Unlocking your potential with branding websites: A complete guide

Branding is an important process that isn’t solved or finished overnight – don’t undergo it alone!

There are many different resources available to guide your branding, so make sure to take advantage.

If you’re uncertain which resources are best, this guide is for you. I’ll walk you through the basics, then show you seven branding websites that are sure to help along the way. Let’s begin.

Without branding, it’s hard to show potential customers that you’re the solution to their problems instead of the competition.

Unfortunately, approximately only 25% of customers feel most brands truly understand them individually.

Branding breathes life and uniqueness into a company that wouldn’t otherwise be able to exist. Let’s dive into some other reasons why it’s so important.

Importance of branding

“A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another.” – Seth Godin

As we referenced above, branding provides potential customers with reasons to choose you over the competition, highlighting significant, meaningful differences.

In return for powerful branding, companies are rewarded with more successful campaigns, brand loyalty and more.

Here are some key ways branding drives success:

• Encourages customer spending. Branding is a way to guide a customer to your product, no matter the price. It’s been proven that people purchase from a specific brand for similar quality even at a higher price.
• Fuels brand personas. One of the ideas behind branding is to create and maintain a powerful brand persona which brings a brand to life with human emotions and character.
• Boosts employee cooperation. Part of the importance branding delivers comes in the form of internal involvement, which boosts team cooperation and attracts new and better job applicants. With good branding, employees have a chance to feel a part of something greater.
• Improves marketing campaigns. An underrated aspect of branding is the leverage it creates for marketers, boosting their future campaigns and projects. If branding is effective, new marketing campaigns will be as well.

It’s pretty clear that branding has a big impact. Accordingly, let’s make sure you have the best resources available to guide you.

The following are the seven best branding websites to learn from.

7 branding websites to help you succeed

1. The Branding Journal

The Branding Journal is a combination of different branding resources, all brought together in one place for the visitor’s benefit. It includes different news stories, case studies and blogs.

What they have to offer: Modernized branding strategies to ensure all efforts and endeavors have a strong chance to succeed. The Branding Journal not only gives advice for a building a brand, but for managing a brand as well.

Who it’s aimed at: The Branding Journal is for those in the process of branding who need ideas and strategies in order to improve their success. Typically, it is a website aimed at smaller-scale brands, as it’s often filled with articles and advice for entrepreneurs.

What makes them unique: Part of what makes The Branding Journal stand out as a branding website is their commitment to their audience and willingness to connect with them. They offer free materials for beginners, and follow it up with a newsletter to stay in touch. Their blog is also organized in a manner that favors those seeking specific branding strategies.

 

2. Solid

Solid (Solid Branding) is a branding website for those willing to take a step back from the branding process and focus their efforts elsewhere.

What they have to offer: A website that holds the key to branding success, but through the talents of experienced experts rather than through instruction. Solid gives the chance to have effective branding without as much research or individual effort.

Who it’s aimed at: Like other branding websites, Solid is for those who want better branding. However, unlike the other sites, its purpose isn’t to offer advice, but rather to take control of certain branding operations.

What makes them unique: Solid’s innovative approaches and comprehensive portfolio sets them apart from other sites. Most importantly, they offer the chance for brands to save valuable time in the long run through their scalable tools.

3. BrandStruck

BrandStruck is to branding websites as Google is to web searches. They’ve taken a successful model and applied it to their own field.

What they have to offer: BrandStruck is essentially a giant archive on the web that holds helpful branding case studies. This archive is completely searchable and downloadable, which makes the research process in branding much easier and faster. On top of this, their blog offers unique takes on branding.

Who it’s aimed at: BrandStruck is for those who know their branding process will be a continual effort, year after year. By using BrandStruck, you’re committing to a service that will be available and added on to as time goes on.

What makes them unique: The extensive capabilities of the database BrandStruck uses is truly empowering to anyone undergoing branding processes. The different tools and options give users a reason to need nothing else in their research.

4. LogoDesignLove

Logo Design Love brings a branding perspective applied to those looking for extensive visual elements.

What they have to offer: Love Design Love goes above and beyond a basic visual elements site, giving powerful ideas to the design beginners who visit. It also offers a newsletter service to keep users informed on the latest designs.

Who it’s aimed at: Logo Design Love, as the name implies, is a branding website that is specific to one single category of branding – design. Anyone who wants to add a visual flair to their branding strategies would benefit.

What makes them unique: Logo Design Love magnifies the aspect of visual elements when it comes to branding, making them different from other websites that typically encompass all different steps, strategies and elements.

5. Branding Strategy Insider

Branding Strategy Insider is a business-based way to build branding for those looking for expert-level material.

What they have to offer: Branding Strategy Insider offers new articles about branding written by professionals that aim to offer elite tactics and new ideas in the branding process. The site even has learning sections that offer specific courses, as well as consulting.

