Have you ever wondered what is the importance of Branding?

Did you know that it is one of the most important and essential aspect of blogging and building a powerful and sustainable business online is? 

Without good branding, I can almost guarantee you will struggle in all aspects of building a successful site and long term business, an email list, even that avid following of fans!. 

Without you have nothing! - you are trash!.  

Building a Brand is that important!. It is the difference to adding that extra zero to your bottom line!

Unfortunately, nobody in the niche marketing or blogging world is teaching you this! -or what you should be doing, how, and why you must keep on top of your brand and brand integrity at all times. 

Keep reading if you really want to know how to establish your brand and the deep underlying meaning of it to those that matter most - your clients and potential customers!.

What Is The Importance Of Branding?

Take a look around you at home or at work – chances are you will notice numerous items that are branded or have a logo. 

From simple things such as our clothes and grocery supplies to gadgets, electronics and merchandise, we are surrounded by different brand names. 

Step outside and what do you see? – Shops with their respective logos, brand names and displays, billboards and posters.

If you come to think of it, we live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with advertising measures from different businesses.

At times we notice them, and most of the time we consciously ignore them as there are so many it is easy to not take much notice of them.

As a result, businesses work very hard to establish their brands, because they know that they need to make an impression or stand out in one way or another.

Otherwise, they will either get ignored, or else be easily mixed up with the countless other similar business in the market. 

Branding is very important for the survival and the success of any business, including your business.

However, there are different kinds of branding, countless ways to go about establishing a brand, and many facets that demand attention in this broad subject area.

We shall thus move on to delve deeper into what branding is all about.

What Is Business Branding?

Branding is one of the most important things for any business to work on, regardless of its size. This also includes niche marketers and bloggers. 

The brand that is created for a business is basically its face, or deeper still, its soul. It is the first thing that should come to mind when people mention the business.

A business brand is composed of various elements. So, in a nutshell, the business branding process for a successfully branded blog will need to reflect:

• What identifies you?
• What is your goal / promise?
• What differentiates you from others?
• What people perceive about you
• What people expect from you

In order to create your business brand you will need to work really hard, as it is a very comprehensive area, which needs a good plan, an original framework of branding elements, and ultimately, a constant endeavour to retain the image that is created. All this calls for a sound branding strategy.

So, how should you go about it?

Define Your Brand

First of all you will need to define your brand. Every company will have its mission.

A business is after all an entity composed of people who are working to achieve a goal. Apart from the obvious aim of making profits and being as successful as possible, a business will also need to set certain standards. 

These include:

• Establishing what type of brand image you want to create – do you want to be perceived as a company that sells low quality but affordable products? Or would you rather be the kind of business that is renowned for its superior quality products or services, and so you tend to set prices to be high to create that prestigious image.

• the benefits that you want to focus on – you will need to focus on one or more advantages that can be associated with the products or services that you sell, because these will need to be drawn to the attention of your prospective customers.

• The prevailing brand image – your customers may already have a certain image of your business in their mind. You will need to ascertain whether it is the kind of image you wanted to create, because if it is not, you will need to find ways to alter or improve it accordingly so as to retain those customers as well as attract new ones.

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• Decide the kind of qualities you want people to attribute to you – do you want your customers to attribute to you an image of a company that is environmentally friendly, or a really customer friendly firm, or maybe one that is known for its charitable work in the community.

• Do you want to focus solely on what you are selling and be known for your unique products or services? Do you want to be an authoritative symbol in your field, whereby your command on the subject matter is truly evident?

All of these aspects will need to be considered so as to ascertain the type of brand you want to create around your business. 

You will have your preferences and expectations, but you will also need to take into account your target markets and what their needs, preferences and wishes are. 

Create A Brand Strategy

Once you have decided upon what defines your business brand, you will need to create a brand strategy. This is basically the plan that will help you to reach your branding goals.

The brand strategy will need to comprise various aspects, which will then require the full cooperation of all those involved in your business.

These include:

• Your brand name
• Your logo
• Your business message / tagline
• The brand identity
• The brand positioning
• The packaging
• The forms of advertising
• The website
• Social media marketing
• Content marketing

All of these elements will then require careful implementation. A strategy for each and every one of them will need to be developed and carefully led to fruition.

This also entails constant monitoring and performance tracking so as to make any changes, adjustments and improvements so as to keep everything in line with your original branding goals.

Building a consistent blog will help in establishing your business brand, and to set you as an authority in your respective niche. However this can only be achieved through regular hard work which is composed of really valuable and really good quality content.

Ultimately you will need to be consistent and true to your brand. As long as you do not succeed at this, you cannot expect your business brand to be a solid and effective one, which then manages to help in attracting and retaining a following.

Your brand promise is very important and you will need to consistently work towards keeping that promise to your customers.

Branding is after all having customers identify your business and be able to relate to it and truly experience it.

You need your business brand to be very strong, reliable and consistent if you want to stand out among the various other competitors on the market. 

What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is basically establishing what one stands for, and then work with regards to promoting that image.

Well known marketers and bloggers have managed to establish very strong personal brands.

People follow their blog, and look forward to their regular contributions. They also have a certain level of trust in them.

Therefore you need to work hard to build your personal brand, because it can heavily affect your success rate. Some prefer to brand their business and stop at that.

