As promised, I’m back at it with the blog— and to kick things off, I’m doing something I think you’ll be big fans of: a video collab series all about branding your website!

So the other day I sat down with Squarespace Designer, SEO Expert, and my #onlinebizbestie, Charlotte O’Hara, to talk all about 4 of the most important branding elements for your website.

(If you’re following me on Instagram, you got a sneak peak of this action in my stories!)

4 Most Important Branding Elements For Your Website

In this conversation, we take you a step beyond the basics of branding and really get into the nitty gritty of what branding elements you should prioritize when building your website, AND how to get the most impact out of each piece.

Just a heads up—we are talking Squarespace over here! Charlotte and I are, of course, huge proponents of using Squarespace when building your business online, so that’s what we’re looking at today. But don’t worry! All of you out there rockin’ out with Wordpress, Showit, Shopify, or any other platform can use these tips too. We got you :)

This is the first video in a collaboration series I’m doing with Charlotte, so stay tuned later this week for more good stuff, and let us know if this video is helpful for you!

Let’s get to it!

4 Of The Most Important Branding Elements For Your Website

Psst! If you’d prefer to read a blog post, just scroll on down to get all the info we chat about in the video. And for all of you lovely video watchers, there will be some helpful visuals down below, so be sure to check them out when you’re done!

1. Logo

It may be pretty obvious, but your logo is the #1 thing to think about when branding your website! It is a visual representation of your business and should go EVERYWHERE. Luckily, if you put it in your header, it will automatically show sitewide.

But if you really want to get the most out of your logo, here are a few things to think about when designing:

DON’T overdesign it.

Your logo doesn’t need to be flashy or intricate. In fact, sometimes, the more simple it is, the more powerful its impact. Think about each element and what it says about your business. If it isn’t there for an explicit reason, remove it.

DO make sure it’s legible.

I love a script font as much as the next person, but they are inherently harder to read. So save those for an accent and stick to a simple font for your logo. And don’t be afraid to bump up the font size to ensure it can be easily read!

DON’T crowd the text.

Visual hierarchy is so, SO important when it comes to your logo. The first thing people should see is the name of your business (not the fancy flourishes you added all around the name). If these elements are important to your brand, just make sure they don’t pull focus.

For some good examples of strong logo design, take a look at our logos below.

2. Favicon

A favicon—aka the little icon that appears on a browser tab—is a tiny detail that makes a huge impact. Skipping this little guy is a dead giveaway that you aren’t a professional brand!

Some tips for ya:

DON’T try to condense your whole logo into your favicon.

This little icon only displays at 16x16px. That’s not even close to enough space to read an entire word. Instead, we recommend using just the first letter of your business name or maybe just a simple shape to represent your brand.

DO make sure it matches the rest of your branding!

This should go without saying, but if your full logo doesn’t have a star in it… don’t use a star for your favicon! This isn’t the place to introduce new elements. Choose one thing from your logo to highlight and go with that.

Look at how simple ours are:

3. Color Palette

When done right, your colors can be just as impactful as your logo. They set the mood for your brand and help to draw in your audience. In designing your website however, it is easy to go overboard.

Here’s a few things to keep in mind when selecting your colors:

DON’T choose all the colors (lol).

As I so eloquently put in the video, you don’t want your website to look like a rainbow vomited on it! By choosing just 1-3 dominant colors, you can keep your website cohesive and clean.

DO use accents throughout your site.

Buttons, links, headers... all of these things deserve attention! And giving it a pop of color that complements your main palette is the perfect way to do that. If you decide to add additional accent colors, just use a couple.

4. Font Pairings

Ahhh fonts. We meet again. And again I remind you, say no to the script. While they can be great for graphics, your website should be as easy to read as possible.

DO stick to 2 or 3 fonts.

Any more than that and your website will start to look really busy and hurt everyone’s eyeballs! If you feel like you need more than 3 fonts, you can always play with font weight, color, size to change up how they look while keeping a little consistency.

DO keep it consistent.

Once you’ve chosen your fonts, use the same styling for your headers and body text every. dang. time. And Squarespace is your BFF here! When you fill out your style settings, Squarespace updates them sitewide so you don’t have to remember it all yourself.