SEO, and revisit it later to do a more complex and successful plan.

However, if you can’t afford the time or cash to opt for SEO services at the beginning, it can still be done with good website re-design. Therefore, if you are thinking about adding SEO at a later date, make sure you follow these rules:

• Choose a web development firm to design your website that you will also use to do your SEO. This way, your website will be designed by someone who anticipates you plan to add Search Engine Optimization, making the process less complicated in the long run.
• It is helpful to select a web development firm that also offers Social Media marketing. A good social media strategy will improve your search ability, and your website design company can set up your website to be social media friendly as well.

Having a vibrant and well designed website are great for site appearance in captivating your audience. And let’s face it, it’s the fun part of web development! However, optimizing your site for search engines and people are more important for a first consideration. A website is much more effective when a search engine can find it, and then a person can easily use it. Which is why when designing a website, you must always first optimize for a combination of these two.

What Is Web Design Usability?

Usability is important in helping your website achieve its purpose, be it selling something, providing information, or simply showcasing a product. A website that sells a product should be designed for easily buying a product. A website for showcasing a product should make product images easy to view. The question is always, “Can your visitors easily access the information they need, so that they can do what you want them to?”

To create a healthy usable website environment several things are considered by your web developer, including information accessibility, information availability, navigation, and search engine readiness. To accomplish this you can use a few great tools: Use appropriate and relevant content, make information easy to find, and create a good navigational system such as with a navigation bar, short-cuts, and a site map. The bottom line is that you want to make sure your site is usable by ALL your visitors.

Search-Engine Readiness

Search Engine Readiness = Search Engine Visibility, and without it you will get few visitors.

Let’s say you sell “widgets” to any and everyone in the U.S. You design a website to be beautiful and easy to use, so that anyone visiting can buy a widget and enjoy their stay on your site. You have even included a vast array of meta tags and keywords for SEO. One day you decide to do a search for “widgets” to find your website. But, alas it is nowhere to be found. You even do a search for your company name, but still no where to be found in the search engine.

The problem is that you used a JavaScript menu. Bots don’t search through JavaScript. It is these small details that make search engine readiness crucial to your business. No one can find you if you make yourself invisible.

When hiring a web development firm, be sure to ask your website designer to focus on Usability and Search Engine Readiness. You can always design your site to be as visually appealing as you desire, just make it a second priority if you have to choose between the two.

There are several factors in selecting a social media marketing agency that need to be taken into consideration. Everything you do online goes viral instantly, which is why poor social media marketing can impact your image negatively and in no time at all. Therefore, it’s important when interviewing an agency to make sure and ask these questions before you make a commitment:

• How long has your agency or web development company been in business? And, how many years experience does your staff have in social media marketing?

It’s not a bad thing to hire a web development company or PR agency to do your social media marketing if they offer it, nor is it bad to hire independent contractors who are doing contract jobs. However, you must make sure that either the individuals in charge of your project, or the company itself has at least 2 years experience. Social Media marketing strategies are often dependent on trial and error tactics, therefore you want to select a company or person that has spent enough time navigating social media sites to understand what works best.

• Have you done social media marketing campaigns for my type of business before?

Let’s face it, marketing a book is not the same as marketing a bank. Make sure your online marketing company has at least some experience with your product type. Before making a decision, you should ask to see a company’s web portfolio of past and current projects to be sure they can handle your business.

• How long is your typical social media marketing campaign?

Good social media marketing agencies should be able to offer you at least 2 options: (1) A 2-3 month campaign, and (2) An ongoing marketing strategy. Typical campaigns should be for a minimum of 2-3 months to kick-off a product launch, or to start your business in the social media networking world.

However, for effectiveness of long term branding success, social media marketing should be ongoing. Beware of agencies that offer you quick success –while this may be true for short term awareness, it is not effective for long term social networking success.

