Have you ever been approached by a shopper to assist with rebranding their WordPress website? Whereas that is an thrilling and probably profitable request, it can be a sticky widget.
If you’re the one initiating a redesign, you’re ready for the dialog. You’ve assessed the poor high quality of an internet site and perceive why it’s a fixer-upper.
However when a shopper involves you wanting a rebrand, it isn’t so simple as discovering a brand new theme or modernizing their on-site advertising and marketing technique.
Listed below are among the extra frequent the explanation why purchasers could desire a rebrand:
Market Shift
It’s not completely unparalleled for a corporation to modify instructions as soon as they’ve found that their resolution is extra relevant to a different business. Or maybe they found there’s a higher demand for his or her product abroad. Whatever the purpose for the pivot, a refresh or full do-over of their branding could also be needed.
It’s Outdated
For some corporations, the model id has been in place for years, possibly even many years. It labored nicely initially, but it surely’s now not trendy sufficient by at present’s requirements. Take into consideration a handwritten font, for instance. It’d nonetheless look lovely, however what if their millennial viewers simply doesn’t “get it”?
Authorized Troubles
If an organization has flown below the radar for lengthy sufficient, they might not notice their firm title, brand, and even area is in violation of another person’s copyright. However as soon as visitors picks up on their website or somebody calls their declare to a reputation into query, they might have to act swiftly to swap out their branding.
It Was a Rush Job
Typically an organization builds on a superb enterprise concept that they needed to push out the door instantly, so didn’t take time to suppose by means of on the branding. That lack of planning is now catching as much as them as they will’t appear to maintain anybody on their website lengthy sufficient to transform.
With out in depth analysis into the viewers or intensive planning across the firm id and branding, many corporations could discover themselves within the undesirable place of getting to begin yet again—and that is why they’re now coming to you.
When you’ve run into purchasers experiencing this form of id disaster, then this publish is for you.
On this article, I’m going to cowl what you should do to assist purchasers successfully sort out their branding train, below your steerage. I’m additionally going to offer some tips about easy methods to implement these modifications on their WordPress website, with out disrupting present customer expertise.
Why You Ought to Tread Rigorously Earlier than Accepting a Rebranding Job
Making a set of branding parts and pointers is a course of that shouldn’t be taken evenly. In case your shopper approaches you and has no concept what they need to do for his or her rebranding, you then would possibly need to pump the breaks on this mission. (Mainly, in the event that they reply your questions with a query, that’s a nasty signal.)
It doesn’t matter if you happen to’re serving to to revamp the branding or just accountable for implementing it on the positioning. In case your shopper is hazy on what the brand new branding consists of, then I’d advise you to not transfer ahead till every thing is crystal clear.
Right here’s why I say this:
Branding performs an important function in an organization’s web site. The extra acquainted and comfy guests really feel after they step into an internet site, the extra seemingly they’re to belief the corporate behind it, which, in flip, results in extra conversions.
On the flip facet, in case your shopper forces an entire overhaul with out considering it by means of, not solely will the change be jarring to the guests’ expertise, it is going to even be painfully apparent that there was a scarcity of planning behind it.
If that doesn’t persuade you, take into consideration this: rebranding is a really costly course of. In case your shopper doesn’t notice that, you’ll be doing them a strong by making them conscious.
Even when all they’re altering is the corporate title―so the brand, colours, typography, and pictures might all keep the identical―that singular title change shall be far-reaching and lengthen to:
the wordmark (if there’s one)
the area title
each occasion the place the corporate is talked about on the positioning
all the positioning’s metadata
the footer copyright info
all inner hyperlinks on the positioning
all backlinks
all social media (together with the wordmark, web page title, description, URL, and all of the earlier posts linking again to the outdated area title)
and extra…
To reiterate, it might be in everybody’s greatest curiosity to take any method at rebranding severely. As an online design skilled, it’s your job to make sure your purchasers perceive the total scope of rebranding, and what the method for his or her particular rebranding train will entail―which is strictly the way you’d method some other net design mission.
A Rebranding Guidelines For You and Your Consumer
Trusting that your shopper is absolutely ready for this, let’s speak about implementation. A few of these you would possibly deal with your self, and a few could be dealt with by your shopper with different events.
Regardless, maintain onto this guidelines and assessment it together with your shopper, to make sure that everybody has accomplished their half.
#1. Analysis
There’s quite a bit that goes into firm branding. The title must make sense, but it surely additionally must be memorable. The emblem must be visually interesting, whereas resonating with the core enterprise. Colours should be chosen to mirror tone and sort. And the content material wants to finish the story. Evidently, analysis can’t take a backseat right here.
#2. Documentation
As soon as the brand new model id is outlined, it’s time to create a very new fashion information for it. This information ought to then be shared with each individual taking part within the model overhaul to make sure constant implementation.
#3. Take Stock
Evaluation the WordPress website from prime to backside. Create a listing of brand name property and every thing that may subsequently be affected by the rebranding modifications. You’ll need to maintain this record inside attain all through the course of the mission.
Be aware: the remaining objects on this record are right here so that you’ll have a complete rebranding guidelines for each time a brand new mission arises. It’s possible you’ll not want all of them; depart in what is smart on your mission, and disrespect the remaining.
#4. Put the Web site on Pause
An instance of an “Beneath Building” net web page.
In case your website has been stay for quite a lot of months and has already generated an honest following, you would possibly have to hit the “pause” button when you work by means of implementation. This will imply:
Creating an “Beneath Building” web page to cease guests from seeing the outdated one. (That is good in case your shopper is dealing with authorized points, and/or they don’t have new designs/content material prepared to exchange the outdated ones.)