Others prefer to have a personal branding strategy that is essentially built up around them as individuals.

In many cases personal brands will relate the owner’s name to the brand of the business or website.

Personal branding works perfectly for one-person industries, such as bloggers, coaches, authors and artists.

When building an authority blog you will want to set yourself as an expert in the field. Being a niche marketer is not easy, especially with the strong competition out there.

However, you can make it as long as you find ways in which you can truly stand out.

No matter how crowded your niche might be, you can still be a success and a noteworthy name.

Forget all about the drawbacks of niche saturation. This is something that can be surmounted as long as you know how to go about setting yourself above the rest.

This is where an effective personal branding strategy can work wonders.

As a niche marketer you are surely going to have a deep connection with the topic or field that you will be focusing on. Being personally connected and truly passionate about this will already set you on the right footing to do well.

While you will be sharing some personal experiences and insights, you will also be working to offer top value in terms of offering people what they are looking for. This includes truly relevant information and knowledge.

This is how you can show that you are an expert in the field, and this is the first step in setting out on the right track of establishing a really strong personal brand.

Building a personal brand that is really strong and that clearly identifies you as a thought leader and expert in your niche is something that can be achieved as long as you:

• Make use of your unique personality traits to create a brand voice that really effects people, informs them, helps them and guides them in your subject area.

• Build up your business brand around a niche which you are really passionate about or knowledgeable in.

• Design the theme of your blog around your brand so as to keep followers focused on the underlying message of your branding

• Establish yourself as a thought leader by consistently creating content that is valuable, relevant and helpful.

• Your writing can also go a step further through guest posting as this will further help you to extend your reach and to show yourself as a real expert in the field. This greatly supports your personal brand.

Some people who really succeeded at their personal branding include:

• Sean Ogle – a blogger who established his passion for traveling into an authentic blogging experience.

• Gordon Tredgold – he named his site after himself, clearly showing how much he believes in what he does, which is coaching companies and individuals on leadership techniques. Known for his strong social presence and for being a really good influencer in his niche, Tredgold is a true leadership expert and his personal brand complements his image perfectly.

•  Jeff Goins – with his website named after himself, Goins Writer, he definitely started out on the right track to set himself as a strong personal brand in the writing niche.

• Neil Patel – well known online for his marketing expertise. By now he is synonymous with his niche because he is evidently extremely passionate about the subject and has used blogging extremely well to set himself as a real expert. He also has a self-named site – a clear example of great personal branding after consistently good blogging.

What Are The Key Elements Of Effective Branding?

• Focusing on generating real value for others as this leads to having people trust you and believe in your work.

• Create an emotive appeal because at the end of the day you need to delve deeply into what people are looking for in order to really make an impact or a lasting impression.

• Know how to speak in a way that people will understand, be inspired by, and be able to relate with easily.

• Be specific in your choice of niche.

• Identify your target market so as to be better able to target them successfully when building your brand.

• You will need to be consistent as this helps dramatically in the creation of trust in your brand.

Ultimately everything will add up to how people perceive you and experience you. So all your efforts in branding will need to be focused to achieve this.

Because you know that you are a brandable asset! The question is: Will you cash in on it?!?

Business Branding vs Personal Branding

While we have already given a thorough overview of what Business Branding and Personal Branding are all about, it is a good idea to highlight some key differences between them with respect to niche marketing and blogging.

• A personal brand is generally preferred by bloggers because it has more of a personal touch. At times, in certain subject areas, and when the blogger has a really strong image, or maybe a very catchy or unique name, personal branding works much better.

• People like companies that are more personable, because they can relate better with them.

• With business branding you need to be cautious that you are giving a personal touch to your business. This is one of the main reasons why About Us, Bios, or Our Team sections are generally used as this helps followers and clients to see faces of real people.

•  Also, in business branding campaigns many use personalities or influencers to help people associate better with the brand.

• While personal branding is more personalised, there is however the drawback that people will not immediately be able to associate you with what you are offering, unless your brand is very strong.

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In the beginning it is not going to be that strong, and so you will need to work harder to be consistent in your personal branding campaign so as to help people relate who you are and how you are an influencer or expert in your niche.

This is one of the main reasons why many prefer to place more effort on their business branding rather than personal branding.

• They may not have enough confidence in their name and influence for the time being.

• It is hard to manage to sell a personally branded business. Some bloggers take this factor into consideration and as a result prefer to focus more on a business brand in their marketing endeavours.

• Business brands are much easier to sell in case you decide to retire or engage in something else.

• With business branding your business will essentially be known for something in particular, and so it is easier to set a vision and to establish all the aspects of your business to work towards it.

• This may be trickier if you focus more on personal branding.

• Business branding will help you to establish your business’s position more easily and quickly than a personal brand.

• Business branding is more flexible than personal branding. Should you decide to make some changes or differentiate, it is easier to do so with a business brand.

While both business branding and personal branding have their respective strong points, and drawbacks, you can still try to find an equilibrium between the two of them.

You can build a business brand while simultaneously establish yourself as a personal authority in that particular field. The best way to do this is includes:

• Being an avid speaker or influencer by spreading your word about your business brand. This can be done easily with social media platforms. You could appear in interviews and commentaries, be willing to answer questions, write articles and guest posts on the subject.