• A clothing company that offered red skirts, red shirts, red jewelry, but no red shoes.
• A shoes company that offered beautiful red shoes, only to find they were out of stock after we signed up for an account and tried check-out and buy.
• A shoe company that offered every kind of red shoe imaginable, that froze our screen every time we clicked to view them.
• A beautiful pair of red shoes, no contact information to call the company for customer service, and a check-out with so many bugs that we couldn’t get our order through.
• A great website that sells red shoes, and makes them easy to buy.

Now imagine you really need a pair of red shoes…. What will you do?

Many companies design their website without the user in mind. Most companies will design their website to drive traffic, using manipulative tactics and creative marketing strategies. But if you don’t have a great website that we can find, that sells red shoes and makes them easy to buy, well then you will not sell red shoes, nor will you probably sell anything you’re offering.

Luckily, you can easily avoid this conundrum by creating a user friendly website. And here’s how:

• Create a good text-based site map with a short description of what each page offers.
• Use a logical navigation structure using logical headings and link descriptions.
• Use a consistent design and layout using common sense rules.
• Include a website search tool – to allow users to find red shoes.
• Check for site errors regularly. Be proactive in finding them.
• Ensure that all your forms and buying tools, such as shopping carts work!
• Include contact information.
• Use easy to understand language and text.
• Go for SEO-friendly web design.

When selecting a website design or a web development company, make sure to follow this rule: “Your website is not jut there to amuse, it’s there to use.”

Your website design company should be concerned with three goals when designing your website.
(1) People will find you in search engines.
(2) Once they find you, they stay glued.
(3) Your website is easy to navigation that makes people find information quickly.

While an SEO-friendly website does not guarantee to improve your sales, it will improve your search engine rankings, driving more people to your website. Combined with a user-friendly and easy to navigate website design, you greatly increase your chances for attracting people to your business or product. You won’t find clients if they can’t find you!

In order for your site to be SEO-friendly, this is what your website should include:

• Clean and Descriptive Titles to catch attention. Titles are what people see first, you must make sure they clearly state what you do.
• Keyword Rich URL’s that describe the information that will presented on that page. For example: www.mediaparade.com/search-engine-optimization
• Easy to read title descriptions that represent what the title suggests.
• Strong Meta tags and keywords. This helps with relevancy.
• Intelligent keyword grouping that segment them into tightly themed groups. This will create a map for your website layout.
• Text! If you are search engine ranking concerned, then focus on text only, rather than flashy design. Searches are concerned with text, not graphics.
• Unique content should be used for each page so that bots have no trouble in deciding which page to rank.
• Google Site Maps to help Google index web pages.

A social media marketing plan from a credible agency should be thorough and explanatory. It should be well organized within the campaign time frame, and include deadlines that you can use to hold the agency accountable for their online activity. While social media marketing is qualitative more than quantitative it is not necessary for you to expect grave details on quantities. But, it is important to make sure that your agency is spending good quantities of time developing your brand or product image through conversation, and they are using a range of creative tactics. Before beginning a marketing campaign for online branding or product awareness, make sure you ask for the plan!

Here are some things a great social media marketing campaign should include:
(1) A list of social networking sites that will be used (i.e. Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Bebo, LinkedIn, etc).
(2) A timeline of activity for each social networking site.
(3) Goals for what results you can expect from each social networking site activities.
(4) Deadlines for receiving deliverables.
(5) A strategy for tracking visits to your website.
(6) Suggestions for how to improve your social media presence through your website.
(7) Periodic reports that will be delivered to you, detailing or summarizing activity.
(8) Details on types of strategies that will be used, (i.e. viral video releases, online contests, qualitative conversations, “friending” techniques.)
(9) A clear path to completion.

Don’t forget, there are many ways to grow your business with social media, so make sure you are comfortable with the plan being executed, and don’t be afraid to ask for revisions. Also, don’t be afraid to launch successive campaigns to try new strategies. You never know what will work the best until you try.