Tips for DIY Website Building Part 2
Inspiration
Now that you have chosen the platform you want let’s talk about inspiration!
Where to begin? Well… who are you?
You need to find your brand identity before going any further with your website. If you’re not a well established company with a complete brand guide, then you can use these tools to discover yourself:
You can also go check out Our Process to see a quick streamlined version of brand discovery.
For a more detailed breakdown check it out below.
Brand mission
This one is easy… If you start a business or a brand, it’s basically step one, so hopefully you have this down already… right?
What’s your purpose, what’s the goal here, like we just have to figure out what Chunky’s deal is…
Generic example incoming: Our brand mission is to inject personality and fun into the aromatherapy industry, by creating scents that uplift and energize our audience, setting us apart from the competition. We aim to make our customers feel cheerful and invigorated, rather than simply calm and relaxed.
Just google “brand mission statements” and you can find millions of examples to understand this more. Search engines are sweet.
Brand values
Okay, obviously this is pretty closely related to your mission, so use that information, throw in some adjectives and voilà! You got values. Examples? Okay, how about Releaf Designs (that’s us by the way).
We value transparency, trust, and collaborative creativity. We believe in using transparency in our process to make our clients comfortable and confident about building a website together. We value a therapeutic approach to finding businesses needs and goals to establish a trusting relationship.
Now go do you…
Brand personality
More adjectives, you say? Absolutely! Where is your personality on this adjective scale?
No? oh. okay, I uh, I’ll just keep writing anyway I guess.
Tone of voice
Let’s use some kind of sustainability focused brand as an example. (perhaps sustainable underwear or sustainable shower caps or sustainable forks? I dunno)
What’s your tone of voice when reaching your customers or audience?
Approachable, Informative, Inspiring. (more adjectives, I know)
How do you want your customers or audience to feel when you speak?
Empowered to make a positive impact on the world through their purchasing decisions.
What kind of language do you use to describe your products or process?
Clear and concise language to describe our production processes and materials, inspiring our customers to make informed decisions and take action towards a more sustainable future.
Pretty simple right? Now ask yourself those three questions and find your tone!
Site Inspiration!!!!
This isn’t just about your competition or websites in your field, this is about anything that inspires you or makes you go,
Find 3 or more websites that speak to you. Dig deep. Find ones that you frequently visit or some you remember that you liked. Discover what you like most about them. i.e. the colors, the fonts, the features, the structure, the animations, the general vibe, man. All those things that make you go all George Takei.
No idea where to begin? Don’t worry, we got you covered. Here are some links to find cool modern websites:
