Rebranding your website

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Like many small business owners, you pivoted to stay competitive during the last few years. Changing market conditions and buying habits meant adding ecommerce applications, new products and new customers. In effect, you rebranded your business. You revised your operations to reshape or restart your brand. Has your website kept up?

Rebranding your business is the fresh approach it needs to keep up with fast changing market conditions. Rebranding will keep your business relevant, presenting a modern, purposeful image to the market. Make sure your website reflects your rebranding so visitors can quickly learn about the products and services they want.

A complete rebrand may include rebuilding your website from the ground up. But an entire overhaul is probably not necessary. If you have a loyal customer base, you’ll want to retain certain familiar elements while emphasizing what’s new and improved. If you want to attract a new customer base, a new logo and content may be the way to go. All changes should agree with the goals of building customer loyalty, standing out from the competition and increasing profits.

Hanover Research says 75% of companies have undergone a rebrand since 2020. Major reasons include:

  • To shift perception: Some companies wanted to shift the perception of their business. Dunkin Donuts, for example, is now Dunkin. They didn’t completely change their name, allowing them to keep their established customer base while expanding it to new customers.
  • Response to changing market needs: Changing market needs during the last few years caused many companies to offer ecommerce options, curbside pickups and quick deliveries. Many hurried to modify their websites to include these rebranding policies. Another changing market trend is toward environmental sustainability. Adding content reflecting your sustainability efforts will rebrand your business and attract like-minded customers.
  • Need to modernize: Brand image can grow stale over time, especially as new players in your space emerge. Rebranding your logo, colors, website design and perhaps your company name can make you more competitive.
  • Introduce new product lines and services: Companies rebrand to reflect a change in product or service offerings. If you take on a new product line and your business is strongly associated with a different one, rebranding is a good idea. If you add services to your products, rebranding will attract new customers.

Rebrand consistently across all channels, including your website, social media, in-store design, and email. Be sure the look and messaging are consistent. Invite social media visitors to explore your new website and invite website visitors to stay in touch with social media.

Elements to consider

  • Streamline your logo to make the design sleeker, with fewer colors and fewer words. It will be more modern, easier to read and look better on mobile devices.
  • Use the available real estate on your website more efficiently. The homepage should have one major message; to communicate your brand and its benefits. This is meant for first-time visitors or to let current customers know about rebranding projects. Take advantage of the footer to use as a navigation area, to invite communication and link to social media. This is geared toward repeat customers, who find this information handy.
  • New product or service offerings will need new content, and this is a good time to review all the content on your site. A rebrand offers the opportunity to change the personality of the website to convey your brand.

Keep true to your mission and goals

Take a hard look at your stated mission and goals before starting a rebranding project. If your website and design do not reflect your goals, make sure your rebranding efforts do. Communicating your goals will help attract the customer base you want and set you apart from the competition. Your website designer can help communicate your goals in the content you write and the design choices you make.

Make sure your team is on board

Your employees should be part of the rebrand process. They represent your goals during customer interactions, so they need to know and convey them to customers.

Emphasize the benefits

Current customers will notice a rebrand and may wonder if your business still appeals to them. To assure them, announce upcoming changes to ahead of time via email or text notifications. Highlight the benefits of the change. Announce the upcoming change on your current website homepage to celebrate the rebrand and its benefits. Established customers are high priority. But so are new ones!

Wheaton Website Services designs and creates websites that run flawlessly. We work to determine the best design elements and presentation techniques. Contact us to get started on creating a new or rebranded website for your business.