How To Brand Your Web Site ?

                  Here are several hands-on branding strategies for you to apply to your own Web site, using your business name and your own name:

 1. Repetition - This is very important: keep all of your design elements the same from page to page. Most importantly, display your logo at the top of each page, consistently throughout your Web site. Your Web site must have its own distinct "feel".

2. Newsletter/Ezine - Use your mailing list to push your domain name and slogan (consisting of your Unique Selling Proposition). If you have an ezine, create a header that contains your domain name and your slogan. Use this same header in all issues of your ezine.

 3. Domain name - Use your domain name as your brand. Put it on all of your stationary (letter heads, business cards, post cards, statements, etc.).

 4. Signature file - Implement your USP into your signature file, so with every email you send visitors will be further exposed to your brand. Check out the help file of your email software for more on setting up sig files.

 5. Thank you pages - If you have online forms (for visitors to contact you, request more information, subscribe to your newsletter etc.), you most likely have a "thank you" page where you thank visitors for using your form. This is an excellent place to position your logo and slogan. Don't clutter with lots of banners and marketing material. Keep it plain and simple.

6. Ebooks - Create free books on subjects of interest to your visitors and allow them to re-distribute to their own visitors. Brand your ebook with your logo, domain name and slogan on every page of the ebook (also consider including your own name).

7. Publish free articles - With thousands of new Web sites and ezines popping up in Web land every month, the demand for high quality content is immense. You can provide articles for other webmasters/editors to publish on their Web sites/ezines. At the end of your article put your name and a link to your Web site, with short teaser copy to get people to click on your link (offer a free book, subscription to your ezine or some other enticing offer - see my resource box at the end for an example). This is free publicity at its best - not only will you get traffic back to your Web site; you'll also add status and credibility to your name (provided your article is of high quality). Visit the following sites to submit your articles: -

8. Autoresponders - These are emails that are sent automatically to anyone who requests them (triggered by sending them an email). Autoresponders are great as they work 24 hours a day without any intervention on your part. Use them to send visitors free reports, articles, list of links, etc. And add your branding copy (logo, name, slogan, USP etc.) at the top and bottom of the autoresponder message, with a link back to your Web site. Nowadays all good Web hosts provide their customers with free autoresponders.

 If you don't brand, you'll have a hard time surviving on the Web. If you do brand - properly - you'll have a hard time not laughing all the way to the bank. And as shown by the above tips, online branding is not hard to do. Just implement the tips and you'll be well on your way.

                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                 Phaneendra.V.V

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