• Being consistent is very important. Try to have your face or name appear on everything you do in your business branding campaigns so as to combine the two of them together whenever possible.

• As long as your personal brand has managed to include qualities and characteristics that people associate with you as a professional person, you can leverage them in your business branding so as to make it more personalised and have the people feel a stronger emotional attachment to it all.

So, in conclusion your personal brand is basically a distinctive promise of value which can be directly attributed to you as a person, and it can also be tied to the business’s brand promise.

This is how you can make the most of the two forms of branding for the best possible results.

How To Create A Brand?

Building your blog’s brand involves various steps. There are different aspects you will need to take care of, and every element will help in improving the efficacy of your brand further.

You want to make maximum impact and gain the best possible following and all this is directly related to how effective and well implemented your branding is.

Let us go over the main steps you would need to see to so as to create a strong brand for your blog.

The name of your blog – the name you give to your blog means a lot. Be it a brand, or your personal name, you need to make sure that you choose a really good name that will set the tone for the blog, while being unique and memorable.

You also need to take into account the level of search friendliness of the name as this will have search implications as well.

The Address Of Your Blog – after choosing the name of your blog you will need to get the URL for it.

Consider whether you will you be integrating your blog in your website and if you will you be using another name for it.Make sure the address is memorable and not too complicated or lengthy.

The Tagline – your blog’s tagline is important as apart from adding insight to your blog’s content, it also helps in your branding.Make sure to choose relevant and effective keywords in your tagline.

The Theme – this is the foundation of your blog’s presentation. It is essentially the underlying groundwork for building your blog and to set the general touch of the formatting that you will be applying.

The Typeface – the type of font and font size that you choose matter a great deal. You want people to read what you write on your blog, and so the font has a critical effect on whether they will be inclined to do so or not.

You want to choose a font that is readable and a size that is practical for your target audience.

Avoid special interfaces so as not to have readability problems, and make sure to stick to just one or a few typeface variations as most people prefer consistency.

The Colour Choices – the colours that you will be using on your blog are extremely important as they will be one of the first things that people will notice as soon as they open it.

You need to choose carefully and wisely, as while you want to make a good impression, you also need to ensure that you take into account clarity in contrast with the content, and different combinations.

While you may want to make a statement, it is not recommended to choose colours that are too extreme or that hurt one’s eyes and discourage browsing, let alone, reading.

As a general rule of thumb it is best to limit your colour choices to two, or, maybe, three colours at most.

Graphics And Visual Aids – your blog cannot be solely made up of written content. You need to complement this with graphics and visual aids.

You will thus need to choose the backgrounds, the icons, and any photos, pictures or other visual aids that will make your blog more engaging and interesting.

When it comes to photo presentation you will need to decide whether you will be including captions, if the text is going to be incorporated in the image, and whether you will be using colour or black and white photos as in some cases and fields the latter are actually preferred.

If you are going to include any videos, audio or presentations you will need to set specific guidelines as to how they will be incorporated to retain consistency, as well as how you shall be referencing them.

The Blog Posts – in most cases bloggers prefer to be the sole contributors to their blog.

If you are going to allow anyone else to make any writing contributions to your blog you may wish to choose such writers wisely, as well as establish certain standards as it is critical for the blog to retain its consistency particularly in the content.

You will also need to decide how often you intend to post. Consider the post length as well as the formatting, such as whether you will use bullet points, short paragraphs, and subheadings for easier reading.

There are lots of different kinds of content that you could write, but whatever you choose, you need to make sure that it is helpful and relevant to your readers. How to’s, case studies, reviews, FAQs, and guide are among the most popular options.

Then there are more interactive content formats such as polls, interviews, infographics, slide shares, cartoons, surveys, quizzes, podcasts, webinars and Q&A sessions.

The Legal Stuff – the terms of use, and other legal stuff that should be included are also important. You may also wish to establish certain house rules for any guest bloggers and commentators.

Your Blog Personality – this is fundamental for your blog’s brand. It relates to various elements, such as how you present the content, whether you always include a photo or maybe a video, the language and tone that is used, as well as the style of writing and formatting.

Advertising Considerations – you will need to devise an advertising strategy that will complement your blog and build up more followers. Advertising on social media and paid ads are among the most popular options nowadays.

You will also wish to consider whether you will you be emailing newsletters or any other promotional material to followers.

For best results you will need to put yourself in the shoes of your target audience so as to ascertain what their favourite marketing channels are.

All of the above mentioned elements are important and you need to dedicate a lot of time and attention to each and every aspect when building your brand and setting its branding aura around it.

This will be solidified and improved over time through consistency and hard work.

You need to bear in mind that blogging requires a good strategy as well as time, commitment and patience.

You also need to be authentic and show that you are worth following as you are truly knowledgeable and experienced in your particular niche.

The Importance Of A Good Domain Name

Choosing a really good domain name for your blog is crucial. Just consider how many similar blogs and sites there are online.

Your name will be identifying you, and so it needs to be unique. You are essentially competing with many others to grab the readers’ attention.

You also need to retain that attention and following, and so the domain name needs to be both unique as well as memorable.

The choice of your domain name is most likely going to be a choice for life.

You might change a blog’s theme or hosting provider sometime in the future, but the domain name is not easily changed as you would be starting all over again if you were to do so.

