How Do You Change Your Website?

Begin by looking at your overall brand. The redesign should still be able to tell your customers that it is still you, albeit a few changes. While the change should be stark, it should not take away from who you are as a company and what you mean to your customers.

The Prolonged Closure Introduction

Make sure you have used the reopening introduction to show that you know you have been closed for a long time. In the introduction be sure to mention why you’ve been closed, why you are reopening, what you have done to take care of your customers, and how you will reopen safely. This is a very simple way for you to calm your customers when they shop with you.

The New Background

The new background on the site will tell your customers your business has changed completely or slightly. You are showing your customers that you wanted to change the way your business operates, and they can see that in the redesign.

The New Categories

A new website should have new categories. New categories are important because they help your customers learn about your response to your prolonged closure. For example, you want to ensure that you have shown what your new protocols are because of COVID-19. Make sure that you have explained all your policies and procedures, and allow your customers to learn what they should do before they shop with you.

The New Website Might Have New Customer Service Options

The new website might have new customer service options included a live chat platform that allows you to reach out to customers. They can talk to you about how you can fulfill their needs, and you can provide them with guidance if needed. You can add your phone number or a special hotline for customer care. A new website should also include a special email address that allows customers to ask questions specifically about your reopening.

Exclusive Content

Add content for your customers so that they can learn how to shop with you or use your products during this difficult time. You might also start a blog that allows you to add AMA sessions where you can teach customers about how to use your products. Your company should be as accessible as possible to the public, and that is why you need to try to reach out to customers as much as possible.

Most companies that are reopening are taking advantage of this downtime to use their website redesigns to help their customers learn how to shop now that they have reopened. This is also something that you should consider when you are trying to add new products to your lineup, bring in new customers, or want your customers to feel more comfortable because they might feel unsafe as you reopen. Add more information, add a live chat line, use your blog to publish content, and put a message on the homepage that talks to your customers about the closure and reopening.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, design professionals that lack solid goals stand a high risk of losing the business focus. Dan Doyle Pleasantville NY is an upstanding professional photography and a creative graphic designer. He owns a studio that specializes in event, wedding and retail photography. Dan Doyle is also adept in digital design, branding strategies and marketing. He attributes the successes he has achieved over the years to in-born creativity, solid tool-belt and business strategy.

Dan Doyle Pleasantville NY shares goal setting tips for graphic designers.

1. Set achievable SMART goals

Graphic designers looking to grow their businesses need to set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound). The goals must be prioritized based on impact or importance. When answering the specific goal question, designers need to disclose what they want to accomplish and how goals will be achieved. To avoid unnecessary drag and confusion, it is advisable to focus on one goal at a time. Based on the timelines, the SMART goals can be pictured using the following short to long term analysis:

• Immediate and ongoing goals (i.e. instituting a policy to use written contracts when doing any business; separating personal finances from business finances)
• Short term goals (i.e. setting up a blog or website that attracts more than 1000 visitors a month; devoting at least 3 days a month on charity design work)
• A year from now (making a gross income of more than $50,000)
• 5 years from now (having an active client for 5 years running; establishing a self-relying graphic design studio or training center)

2. Keep track of your goals

Business goals must be tracked regularly to measure progress. You can easily use a notebook to check off the progress. The alternative method is using a dedicated time management App or template. Goal tracking can be done on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis, depending on the schedule. Since life can be unpredictable and humans are prone to making mistakes, the goals should be sufficiently adaptable to cover any missteps. Under the SMART goal strategy, you can make necessary changes where there are unrealistic expectations or roadblocks preventing you from achieving your goals. To do so, you must first establish if there are compelling reasons to adjust or change your goals. While working on your goals, always remember to stay motivated.

3. Remember to continually work on soft skills

Due to the nature of their work, graphic designers must ensure they continually promote their tool-belt alongside soft skills as a long term strategy to grow business. The most desirable soft skills include:
• Communication – it is important for designers to sharpen their communication skills. Besides engaging with clients and teammates, good communication skill is crucial when explaining complex subjects and making presentations before prospects and investors.
• Time management – graphic designers are often forced to work and manage different projects with different deadlines. Having strong time management skills will enhance productivity and ensure all projects are completed on time and to the required standards.
• Active listening – while on duty, graphics designers regularly engage their immediate bosses, team members and clients. To accurately understand and translate a client’s vision, a graphic designer must inculcate active listening skills.
• Creativity – a creative designer can think out of the box and come up with compelling design ideas and concepts. This skill set can also help the designer capture the client’s vision and bring them into life in the most creative way possible.
• Persistence – as you work on your design projects, you will periodically be asked to do revisions and make changes to the initial plans. In the worst cases, you will encounter last minute project cancellations. When any of these things happen, learn not to lose your focus.
• Conflict resolution – since graphic designers don’t work in isolation, conflicts are bound to arise from time to time. A professional with conflict resolution skills can move quickly to quell any rising conflicts and use the skill to advance their own career

Research The Competition

If there is one thing that renewable energy businesses do frequently, it is research what the competitors are doing. You are trying to create a logo that will differentiate it from the competition. In order to get the proper inspiration, you need to study the history of logos that some of the bigger renewable energy brands. Doing so will help you get a better understanding of the objectives these businesses tried to achieve.

