Have you ever been approached by a consumer to assist with rebranding their WordPress web site? Whereas that is an thrilling and doubtlessly profitable request, it will also be a sticky widget.
Once 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 consumer involves you wanting a rebrand, it isn’t so simple as discovering a brand new theme or modernizing their on-site advertising technique.
Listed here are a number of the extra widespread the explanation why purchasers might need a rebrand:
Market Shift
It’s not completely unprecedented for an organization to modify instructions as soon as they’ve found that their resolution is extra relevant to a different trade. Or maybe they found there’s a better 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 crucial.
It’s Outdated
For some corporations, the model id has been in place for years, possibly even many years. It labored properly initially, but it surely’s not fashionable sufficient by at the moment’s requirements. Take into consideration a handwritten font, for instance. It would nonetheless look lovely, however what if their millennial viewers simply doesn’t “get it”?
Authorized Troubles
If an organization has flown underneath the radar for lengthy sufficient, they might not notice their firm identify, emblem, and even area is in violation of another person’s copyright. However as soon as visitors picks up on their web site or somebody calls their declare to a reputation into query, they might have to act unexpectedly to swap out their branding.
It Was a Rush Job
Generally an organization builds on a superb enterprise concept that they wished to push out the door immediately, so didn’t take time to assume by means of on the branding. That lack of planning is now catching as much as them as they’ll’t appear to maintain anybody on their web site lengthy sufficient to transform.
With out intensive analysis into the viewers or intensive planning across the firm id and branding, many corporations might discover themselves within the undesirable place of getting to begin over again—and this is the reason they’re now coming to you.
In case you’ve run into purchasers experiencing this type of id disaster, then this publish is for you.
On this article, I’m going to cowl what it’s good to do to assist purchasers successfully sort out their branding train, underneath your steerage. I’m additionally going to offer some tips on the way to implement these adjustments on their WordPress web site, 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 tips is a course of that shouldn’t be taken calmly. In case your consumer approaches you and has no thought what they need to do for his or her rebranding, then you definately would possibly need to pump the breaks on this challenge. (Principally, in the event that they reply your questions with a query, that’s a foul signal.)
It doesn’t matter in the event you’re serving to to revamp the branding or just liable for implementing it on the location. In case your consumer is hazy on what the brand new branding consists of, then I’d advise you to not transfer ahead till the whole lot is crystal clear.
Right here’s why I say this:
Branding performs a vital function in an organization’s web site. The extra acquainted and cozy guests really feel once they step into an internet site, the extra probably they’re to belief the corporate behind it, which, in flip, results in extra conversions.
On the flip aspect, in case your consumer forces a whole overhaul with out pondering 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 an absence of planning behind it.
If that doesn’t persuade you, take into consideration this: rebranding is a really costly course of. In case your consumer doesn’t notice that, you’ll be doing them a strong by making them conscious.
Even when all they’re altering is the corporate identify―so the brand, colours, typography, and pictures might all keep the identical―that singular identify change will probably be far-reaching and prolong to:
the wordmark (if there may be one)
the area identify
each occasion the place the corporate is talked about on the location
all the location’s metadata
the footer copyright info
all inside hyperlinks on the location
all backlinks
all social media (together with the wordmark, web page identify, description, URL, and all of the earlier posts linking again to the outdated area identify)
and extra…
To reiterate, it might be in everybody’s greatest curiosity to take any strategy at rebranding severely. As an internet design skilled, it’s your job to make sure your purchasers perceive the complete scope of rebranding, and what the method for his or her particular rebranding train will entail―which is strictly the way you’d strategy every other net design challenge.
A Rebranding Guidelines For You and Your Shopper
Trusting that your consumer is absolutely ready for this, let’s discuss implementation. A few of these you would possibly deal with your self, and a few may be dealt with by your consumer with different events.
Regardless, maintain onto this guidelines and assessment it along with your consumer, to make sure that everybody has performed their half.
#1. Analysis
There’s lots that goes into firm branding. The identify must make sense, but it surely additionally must be memorable. The brand must be visually interesting, whereas resonating with the core enterprise. Colours should be chosen to replicate 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 totally new type information for it. This information ought to then be shared with each individual collaborating within the model overhaul to make sure constant implementation.
#3. Take Stock
Evaluation the WordPress web site from prime to backside. Create a list of brand name property and the whole lot that may subsequently be affected by the rebranding adjustments. You’ll need to preserve this record inside attain all through the course of the challenge.
Notice: the remaining gadgets on this record are right here so that you’ll have a complete rebranding guidelines for at any time when a brand new challenge arises. You might not want all of them; depart in what is smart to your challenge, and disrespect the remaining.