Hence it is critical that you choose really well!

Your domain name will have an effect on your Google rank and SEO. Besides, the domain name is an integral part of your blogging branding. It has a considerable effect on reinforcing your brand.

Here Are Some Guidelines Which Will Help You Choose A Good Domain Name:

• Do not be too obvious as you need to be distinguishable too. Aim for uniqueness.

• Consider the tone of your blog. For example, you are going to be light-hearted in your posts, then you should not opt for a rather serious name

• Try to choose a name that will imply credibility. Your personal name could be ideal for this if you are renowned in your niche.

• Check your competitors and learn from their strategies to do better.

• Keep your audience in mind and imagine how they are going to react if you were to choose a certain name.

• Make use of keywords for best SEO results. Keywords will automatically tell search engines what your blog is about and this helps with Google rankings. Brainstorm different relevant keywords and try putting them together to see how they sound and look.

• It is best to keep it as short as possible and to try to choose a name that is catchy. This makes it easier to remember.

• Do not include any hyphens as these complicate matters for people and make it less memorable.
  

• Do try to get a top level domain name ending with .com. .org or .net

Because you are now mindful of creating a quality brand for your blog and you know there is more money to be made as a blogger!. The Question is: Will you TAKE THE MONEY?!?

The importance Of Your Logo

Upon mentioning a brand name, many people automatically tend to attribute the name to the pictorial image related to it. This is normal as we associate with images and graphics more easily.

This shows how important a good logo is. Many businesses go through a lot of time, effort and investment when it comes to the design of their logo because they know how critical it is for their brand recognition.

The logo needs to be designed in a way that it promotes the company and what it offers, as well as manage to leave a lasting impression on customers.

When discussing the design of a logo, many mention the most important characteristics that need to be kept in mind to make a really good logo.

A logo needs to be simple, scalable, memorable, versatile and relevant. In this manner a logo will manage to visually communicate the identity of your brand.

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A blog also needs to have a good logo. How would you go about creating a really good logo for your blog?

Here are some tips which you can follow:

Start by doing some brainstorming and looking for something that can inspire you. You will need to be creative while thinking of what your blog is about, what makes it unique, and how this can be designed pictorially for maximum effect.

You need to think of your audience. They will be the recipients of your logo at the end of the day. So they need to be the ones that are positively affected by it, and who will manage to recall it easily.

They need to relate with it and so their preferences need to be considered when designing your logo.

The design will take time and effort, as you will probably be doing a lot of designs, only to feel disinclined to choose any of them. Just try to focus on simplicity, uniqueness and versatility.

If you have no idea how to go about it you might consider hiring a designer to discuss your wishes with him, and be better able to come up with something together.

The colours that you choose for your logo need to represent your brand in one way or another. The colour choice is important for two reasons: its significance, and its level of uncommonness.

If you are going to include any written content within the logo you will also need to choose a suitable font. The font needs to be readable and one that complements the style and colour of the logo.

So you will need to choose a suitable font style and size, as well as a colour that does not clash with the background.

You need to bear in mind that your logo will basically become your blog’s image. It will give you a good possibility to stand out, be genuine and unique.

It will thus improve the brand image of your blog, while helping you to connect with your audience more effectively.

While the logo is a form of art, you should not stop there. It needs to be considered more of a marketing and strategic tool for your brand because at the end of the day it needs to do a role in terms of identification not just look good.

The logo is what helps establish instant brand recognition and so it needs to communicate your values, make a good impression and be easily remembered.

How And Why A Theme Affects Business Image And Branding Online

When designing your blog there is a good chance that you do not quite know where to start.

You are aware that the theme that you choose will have a significant impact on how your content will look, and on how readers perceive your blog. 

So you sort of feel the pressure of choosing a really good theme that manages to strike the right balance on all of these aspects.

Many bloggers use WordPress as it offers a great deal not only in terms of theme selection, but also for the design, layout, features, and manageability.

Upon installing WordPress you will be provided with a basic theme for free. 

You can then change this, so as to offer more room for personalization, and to better brand your site.

Here are some tips which will help you choose a suitable template, one that will work for you and which will enhance your brand image.

Picture Your Blog – with the numerous templates available to choose from it is easy to get slightly confused, or to end up choosing one that does not really fit your needs.

It is best to start off by focusing on the most important elements. 

To do this more easily it is recommended to try to envision your finalised blog in terms of features.

Start to make decisions such as whether you want a header, what it is going to include, on which side will the sidebar be, how much content do you want to put on the homepage, how many columns will look best, do you want to include a footer?

These are all questions that will help you sketch out your blog, and based on the answers you give you will be able to start off your template search in a more informed manner.

Check Out Your Competitors’ Blogs – it is a good idea to devote some time browsing the blogs of your competitors so as to see how they did it. You might be able to get some useful ideas from their blogs.

You are not aiming at copying them, but rather to do it better than them.

Start considering the themes – now that you have a general idea of what you would like, you can start browsing through the themes.

This will undoubtedly be a long and maybe, quite tedious process, as there are so many themes to choose from on WordPress.

However it is important to devote time and consider different themes available in the WordPress Theme Directory so as to choose one that will really work well for you. 

There is the Feature Filter option which could be of help in narrowing down the themes. Take a look at any reviews posted for the various themes too.