Publishing a weblog publish so guests are conscious of the altering face of the web site over the projected time interval.
Ready till all rebranding work is finished, after which scheduling time in a single day to make all of the modifications. This manner the positioning doesn’t need to go down and folks gained’t see the modifications taking place in actual time.
#5. Replace the Branded Components
All affected visible parts on the positioning will should be up to date, which can embrace:
Brand
Favicon
Coloration palette
Fonts
Photographs (particularly if they’ve a watermark)
These updates may be comprised of the WordPress Theme Customizer instrument, or could also be a part of a customized theme’s choices.
#6. Get a New Area
If the title of the corporate has modified, then the area title must be up to date too. Register a brand new area by means of your hosting firm, then mark the brand new area as the first one (whereas deactivating the outdated).
When you’ve made the change, go into WordPress and examine below Common Settings to confirm that the brand new URL is mirrored.
Don’t overlook to examine the positioning URL in WordPress settings.
#7. Repair Your Hyperlinks
When your website’s area title modifications, the URL of all of the pages in your website ought to mechanically change over. Nonetheless, that doesn’t imply embedded hyperlinks, CTA buttons, or different manually generated hyperlinks will change over. (For this reason a listing guidelines is necessary!)
The Damaged Hyperlink Checker plugin signifies when one thing’s gone amiss with any website hyperlinks.
I personally like to make use of Damaged Hyperlink Checker. This plugin is free, and units up a scan of all of the hyperlinks in your website, letting you understand if any of them are damaged. You may work instantly inside the scanned record of damaged hyperlinks and modify the URL there, so that you don’t need to painstakingly undergo web page by web page.
#8. Redirect Visitors
A redirect plugin is significant, in case an outdated hyperlink by some means will get left behind. SmartCrawl is free, and nice for creating 301 redirects. There may be additionally a professional model if you’d like different useful options as well as, like checking for damaged URLs, 404s, and a number of redirections.
SmartCrawl plugin’s redirect function ensures guests are despatched to the appropriate place.
#9. Rewrite Copy
For some rebranding initiatives, just a few title modifications could also be so as all through the content material of your website. For others, rebranding could require a extra in depth rewrite of the positioning, particularly if your entire id, goal market, and so forth. are being shifted.
The amount of copy rewriting shall be dictated by every explicit rebranding mission.
#10. Edit search engine optimization
An replace to your website’s metadata is necessary, particularly if natural visitors was beforehand somewhat excessive. Nonetheless, you do need all info to be offered constantly throughout your website, which implies updating the next:
Title tags
Meta descriptions
Focus key phrases
Slugs
Remember the fact that main modifications to this metadata will seemingly result in a lower in visitors, at the very least for the brief time period.
#11. Create New XML Web site Map
Talking of which, if the area title, metadata, or content material on the positioning has modified in any method as a result of this rebranding, you’ll have to create/ship out a brand new XML sitemap to the major search engines.
As soon as once more, I’ll counsel SmartCrawl, because it expertly handles this job as nicely. (You may seek for different XML sitemap plugins on the WP.org repository if you happen to desire to strive one thing else.)
#12. Repair Your Types
Updating the content material inside types isn’t needed. As an alternative, give attention to ensuring these two objects are so as:
the redirect URL for the shape (if it goes to a customized Thank You web page)
the e-mail deal with that receives the notification (if the alternate of the e-mail deal with shall be completely different)
#13. Notify Google
Producing a brand new sitemap for the major search engines is step one in letting Google know what’s occurring. However don’t overlook to replace your new area deal with or firm title in your different Google instruments. This contains: Analytics, Search Console, and My Enterprise.
#14. Replace Different Advertising Belongings
Most companies as of late have an internet presence established throughout a number of channels. A WordPress web site is simply one of many locations the place firm property should be up to date throughout rebranding.
Social media, newsletters, print and digital collateral ought to all have their content material reviewed and revised accordingly.
#15. Launch Rebranding Advertising Marketing campaign
Final, however not least, in case your shopper goes by means of the difficulty of rebranding to allow them to come out a greater and stronger firm in the long run, their viewers ought to obtain phrase of the upcoming modifications.
Preliminary bulletins may be made in step #4 above, however the launch itself ought to have its personal advertising and marketing marketing campaign—particularly if this implies thrilling modifications for patrons. Listed below are some choices to think about:
Subject a press launch
Announce on social media
Write a weblog publish
E-mail clients
Add an announcement or popup reminder on the positioning (train warning right here; too many popups can flip individuals off)
A Model New Day
A rebranding request doesn’t at all times imply the positioning is in for an entire overhaul. Nonetheless, there’s quite a lot of work that goes into any of those initiatives, regardless of how minor they might appear on the outset.
Simply keep in mind to work intently together with your shopper to make sure they’re doing the rebranding for the appropriate causes, that they’re approaching the rebranding train accurately, and that they perceive what implementing these modifications on their web site entails.
Your purpose is two-fold right here: to get a rebranded web site up rapidly on your shopper (as a result of there’s nothing worse than being sad with the present state of your small business), and to take action with little interruption to the guests’ expertise.
When you plan accordingly and use the appropriate instruments, you’ll have your purchasers’ rebranded website up and working very quickly, able to greet clients with a elegant, cohesive look that runs with none hiccups.
This publish has been up to date for accuracy and relevancy.
[Originally Published: June 2017 / Revised: November 2021]
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