WordPress is by all means of the most popular (if not the most popular) website platforms in the world, with over 40% of the websites on the internet currently using it. This does not come as a surprise at all, given its flexibility and ease of customization.
For most businesses out there looking to create a website that stands out, WordPress is usually the go-to option due to its user-friendly interface, extensive features and the ability to customize to fit their specific needs.
However, simply creating a website is not enough for most businesses in today’s extremely competitive digital world. Brands need to establish a unique identity that sets them apart from the competition and stands out in the eyes of consumers. They need to generate experiences that captivate and engage and help turn simple visitors into returning customers.
When all competitors are only two clicks away, and audiences’ attention span keeps decreasing, brands need to turn on their creative engine to stand out. Throughout this article, we’ll do exactly that, exploring the importance and ways in which brands can customize their WordPress website to their values and personality.
What are the benefits of customizing your WordPress website?
Like Simon Sinek encouraged us all along, let’s start with why. We have already highlighted the importance of tailoring your website to reflect your brand’s identity, but let’s dive a bit deeper into it and explore the main benefits of doing so.
Increase brand recognition and awareness
A customized website to match your brand’s visual identity will make an impression on those that land on it, helping them to remember your brand more easily in all future interactions. Visitors will associate identity elements such as logos and colours, which over time, can yield more traffic, engagement and sales.
Ensure consistency in branding across different marketing channels
Keeping your branding consistent across marketing channels is imperative, and I’m not talking about just the logos. From aesthetics and design elements to messaging, tone and pitch, brand consistency is key to forming a consistent image in the minds of your audience. By calibrating your WordPress website to ensure a consistent look and feel across all channels, you make it easier for them to recognise your brand regardless of where they will encounter it in the future.
Improve user experience
It’s impossible to brand without understanding your audience. So when you build your website, it’s best to create around the specific needs and preferences of your audience, generating a website that is easy to use and navigate and yields a better user experience. Additionally, by adding custom brand features and functionalities, you can make it even more engaging and interactive.
Establishing credibility and professionalism
This is the main benefit of a custom website built around a brand’s identity. Establishing credibility and professionalism is one key element that leads to phones ringing and hands being shaken. Think of your website as a digital, more complex version of your business card. Use it to make a strong impression on your customers and convey the message with more than just words. A professional-looking website can make a strong impression on your audience, conveying that your brand is trustworthy and reliable.
What does it mean to customize your WordPress website for your brand?
Developing or modifying your website to reflect your brand implies tailoring the design, content and functionality of your website to reflect the unique visual identity and personality of your brand.
Your brand’s identity reflects in every single aspect of your website, from the voicing and tone of your content to the themes, fonts, colours and images present throughout the website. Below, we’re taking a closer look at each of these elements:
Fonts
Typography plays a crucial role in your brand’s identity, and its impact should never be underestimated. Each font can evoke different emotions and convey different messages, so it’s important you pick the right one that suits your brand identity. WordPress allows you to choose from various fonts or upload custom fonts to match your brand’s typography. You can customize the font size, line height, and spacing to make your content more readable and engaging.
Colours
Colour is one of the most powerful tools you can use when trying to get your brand across. They evoke emotions, convey meaning and can help your audience associate with your brand more easily. While designing your website, it’s important to choose colours that complement your brand’s identity and use them to create a cohesive look and feel across your website.
Logos
Your brand’s logo is the visual representation of your brand’s identity. It should be smoothly integrated buy constantly displayed on your website to reinforce brand recognition. You can upload your logo and customize its placement, size, and alignment using the theme customizer or by editing the theme’s code. Its important logo should be high-quality, scalable, and easily recognisable. Don’t forget to set it up as a favicon so that it is always visible in the browser tab.
Themes
A theme is a collection of files that control the look and functionality of your website. You can choose a pre-made theme that suits your brand, or you can create a custom theme from scratch. Customizing a theme involves changing the colours, fonts, layout, and other design elements.
Images
Images are an essential part of web design. High-quality images can significantly impact the user experience and create an emotional connection with your audience. You can customize the images on your website by using a consistent style and colour palette and other customizable design elements like gradients.
A quick tip: Use compression plugins to optimise your images for faster loading times and increase the search engine optimisation status.
4 Tips for Customizing Your WordPress Website
Conduct research on your target audience and competitors
Great web design is transparent. The UX needs to be built with the end-user and target actions in mind, helping the customers flow through intuitively. That can only be achieved by conducting thorough research and building on validated data. Further on, you should map out your competition to see what you need to adapt to, avoid or get inspiration from as you build your project.
Keep your brand identity consistent throughout your website
As previously stated, to create a strong and memorable brand identity, it’s important to keep your branding consistent throughout your website. This includes using the same fonts, colours, and logos across all website pages. By doing so, you can establish a cohesive and professional look and feel that helps to build trust and credibility with your audience.
Use high-quality images and graphics that reflect your brand
Using illustrations that reflect your brand can help to create a visually appealing website that engages your audience. Be sure to choose images that are relevant to your brand and industry and that are high-resolution and optimised for web use. You can also add custom graphics or illustrations to make your website stand out and reflect your brand’s unique personality.
Regularly update and maintain your website
Simply put, the higher the number of functionalities, the higher the chances that something might go wrong. That’s why it’s absolutely essential to regularly update and maintain your website to ensure everything is secure, up-to-date and functioning as it should. On your checklist, ensure you include updating the theme, plugins and any payment-related modules if applicable.
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On a final note, customizing your WordPress website is not just about making it look pretty; it’s about creating a unique identity for your brand that will make it stand out in the increasingly competitive digital world. By customizing your WordPress website to fit your brand, you can establish brand recognition and furtherly improve user experience. Following the tips above, you can create a custom WordPress website that reflects your brand’s identity, engages your audience, and drives business growth.
And if it so happens that you’re still hesitant to engage in this, remember that customizing your WordPress website is an investment in your brand’s future, and the benefits will be felt for years to come.
So, let’s get creative and make your WordPress site a masterpiece that showcases your brand’s personality as it should.