Customization phase – after choosing a theme that comprises all of the elements you were looking for, you can then move on to the customization phase. You need to give that theme your unique voice and style. This will include:

Your Logo – the logo of your blog should be carefully and thoughtfully designed. It needs to reflect your brand as well as help people remember who you are and what you stand for.

Custom logo design is a critical task when designing your blog, and naturally your logo will need to be placed in key places so as to be visible and noticeable. 

So you may wish to opt for a bigger logo on the homepage, possibly bringing it to life with some animation.

On the other pages the logo can be placed in well-suited places and be slightly smaller, but it should still be there to help retain your brand image throughout your blog.

You could also opt for a watermark so as to have it visible on all the pages even if in a faint manner.

Your Custom URL – this is an important decision for your blog. You need to own a good domain name, and register it.

Consider choosing a domain name that is easy to remember and to spell, possibly with one or more keywords, and also keep it as concise as possible.

The domain name has a considerable impact on your brand image and reputation as well as on the traffic you will get. So choose it wisely and complement it with a suitable theme.

A well-Chosen Colour Palette – Colours speak volumes, and so they need to be chosen properly so as to give the right message, have the best possible impact and also improve the look of your blog.

The choice of the colours will also depend on the theme you choose as you want to have them complement and not clash or be difficult on the eyes.

It is a good idea to make use of colour theory so as to choose colours that will get the right reactions and behaviours from people who visit your blog.

Fonts – fonts also need to be chosen carefully. You surely take a lot of pride in your content, and you need to make sure that it is presented in a proper font style, size and colour.

There are countless typefaces to choose from, but not all of them will be suitable for your blog. 

You need to make sure that the choice reflects your brand image well, while being readable and able to encourage people to go through the content, not be discouraged from reading it and your blog is modern and deals with a niche that is mainly directed to young people, you want to choose a font style that is crisp and light, not antiquated script styles.

Sometimes it is recommended to use variations of fonts that complement each other but are distinct at the same time, as this helps readers avoid getting bored as well as be better able to notice different sections or navigate pages more easily.

Images – blog content is of the essence but you cannot just have words, words and more words everywhere. You need to make things livelier by means of images and visual aids.

You will be pleased to note that WordPress themes actually come with preloaded stock photography, and this will help to make things considerably easier for you.

However do not make the mistake of relying solely on these images. It is important to use your own images on your blog as it helps improve its look and level of customization, while also improving your credibility.

All of these elements have their fair share of importance when choosing your blog’s theme and designing your blog. The decisions you make will matter a great deal in the final image of your brand.

While the theme is like a skeleton off which you will be building your blog, you need to make sure that you choose it carefully and thoughtfully so as to be better able to integrate all of the elements nicely and in a way that they complement one another in a truly original and enticing blog.

SSL And How It Creates Confidence In A Brand

When designing a blog your main intention is to have your followers believe in you. You want them to regularly visit and read your posts, and to trust you as a knowledgeable and dependable source in your particular niche. 

Creating confidence in a brand is not easy. It requires time, real know-how and regularity. Apart from this, there are also some things which you can do to instil more trust in your brand.

One of these is having an SSL certificate which covers your site security.

SSL stands for Secure Sockets Layer, and it is a form of technology that is used to establish a safe link between a site and a browser. Thanks to SSL the data that is passed from the web browser to the web server can remain private.

Having an SSL certificate on your site gives users confidence that they can safely browse, buy, and give any details in a safe manner.

Apart from that, an SSL certificate improves your search ranking and SEO. Browsers also highlight secure websites and you want your site to look secure and verified.

Google makes use of HTTPS as a ranking sign, and so if your blog has SSL it will do better in terms of its rank when compared with any other sites that do not have SSL.

Lately the importance of an SSL certificate has increased considerably when compared to how things were a few years back. Apart from the fact that everybody wants to rank well, there is also the issue of rising cybersecurity concerns.

So, give your blog a safer and more secure standing in the eyes of your followers by getting an SSL certificate.

Because you know building a solid brand  will help to secure your future!. The question is: Will you build that brand and online business or be forever a 9-5 slave?!?

Personalizing And Humanizing Your Brand With Visual Aids

Your main goal in branding is to make sure that that your brand is relatable to your audience. Unless the people who will visit your blog feel a certain association with the brand, chances are that the effect it will leave on them will be negligible. 

You want your audience to relate with your brand, feel confident that the information you are giving is trustworthy, and helpful through it all it should leave an imprint on their minds so that they feel inclined to return again soon. 

While the content of your blog is undoubtedly a critical element of your success, you need to place a lot of attention to the visual aids that accompany your content. 

This is because visual aids tend to be more effective and noteworthy at first glance than a chunk of words is.

No matter how you format your content in terms of font style, size and colour, you want to add visual aids if you really want to encourage visitors to read that content. 

This highlights the importance of the proper choice and inclusion of visual aids in your blog.

Visual aids personalize as well as humanize your brand image. So, it is a good idea to have photos that include people.

Whenever possible or feasible you should use well-known people whom people can easily recognize as this will help them better relate to what they are showing, saying or experiencing. 

This will obviously need to be directly related to what you are discussing in the content, but whenever possible this tactic where you make use of photos of social media influencers will definitely help greatly, and of course yourself.