Who it’s aimed at: Branding Strategy Insider is meant for those seeking professional branding knowledge, typically for users who are focused on marketing for business.

What makes them unique: Most branding websites offer some type of regular content, but it doesn’t usually measure up to the scheduled publishing Branding Strategy Insider follows. On top of expert advice and professionals writing branding articles, this site ensures the content keeps on coming.

6. brandchannel

brandchannel is a simple, professional branding website designed to give users a unique experience.

What they have to offer: brandchannel offers different ways to learn about branding, with a vast range of content from news to interviews. It even gives readers a space to learn different brand terms.

Who it’s aimed at: brandchannel benefits anyone looking to get personalized responses from branding experts. There are plenty of branding websites with helpful articles, but brandchannel specifically focuses on giving insight from the experts.

What makes them unique: Similar to other branding websites, brandchannel offers unique branding articles and research strategies, but what truly separates them from the pack is their insightful Q&As with industry leaders.

7. Emotive Brand

Emotive Brand is a modern company with a branding website driven to help customers through different strategies and techniques.

What they have to offer: Emotive Brand brings to the table an elite group of strategies and creative ideas to boost your overall branding process. It even has a blog to give you further insight into all things branding.

Who it’s aimed at: Emotive is for the brands who want branding that overhauls their entire outlook without the extra involvement and research that usually goes into it. It is an agency dedicated to guiding you through the world of branding.

What makes them unique: The overall approaches and techniques Emotive Brand uses are what sets them apart. It’s hard to find many other branding websites looking to use the same types of ideas and strategies when working with companies.

3 example websites that demonstrate elite branding

The Following three examples will give you a chance to see what types of things work and how successful brands approach branding.

1. Apple

Apple serves as a great example because of how well they incorporate branding into many different areas on their website. They provide a simple user experience that expresses to visitors exactly the type of company they have found – a unique, modern business that adheres to the whims of tech.

Apple’s homepage meets customer concerns about security, quality, safety and tech functionality. They accomplish this by showcasing beautiful images and detailed product descriptions.

One way that Apple separates itself from others is their total commitment to branding whenever possible. For example, instead of simply re-decorating their website for a holiday, they will incorporate the festivities into their brand.

This seems like a minor strategy, but these types of branding efforts influence customer outlook and allow customers to feel like Apple is moving through the stages of life alongside them.

How to apply the principles of this example: Mostly, when considering the success of Apple’s branding, think about their synchronicity with what they want to represent. Everything they do in terms of visuals, tone, messaging and more align with how they want customers to feel about them. When you’ve found your own ideals and values, take this same approach.

2. Seriously Unsweetened

When a user visits Seriously Unsweetened’s website, they notice the simplicity first and foremost. The menu is small, simple and out of the way.

All necessary functions are in the menu, and there’s little to no extra unnecessary features. Some brands choose to load their site with excessive details and images, but Seriously did the opposite. Customers get the feeling that the site was branded in a way that fits with simple, smooth soft drinks.

The reason this example stands out is the branding makes the customer feel that Seriously’s website is representative of their beverages. In fact, the website design, layout and color usage mimic the actual drink being sold.

Users exploring the site feel refreshed as they browse each page, just as they would if they were drinking the product. Each picture is even designed to bubble and fizz as you scroll. Lastly, the simplicity and lack of excess matches the drinks they sell, creating the perfect brand image and influencing the customer.

How to apply the principles of this example: At some point, everyone, no matter who they are, becomes overwhelmed with the extras. Seriously Unsweetened decided to keep things low key and prevent anyone from feeling overwhelmed by their branding materials. This made it easier for customers to focus on their products. Use simplicity whenever possible in your own processes.

3. Adidas

The Adidas website provides customers with everything they want from a sports company, both in product display and the overall feeling of the site. The homepage gives visitors a chance to view and purchase the product, however, this is only a portion of why the website’s branding is successful.

When a customer visits the Adidas site, they want to feel a certain way: motivated, energized and invigorated. The website is therefore jumping (no pun intended) with exercise images and videos. This type of branding syncs perfectly with customer emotions.

The layout of the website can definitely be overwhelming upon first glance, but it’s not cluttered or disorganized. Instead, there is an extensive menu which helps users locate whatever they’re searching for.

Adidas’ branding reaches customers and lets them know that Adidas connects with them and understands their goal. Its fast-paced layout lures the motivated people into the Adidas culture.

How to apply the principles of this example: Adidas digs into the emotions, drive and desire of customers better than most brands out there. Their branding encourages the right types of people to feel inspired. When working through your branding, look to touch on the key principles you want to connect with.

Final ideas

Branding is far too important of a process to navigate without serious research and outside help. Don’t neglect the many branding websites designed to get you through the necessary tasks.

Also, become aware of the many ways that successful brands go about their branding – you’d be surprised how much you can learn simply by paying closer attention.

For more details about brands and branding, check out our comprehensive branding guide.