This doesn’t mean that you are going to copy exactly what another business selected as their logo. What you are trying to study is the thinking process behind how the business decided to convert their ideas into a logo. Doing so will help you do the same. For more information on the importance of businesses processes that renewable energy businesses use, you could consult Douglas Healy for expert information.

Understand Your Values

After you have studied the competition, the next step is to take a hard look into your organization and understand what it stands for. Professional entrepreneurs always have an in-depth understanding about what their business is trying to accomplish. If you understand your company’s values, you will be able to convey these values to your people. This will make what your logo is all the more prominent.

Expressing values through logo designs will also make your brand more authentic in the process. Making a business logo just because you think it will supplement your signature service or product is not only lazy, but it won’t appeal many people to your business.

Understand Your Target Audience

All of this should have been considered when you were writing your business plan or doing your market research, but whenever you are thinking about a logo to represent your business, you need to bear your target audience in mind. Understanding what your audience is looking for in your business is a hallmark of a successful organization.

For example, if you are a toy store, having a logo featuring a toy or a game would be ideal. It also shows that you understand the wants and demands of who you are marketing to. Designing a power logo will be much more rewarding once you have considered the potential customers you will be branching out to.

Correlate Your Logo With Your Brand Promise

Renewable energy logos are highly renowned for having specific brand promises. Promises are basically firm declarations on what a customer can expect when they purchase your product or service. So not only should your logo be related to your values and target audience, but it also needs to coincide with what your brand is supposed to be standing up for.

You should be advised that this is not an easy thing to do. Therefore, in order to ease the transition of correlating your logo with your brand promise, you should be advised to hire graphic design services. While you may have an idea in mind, you may lack the creativity to make it happen. This is where getting help will come in handy. Do not put more on your table than you can handle. For further information on these various topics, Douglas Healy can provide expert insight.

As you can see, making a signature logo for your renewable energy business is imperative in order to branch out from the competition and get more customers. The process can be tedious and difficult in order to find just the right logo, but it can be done with enough long-term planning and converting your data into tangible results. Follow these tips, and the transition will be easier

Tell Me About Your Industry and You Place in It

As a web designers, I need to know about your industry and your value proposition. While some industries are self-explanatory, I may not know about racehorse farms or crop seed mixes and I’ll need an overview. I also need to know your value proposition. Do you offer the most affordable, best quality or most prestigious product or service? I need to know what sets your brand apart from the competition.

Explain Your Brand’s Personality

Websites should reflect a brand’s personality. If your brand is quirky, your website should be quirky too. If you want your website to reflect a New Jersey local business, I can do that too. I’ll also need to see your brand’s style sheet if you have one. The style sheet has your logo, your color scheme and fonts you want to use in all your brand communications. If you don’t have a style guide, I can design a logo for you and choose appropriate colors and fonts to reflect your brand’s personality after you explain your brand’s personality to me.

What Do You Want Your Website to Do?

If you want to generate leads, I need to know this so I can make your contact information the most important feature of your website. Do you want mobile users to call for a reservation at your Hoboken restaurant? If so, I can add a click-to-call feature for mobile visitors. If you have an online store and want sales, I can add But it Now and Add to Cart buttons which will stand out.

What Images Do You Have?

I can incorporate your own images of your product, business, or employees in your website. The best images are of customers using your product or service. Visitors to your website want to imagine themselves using your product or service. I can use these images instead of stock photos because photos of real people are better. People like to imagine themselves using your product or service, which is hard to do with images of models. Depending on your industry, I can create animations for you for your website instead of photos. I can easily express a feeling with an animation.

Who is Your Target Audience?

I can write content which speaks to your target customer, including age location and gender. Obviously a pink website wouldn’t appeal to men looking for work boots, but I can design a website which will make your target audience feel comfortable. If you target people who live in New York. I can speak the language and I know the subtle differences between what people in New York say vs what people in California type in Google when they search for your product online.

With these facts, I can design a website for your business which works well as an inbound marketing tool.