If your blog is related to tutorials, how to articles, or similar types of content, you may wish to make use of several images, ideally supporting the various steps you are trying to describe or explain to your reader. 

These types of blog posts are very popular as very often people look up information on how to complete a particular task or project.

While the written content may be very self-explanatory there is nothing better than seeing a supporting image or photo to describe what you are trying to explain even more clearly. 

Some blogs go a step further by including a video with a demonstration or presentation. 

This is also very effective and helpful, and if you can manage to do so you will be greatly helping your readers relate to what you are discussing.

It is a great way to get closer to your audience and to have them relate better with your brand.

When a blog has been devised with a sound personal branding strategy, you are already a good way ahead in terms of its personalization and humanization.

Your followers will have got used to and automatically relate whatever you are posting with you. Your face is thus consistent with the brand of your blog and you should make use of it so as to humanize it even further. 

By nature one will trust a person more than a brand name. This is the critical aspect of what humanization of a brand is all about. 

You need to think of your brand as a character, with its own personality and voice. While this is not easily done when you just have a brand name and logo, you can make use of visual aids in order to support this. 

As I mentioned earlier some bloggers rely on their personal image and humanize their brand by focusing on a personal branding strategy. 

Others still prefer to use a business branding strategy, and while followers know who the blogger is, there may be the use of a fictional character to represent the brand and make it more human in their eyes and minds.

Another noteworthy tip to make your blog more human is to try to respond to any comments personally. 

While scheduling tools and autoresponders can be helpful, try not to rely on them. 

Whenever possible respond personally to any messages and engage in conversations so as to spark up more interest in whatever you are discussing. 

Show the people that you are the person behind that post, and that you are available to interact with them so as to discuss the subject further.

This can be taken a step further by means of tools such as chats, video conferencing and similar tools.

Humour is another valuable companion in your brand humanization strategy. Many people appreciate a good joke or some humour. 

While you might want to appear as a professional expert, you still need to show your personal aspect. So do not be too uptight and whenever possible make your audience feel good with some humour through your visual aids. 

Be it a quirky message in a bubble, a quote beneath an image, or some puns in the video’s content, do make use of humour as it greatly supports your brand humanization goals and draws your audience even closer to you.

How To Get Your Brand To Stand Out, Gain Authority And Trust

Building your brand is not an easy feat. Your brand is all about establishing who you are, and managing to reflect that to your audience in an effective and compelling manner. 

Your target audience will need to see something special about you, and in time they will learn to have confidence in you and trust you.

This is not that easy, especially when considering the massive competition that there is online. You will need to be very careful and go about it in a strategic manner in order to be successful.

The main steps to build your brand, and to instil a certain credibility and authority to it include determining your target audience first so as to know where who your brand will be targeted to.

You then need to establish a clear brand mission statement that will pave the path for your brand strategy.

It is very helpful and insightful to take the time to research other brands within your niche so as to see what they are doing, how they seem to be doing it, and where you can stand out in relation to them. 

Based on all this you should then be able to establish your brand’s key qualities and strong points, and you need to focus specifically on them so as to gain authority through them.

You will then need to move on to the important task of creating your brand logo which will basically be the image of your brand in the minds of your audience.

Determine An Effective Tagline For Your Brand

Work to form your brand’s voice and personality, while making your brand as humanized as possible to help your audience relate with you and trust you.

Be consistent so as to ensure that your long-term brand building is as strong and as effective as possible.

Each and every one of these steps is important in your brand building journey, and at each point you need to manage to build more and more confidence in your brand and build up your authority in your particular niche.

Your Audience Will Also Expect You To:

Be Accessible And Maintain Regular Interaction– Your audience wants interaction. This is not just about posting content and having them read it. 

Most likely they are going to establish an opinion on what you wrote, and wish to discuss it with you. Or else, they might have a query or they need to clarify something.

Whenever a reader or visitor posts a comment or a message you need to make sure that you value it and see to it. 

Responding to these comments and messages may take quite some time, but it is worth your while.

Your audience will see that you care about what they think and how they feel. This will automatically reflect very positively on you and your brand image, as well as build more credibility, trust and respect in your brand. 

Be Honest – in order for your audience to trust you it is important that you show credibility by always being honest and truthful in all your claims. You also need to make it a point that all information that you offer is trustworthy and dependable.

Offer Value – Your target audience will respect you and believe in your brand as long as you consistently offer them value. 

Bringing value to your audience can take various forms. They can feel it by seeing you as a point of reference when they need information on the subject, or when they receive a reply should they contact you or seek your advice. This helps a lot in building long-term trust.

Be Consistent – Consistency is very important when you want to establish yourself as an authority in your niche and reinforce your position among the competing blogs online. 

Your Audience will depend on you and trust you as long as they know that you are consistent in your promises, claims and presence. Consistency needs to be present in all that you do, from your brand image, to your blog design and the regularity with which you post.

Now that we have discussed the importance of gaining authority in your niche and winning your target audience’s trust, we can move on to discuss some practical ways and means with which you can continue to do so.

Podcasting And Video

Podcasts and videos are a great way of growing more interest in your brand as well as make your audience trust you more. 

They help you to extend your brand reach and grow stronger and more important in your niche as when done right they are a great source of information or reference. 