#4. Put the Website on Pause
An instance of an “Below Building” net web page.
In case your web site has been reside for various months and has already generated an honest following, you would possibly have to hit the “pause” button whilst you work by means of implementation. This will imply:
Creating an “Below Building” web page to cease guests from seeing the outdated one. (That is good in case your consumer is going through authorized points, and/or they don’t have new designs/content material prepared to interchange 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 completed, after which scheduling time in a single day to make all of the adjustments. This manner the location doesn’t should go down and other people received’t see the adjustments occurring in actual time.
#5. Replace the Branded Components
All affected visible parts on the location will should be up to date, which can embrace:
Brand
Favicon
Colour palette
Fonts
Pictures (particularly if they’ve a watermark)
These updates may be created from the WordPress Theme Customizer device, or could also be a part of a customized theme’s choices.
#6. Get a New Area
If the identify of the corporate has modified, then the area identify must be up to date too. Register a brand new area by means of your website 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 verify underneath Common Settings to confirm that the brand new URL is mirrored.
Don’t neglect to verify the location URL in WordPress settings.
#7. Repair Your Hyperlinks
When your web site’s area identify adjustments, the URL of all of the pages in your web site ought to mechanically swap over. Nevertheless, that doesn’t imply embedded hyperlinks, CTA buttons, or different manually generated hyperlinks will swap over. (That is why a list guidelines is vital!)
The Damaged Hyperlink Checker plugin signifies when one thing’s gone amiss with any web site 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 web site, letting you recognize if any of them are damaged. You possibly can work instantly inside the scanned record of damaged hyperlinks and alter the URL there, so that you don’t should painstakingly undergo web page by web page.
#8. Redirect Site visitors
A redirect plugin is important, in case an outdated hyperlink in some way will get left behind. SmartCrawl is free, and nice for creating 301 redirects. There may be additionally a professional model if you need 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 best place.
#9. Rewrite Copy
For some rebranding tasks, only some identify adjustments could also be so as all through the content material of your web site. For others, rebranding might require a extra intensive rewrite of the location, particularly if the whole id, goal market, and so forth. are being shifted.
The amount of copy rewriting will probably be dictated by every specific rebranding challenge.
#10. Edit web optimization
An replace to your web site’s metadata is vital, particularly if natural visitors was beforehand reasonably excessive. Nevertheless, you do need all info to be offered persistently throughout your web site, which implies updating the next:
Title tags
Meta descriptions
Focus key phrases
Slugs
Needless to say main adjustments to this metadata will probably result in a lower in visitors, a minimum of for the quick time period.
#11. Create New XML Website Map
Talking of which, if the area identify, metadata, or content material on the location has modified in any method because 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 recommend SmartCrawl, because it expertly handles this process as properly. (You possibly can seek for different XML sitemap plugins on the WP.org repository in the event you choose to attempt one thing else.)
#12. Repair Your Kinds
Updating the content material inside kinds isn’t crucial. As an alternative, concentrate on ensuring these two gadgets are so as:
the redirect URL for the shape (if it goes to a customized Thank You web page)
the e-mail tackle that receives the notification (if the change of the e-mail tackle will probably be totally 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 neglect to replace your new area tackle or firm identify in your different Google instruments. This consists of: Analytics, Search Console, and My Enterprise.
#14. Replace Different Advertising and marketing Belongings
Most companies as of late have a web-based 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 and marketing Marketing campaign
Final, however not least, in case your consumer goes by means of the difficulty of rebranding to allow them to come out a greater and stronger firm ultimately, their viewers ought to obtain phrase of the upcoming adjustments.
Preliminary bulletins may be made in step #4 above, however the launch itself ought to have its personal advertising marketing campaign—particularly if this implies thrilling adjustments for purchasers. Listed here are some choices to think about:
Subject a press launch
Announce on social media
Write a weblog publish
Electronic mail clients
Add an announcement or popup reminder on the location (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 location is in for an entire overhaul. Nonetheless, there’s a whole lot of work that goes into any of those tasks, irrespective of how minor they might appear on the outset.
Simply bear in mind to work intently along with your consumer to make sure they’re doing the rebranding for the best causes, that they’re approaching the rebranding train appropriately, and that they perceive what implementing these adjustments on their web site entails.
Your purpose is two-fold right here: to get a rebranded web site up rapidly to your consumer (as a result of there’s nothing worse than being sad with the present state of your corporation), and to take action with little interruption to the guests’ expertise.
In case you plan accordingly and use the best instruments, you’ll have your purchasers’ rebranded web site up and operating very quickly, able to greet clients with a sophisticated, 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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