Imagine if you walked into a store and saw nothing but blank white walls and shelves lined with plain white boxes. You’d find yourself wondering what store it was and what they sold. They could be anything from a tech-focused electronic store to a bakery supply company.

The above scenario can happen on your website, too. If you haven’t developed your online branding, you’ll leave visitors wondering who you are and what you have to offer.

Internet branding is critical for helping your audience connect with your company, so they ultimately purchase your products or use your services.

On this page, we’ll answer questions like:

• What is Internet branding?
• Why does online branding matter?
• What online branding strategies can I use?

Keep reading to find out how you can start building your business’s brand to enhance your reputation and start driving revenue!

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What is Internet branding?

Online branding involves creating an image of your company’s branding through every facet of your digital marketing efforts. Whether you’re creating your business’s website, launching an ad campaign, or posting on social media, branding helps you create a recognizable identity that provides people with a glimpse into who you are as a brand.

Why does online branding matter?

You’ve probably heard people say how it’s critical to build your business’s brand online, but why?

Here are three core reasons you need to work on building your brand online:

1. Online branding sets the first impression

One of the biggest reasons to invest in online brand building is that it helps you set a positive first impression. When someone discovers your business for the first time, they’re making judgments of your business based on what they see with your branding.

If someone discovers you through search engines, they’re looking at your website to see who you are. If someone finds your social media ad in their feed, they’re looking at your image and phrasing to get a sense of your brand.

Without branding in place, you risk confusing people about who you are. You also risk people developing a negative impression of your company because they can’t get a true sense of your brand and what you offer.

Investing in building your brand online will help you set a positive first impression and give people a sense of who you are.

2. Online branding helps you stand out from your competition

Internet branding enables you to stand out from your competition. Branding allows you to create a unique look for your company, so you don’t blend in with other businesses in your niche.

Over 73% of companies use design to help their brand stand out from their competition. Adding unique design elements, whether it’s to your ad campaigns or website, enables you to create memorable experiences for anyone who interacts with your business.

So, if you create a unique look for your business, you’ll give your company a leg up on your competition.

3. Online branding creates recognition

With so many brands on the market, you need to create a memorable experience for your audience. Branding is the key to helping you build that recognition with your audience.

Online branding helps you create a unique and memorable look for your brand. Whether it’s your logo, a color scheme, or the phrases you use, you’re trying to establish a sense of identity for your business. Your audience can latch onto those unique nuggets of information, which helps make your brand more memorable.

That way, when they’re considering buying a product or using a service of yours, they’ll remember that unique marker of your brand, which will translate to sales.

Online branding strategies: 4 ways to start building your brand online

Branding online is key to obtaining interested leads, driving sales, and boosting revenue. Here are four online branding strategies you can use to promote your company:

1. Create a custom website for your business

If you want to master branding online, start creating a custom website for your business. Whether you run ad campaigns, invest in search engine optimization (SEO), or send emails, you’re sending people back to your website to buy your products or invest in your services. You need a branded website to create a memorable experience for your audience.

Creating a custom website helps with building your brand online. You can implement your business’s unique style and tone into your website so people have a feel for your brand.

You can create a unique experience by implementing your brand’s colors into your website, using a design that reflects your company’s style, and more. And it’s not just limited to your design elements — you can also implement your unique style in the text on your website.

When developing your company’s unique style, make sure you create a style guide. A style guide will help ensure your business has a consistent look across every page you add.

2. Put your logo online

One of the essential elements to include in building your brand online is adding your logo. Your logo helps people identify your business in the sea of competition and build brand recognition.

If you already have a logo you use for your business, you can use it for your online profiles. If you don’t have a logo or need a refresh, you can create a new branded logo for your company.

Once you have your logo created, you’ll want to integrate it into different facets of your marketing to help build brand recognition. Some places to use your logo include:

• In your social media profile photos
• On your website
• On any infographics you create
• At the start of your video content
• On your landing pages
• And more

Integrating your logo is a great way to help people recognize your company as they browse online.

3. Share user-generated content

A critical component of branding online is sharing user-generated content. A great way to help people understand who you are and what you do is through your customers. People can get a sense of your brand by seeing what others say about your products or services.

You can share user-generated content on your social media profiles, in your emails, or on your website. To help with branding, you’ll want to focus on visual representations of user-generated content. So, if people are posting photos of your products on social media, you’ll want to share those pieces through your marketing.

Sharing this content is a great way to build your brand’s image. If you share a customer photo of someone laughing while modeling your clothes, it can help you deliver the impression that your brand is carefree and fun.

User-generated content is an excellent way for you to show people what your brand is about and get them familiar with who you are.

4. Establish your brand’s story

One of the best branding strategies is to establish your brand’s story. You need to create compelling reasons why consumers should choose your brand over the competition in a competitive market. Creating a brand story is a great way to tell your audience who you are and why they should choose you.

For example, if you’re a fun-loving and adventurous brand, you want to emulate that in your brand story. Share how you were established and what your company values are.

Take Tom’s, for example. People who know Tom’s know their brand is all about philanthropy. Tom’s helped establish that brand image by sharing their story of how they got started and what drove them to create their buy one give one model.

If you want to do online branding right, you need to establish and share your brand’s story to help build a persona of how you want your company to look to others.

Need help with your Internet branding?

Creating your online branding is critical if you want people to get familiar with your company and ultimately choose your brand. If you aren’t sure where to start with your online branding, WebFX can help.

We have a team of 450 marketing experts ready to help you build your online brand. With over $3 billion in revenue driven in the past five years, you can feel confident we’ll help you build your brand and drive results for your business.

Ready to build your brand? Contact us online or call us today at 888-601-5359 to speak with a strategist to learn how our professional marketing services can help you build your brand online!