Podcasts allow you to connect in an audible manner with your audience and it is a known fact that podcast listenership grew consistently over the past few years. 

As a blogger you should make sure that your voice is on these podcasts as this reinforces your personal brand and helps the audience to connect with you more.

Podcasts and videos are a great tool because even though you spend a lot of time and effort on writing blog posts you need to be aware of the fact that there is going to be a percentage of your audience who either do not like to read written content, or else do not have the time to read through it all, and thus prefer to watch a video or listen to a podcast. 

They are thus a practical way to reach out to all of your audience, regardless of their preferences. 

Podcasts and videos also have that unique human appeal about them, which helps to draw you closer to your audience while making your brand more human.

As they are more personable they are great tools in making you gain authority and respect in your niche.

Create Communities On Social Media Platforms

Social media platforms are undeniably great to build more trust and credibility.

You should make sure that your social media presence is as well-built and as consistent as possible as it is a very good opportunity for you to keep in touch with your followers. 

On social media platforms you can literally build communities whereby interactions can take place anytime and from anywhere.

This convenience and practicality places you in a unique position to always be close to your audience and followers, and this reinforces your brand image dramatically.

With active discussions, exchange of ideas and opinions, comments and replies, the interactivity level is quite unique.

This also helps the members of such a community to establish a sense of identity for your brand. Moreover, you would be in a position to collect first-hand insights on what your followers think of your blog and of your brand in general.

This can help you to establish whether you are doing well or not, and develop future strategies for a better and stronger brand.

Because You know there is much more money to be made online than your regular job!. The question is: Will you take advantage of this opportunity?!?

Feature On Respected Publications And Industry Related Sites

For your brand to gain even more trust and authority in its niche, you may try to feature on respected publications which have a good following.

You could also try to be mentioned on other websites which are related to your niche in some way or other. 

Such sites and publications will have a good following of their own, and being mentioned on them will automatically improve your reputation, and possibly you will even get new followers as a result.

There are going to be people who never heard about you, and who will learn about you from these sources.

There will also be a number of people who might have heard of you but never really bothered to learn what you specialise in, or what you have to offer.

Chances are they will be interested to visit your blog or site so as to learn more. You might thus experience an increase in traffic, some new sign-ups, or maybe even emails.

You might also be increasing your chances of getting additional media attention elsewhere.

At times if a paper mentions you, there might be a competing publication which might want to issue a story on you too in order to compete. Such follow up stories will increase your exposure even more.

Needless to say, the more respected such publications or websites are, the more credibility your brand is going to gain through being featured on them.

You can thus widen your circle of influence, access new audiences, and be more influential as a result.

Guest Posts

Guest posting can have a dramatic effect on your brand. It can be a very effective method of building your brand and make it look stronger and more credible.

By writing a guest post you would basically become an author on that particular blog. As a result, whoever reads that blog post will notice your name, and your blog too.

If you do a good job with that guest post you will be able to establish yourself as an expert in that niche. You might even be cited on industry resources too.

Another benefit of guest posting is that you will be reaching out to new audiences.

As a result you will be placing yourself in a position whereby apart from promoting yourself and your experience in your niche, you will also be attracting new followers to your blog. 

You might thus be able to benefit from a bigger reach, fresh feedback, and naturally, more exposure, which all help in improving your reputation. 

Customer Reviews

Customers are extremely important for your brand. And it is not only because you want them to improve your popularity, sales and profits. It is also a matter of managing to build your brand through them. 

Customer reviews are a great source of information for fellow customers. It is normal to take the time to look up reviews so as to see what others had to say.

Their experience will be beneficial in helping you ascertain whether you would like to buy something, follow a blog or page, or sign up for a newsletter. Customer reviews thus fuel the call for action, while also increasing brand awareness.

Your brand image is significantly shaped by customer reviews.

These reviews will either paint a nice picture of you, or else highlight your faults. You naturally want to strengthen your image and add credibility to your brand.

In order to do so you will want to excel at what you do so as to encourage customers to post positive reviews about you. 

Moreover, if you allow reviews on your site or blog you are demonstrating your audience that you care about the way people think about you and how satisfied or not they are with you. Consequently your level of credibility will also increase.

The Use Of Social Media Influencers

Having a social media influencer talk about your brand is a sure way of drawing attention. That person is basically a VIP. He or she is well-known, highly regarded, and with a large number of followers. 

Having such a person represent your brand by showing that he uses your products or services, or that sometime or other he/she had a positive experience with your brand, is going to send a very strong message to your audience.

They are going to feel inspired by that message, and start trusting your brand much more. Because if such a celebrity is so satisfied with your brand, then you must really be great at what you do or offer.

Thus that social media influencer was like an ambassador for your brand. You thus need to try to find a social media influencer that can be connected or related to your niche in one way or another.

FAQ’s - Frequently Asked Questions About Branding And Its Importance

• What Is Branding?

Branding is all about who you are and what makes you special. It distinguishes you from other brands and encompasses a wide range of aspects which together establish what your business is all about, and what defines you

• Why Is Branding Important?

Branding is important because it helps people understand who you are.

Branding makes you more than just another business. As a result it helps to differentiate you from others as well as promote recognition. Your followers and customers will thus be able to identify you as well as feel closer to you.

