5 reasons why your website needs a brand refresh
We’re seeing a fair number of website and company rebrands in the built environment sector- be it architecture, design, sustainability or construction.
From architecture studio Robin Partington & Partners who rebranded as Apt back in 2018 with a slick new website interface and a catchy tagline to match (This is Apt) to Carl Turner Architects who’ve had a complete branding overhaul relaunching as Turner.Works. Rebrands can help developing and changing organisations to adapt, evolve and stay relevant.
To rebrand or to refresh?
You may not always need a complete rebrand to renew target audience interest; a brand refresh might also do the trick. Unlike a rebrand, a brand refresh is not a complete transformation or a total reset of your brand identity. A brand refresh facilitates smaller considerations that even so, could be crucial in remaining relevant in today’s changing digital landscape.
How do you know when a brand refresh is due or even overdue?
Is age the number one factor?
As communication specialists in the built environment, we’re often asked this question. So, below in this blog, we’ve highlighted some reasons why you should firstly consider a brand refresh for your website. We’ve also included five simple tips on how to improve your branding and better communicate your brand message, thus attracting more of the right audiences for you.
Read on, which tips might you implement?
1. You’re not reaching the right audience
Your audience may have shifted from when you initially launched your website. From potential clients to editors of new media and to ‘fans’ who want to share your work with their network, it’s important that your brand messaging directly targets the type of audience you want.
Tip number one: Consider a rewrite of your company ‘About’ page. Research your target audience and the search terms that they would use to find your business. What brand tone will you adopt to target the audience you need?
2. Outdated messaging
Content-poor websites do little to put forward key brand messages that may be of benefit to their target audience. A brand refresh can identify brand-messaging weaknesses on your website pages and bring these to the fore.
Tip number two: Focus on writing high-quality and engaging content across your website so that you are more likely to be backlinked to. A backlink is when users link to your content online. More users backlinking to your website increases your brand visibility to target audiences.
3. Outdated visuals
A visually-rich website which uses a mix of media, from photography to CGIs and drawings, keeps audiences interacting. But there’s a fine balance to achieve here as too many images make it hard for users to navigate your site.
Tip number three: Carry out a visual audit to identify pages with images that may no longer suit your tone or brand messaging. If possible perform A/B testing to see which page layouts and image combinations work best.
4. Your website is not user-friendly
To achieve best results, your website needs to be designed with user experience in mind. But what is user experience? Amongst these 15 definitions of UX (user experience) design, our favourite is “UX design is a process of deeply understanding the user’s needs and objectives.” UX design hones in on user-friendly website interfaces.
Tip number four: A refresh can help highlight areas of your website that get the least amount of traffic. It might simply involve a reconsideration of the messaging hierarchy on your menu or website pages.
5. Advent of new communication tools
The channels that we are using to communicate are changing. On the heels of popular visual platforms like Instagram come podcasts, a fast-emerging medium allowing you to provide additional value to your audiences. As an example, check out Turner.Works collection of podcasts on the new ‘TV’ section of their website.
Tip number five: Feature newsletter ‘opt-in’ forms on your website and social media buttons to build a community via new media.
So, will you consider a website brand refresh?
Instead of going straight back to the drawing board, a brand refresh allows you to gain a new perspective, reinforce your value in the industry and expand your reach to new audiences.
Need more reasons for a brand refresh?
Get in touch with us for a branding consultation. And be sure to follow Concept Culture on our socials on LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram.