Branding and Design 

In order to standout in the market organisations try to differentiate themselves through their choice of name and logo, and reflecting their house style through the use of design.

With the advent of the internet, branding has increased in importance as the marketplace becomes global and the number of potential competitors increases.

On the web, branding relates particularly to the website - the domain name, the design of the site, the content and how the site interacts with web users.

Domain names

For most businesses the name is the most important element of their brand.

The choice of domain name is particularly important, as changing the domain name can be disruptive, both in terms of having to change stationary and marketing collateral, and the effect the change can have on the website.  In the latter case, it can in particular have a negative effect on the rating of the site with the search engines.  Although steps can be taken to mitigate against the impact, it is likely to be costly and lead to loss of visitors.

Domain name choices are difficult as well. Partly this is because of the scarcity of the domain names available within the most popular top level domain names, such as .com and .net, and partly it is whether to choose a domain name which is descriptive, or a distinctive name which stands out and can be protected against competitors.  Descriptive names are popular because search engines tend to rank the site better for searches using that name or phrase. 

But purely descriptive names offers little brand value, and can be difficult to distinguish from similar names.   On the other hand a distinctive name makes it easier to prevent others free riding on your reputation, and could secure its identity through trademark registration. 

Web Design

The website design is what many people first think of when having a new web site.  This encompasses both the colours, imagery, fonts, and the structure and content of the site, and how it will be navigated by visitors.

The first of these will particularly determine the initial reaction of visitors so that they might stay and have a further look, while the second contributes more to the longer term usability and usefulness of the site so the visitors are tempted top return. Both are clearly important.

We can help advise and produce designs for the complete site, both the look of the site to attract and the content structure to retain visitors. We can also equally work with other designers you have selected, or any existing designs you may have.

We are also experienced in redesign of existing sites, where we keep the best features and make improvements where required, or do a complete overhaul and rebranding. This can often be a very cost effective, and less disruptive than having a complete new site built from scratch, although it will depend on the underlying technology on which the site is built.