• Is Your Brand Just Your Logo Or Slogan?

No, it is not. This is a common misconception, but your brand goes way beyond that. It is a reflection of everything that in some way or another makes up your business.

This includes, the logo and slogan, along with your website / blog, staff uniforms, and anything promotional which highlights your logo, slogan or tagline.

• Is Branding Only Important For Large Businesses?

No, even small businesses should do an effort with regards to branding.

 A brand is commonly attributed to large companies and multinationals which everybody seems to know immediately through their logo or slogan, such as Coca Cola, and McDonald’s.

Naturally a small business is not going to have the same amount of funds and personnel to take care of an extensive branding strategy like a large business would.

However a small business can still distinguish itself on another level of branding.

This can be done through a good name and logo, a website and the ability to show a uniqueness and consistency in everything it does.

• What Is The Difference Between Business Branding And Personal Branding?

Business branding revolves around a business name, whereas personal branding is built around you personally.

 A personal brand is not always suitable as the person behind it needs to be really charismatic and known for his or her expertise in the niche.

Otherwise the branding will not be that effective unless the person does not have such traits which fuel up a strong brand image.

• What Is The Importance Of The Brand Name?

The brand name is extremely important as it identifies your brand and distinguishes you from everyone else.

The brand name should be unique and easily memorized. It is best that it is easy to pronounce and whenever possible it should reflect something that is relevant to your business or brand’s strengths or qualities.

• What Are The Most Important Elements Of A Logo?

A logo should be simple because if it is too elaborate it will be difficult to remember. Within a simple design you should then incorporate something that is relevant to the business and as unique as possible.

 A good choice of colours is very important too. All in all the logo needs to be as memorable as possible.

• What Is The Importance Of Branding In Marketing?

Without a sound marketing strategy you cannot expect to reach out to your audience. Your branding strategy needs to form an integral part of your marketing strategy.

The brand basically serves as the basis for the understanding of your business’s purpose, and it needs to align with the goals of your marketing plan in all areas of promotion and advertising.

• Why Is Branding Important To Consumers?

If you do it right, a good branding strategy will give your customers a proper understanding of what you stand for and what your key values and objectives are.

Thus branding helps consumers develop the right perception of your business, while making them better able to trust you and rely on you as the best in your niche.

• Why Is Branding Important To An Organisation?

Your brand is important for your customers as well as for your organisation. A good branding strategy will enable your organisation to increase its value while providing a clear direction to employees.

• Why Is Consistency Important In Branding?

Consistency is critical in branding because it keeps you aligned to achieving your goals, as well as to make your brand image get even stronger.

You should place certain procedures in place so as to ensure that you retain a consistent brand image and presence at all times, in every aspect. Consistency needs to be present in your content, formatting, design and promotions.

• Why Is It Important To Humanize Your Brand?

Humanizing your brand means that you are making your brand more personable. As a result your audience will be better able to connect with you and feel closer to what you offer.

Humanizing your brand is easier with personal branding, but even if you have stuck to business branding, you can still humanize your brand by means of methods such as guest posting, using social media influencers, create videos and other shareable content, and create communities on social media platforms.

• How Do You Get Your Brand To Gain Authority And Achieve More Trust And Credibility?

You want your audience to believe in you. Unless you work hard at your branding, and unless you are consistent in your approach to branding, you cannot manage to achieve this.

It is important to build authority in your niche as in such a way you get a stronger following and more credibility.

You can do this by being consistent, and prove that you are the best in your niche. You need to offer value, and always be approachable and honest to your audience.

• What Is Important About Your Website / Blog Design?

Your website / blog reflects strongly on your brand image. You need to make sure that you see to every aspect of your design carefully.

This includes the theme, the images, and any visual aids that you use, as well as the font style and size of your content.

You also need to choose a good name and URL, see where you are going to place the logo and the tagline to be well visible, as well as get an SSL certificate. Everything matters!

What Is The Importance Of Branding - The Conclusion

Throughout this article you have learned just how vitally important branding is for your long term success online and a variety of strategic elements to consider and put in place. 

In my opinion with the ever increasing growth of other forms of digital media such as video and podcasting it is important to use these effectively to humanize your digital presence and make the change from being just another person with a blog or website to a fully relateable person that your audience can see and hear. 

Your full on marketing strategy defines your brand and how people see and think about your site, and thus, you should absolutely never spam social media groups or anywhere for that matter - unless you wish to be see as a trashy site that is not to be taken seriously. 

Brand integrity is, in my something that is incredibly very important. Collaborating with certain causes such 1% for the planet or some other ethical cause only enhances your image. 

Take Action!

It is now time for you to step forward and take action, and implement what you have learned in this article and start building your blog or web site the correct way from the get go and set yourself up nicely for success. 

Far too many people don't succeed because everyone is teaching traffic, content, keyword research getting ranked on search engines, social media and so on but not a single word on creating and managing a brand and a brands image. 

It is little wonder success takes a while and some find it difficult to establish themselves long term. 

Just pop your email in to the form below and get started with my free guide and free 7 blogging e course day course.

...And I'll see you on the inside!.  

If you have any pertaining questions regarding the importance of branding, leave a comment below and WILL replay back ASAP!.

To you success and blogging best.

Derek.