Why Branding Goals Are Actually Important for Your Blogging Business
Have you ever stopped and thought about the branding for your blog? Or even setting branding goals? No? I get that. It’s not really the first thing you think about when you start blogging.
However, setting clear branding goals is essential for establishing a strong, recognizable business that resonates with your readers. So, let’s take a closer look at branding in general and branding for your blog in particular.
We’ll explore the key elements of a brand, discuss what branding means for your blog, and set SMART goals to achieve brand consistency and recognition. We’ll also look into how branding can impact your blog’s success and how to continuously improve by setting new goals based on your results.
So, grab a cup of coffee, get comfy, and let’s create a powerful brand for your blog, shall we?
Run out of time to read the blog post right now? Pin it to your favorite Pinterest board!
What is Branding in Terms of a Blog?
Your blog’s brand is essentially its personality, it’s what makes your corner of the internet unique and memorable. It’s like walking in a city center, and you’re drawn to specific stores or that little cute café. These have a certain vibe that attracts you, so you want to check out what they have to offer.
Just like how these stores and that little café have their own style and vibe, specific products that they offer, your blog needs its own distinct identity, too, to attract your readers. This includes elements like your blog name, logo, color scheme, writing tone, and the types of images you use. When these pieces work together cohesively, they create a strong brand that helps you stand out from the crowd of other blogs.
Developing an original brand identity allows you to
- be more recognizable to readers
- communicate what makes your blog special
- build trust and credibility in your niche
- attract an audience that resonates with your unique voice and message
Building your blog’s brand does take some thoughtful planning and consistent effort over time. But by staying true to your authentic personality and mission, you’ll create an irresistible blog identity that keeps readers coming back for more of your signature style and valuable content. To stay in the cute-little-café analogy, you create that specially brewed cup of coffee that will keep bringing your visitors back for more.
7 Key Elements of a Brand
Alright, let’s dive into the key elements that make up your blog’s brand identity. As I said before, your brand is like your blog’s personality. It’s what makes you recognizable and sets you apart from the sea of other blogs out there.
Think of some of your favorite blogs – I bet they have a distinct look and feel that you instantly associate with their brand, right? That’s the power of strong branding.
So, what goes into crafting your blog’s brand? Here are the 7 essential pieces of the puzzle:
1. Blog Name
Your blog name is the foundation of your brand. It should be memorable, easy to spell, and give readers a sense of what your blog is all about.
Brainstorm words related to your niche and play around with different combinations until you land on a winner. Choosing the perfect blog name takes time, but it’s worth the effort!
I like the cup-of-coffee analogy, so let’s look at an example for a blog all about coffee. A great name for such a blog could be The Brew Enthusiast. This name establishes the blog as a go-to resource for coffee lovers who are excited to explore new and interesting brews.
2. Logo
Your blog logo is the visual representation of your brand. It should be simple, versatile, and instantly recognizable. Think about the colors, shapes, and fonts that capture your blog’s personality.
You can DIY your logo in Canva, for example, or hire a designer, but make sure it looks professional and works well at any size. My friend Pam has a great Facebook group if you need any help creating your logo in Canva.
A logo for our coffee blog, The Brew Enthusiast, could be one of these. You can make it cute with little hearts or distinguished with a fountain pen tip. See what a logo can do for your brand?
3. Color Palette
Colors can have a big impact on how people perceive your brand. Your blog color palette should reflect the mood and message you want to convey. Pick 2-4 colors that complement each other and use them consistently across your blog design, graphics, and social media.
I found a photo that gave me the enthusiastic feeling I wanted for my brand. I use the colors in that photo as my brand colors, and I incorporate them everywhere: in my headings, my pins, my Facebook page, you name it.
When we look at our coffee blog, the go-to colors are brown, black, crèmes, and white, right? But, again, we can make it more fun when we use, for example, yellow for the coffee cup and bright red for the little hearts in our logo.
4. Typography
The fonts you use on your blog are another key part of your visual brand. Select 2-3 fonts that are easy to read and work well together, like a simple sans-serif for headlines and a classic serif for body text. Stick to your chosen fonts to create a cohesive look.
In Canva, I created my brand kit with my business’s colors and fonts. That way, I always have my fonts easily accessible and never use a different font by mistake.
The fonts in our example logos are very spot on, don’t you think? But keep in mind that the fonts that you use in your logo are not always the best ones to use for the text on your website and in your blog posts.
5. Blog Theme
Your blog theme or template is like the outfit your brand wears. It should match your overall aesthetic and make your content shine. Look for a theme that’s clean, mobile-responsive, and easy to customize regarding your brand colors and fonts.
The template I use on this website is one from Kadence. But I’ve also had templates from other companies and from WordPress itself. There is enough to choose from, just make sure you pick one that feels good for your brand and website.
The website where our coffee blog is housed will have a theme that possibly includes a little online shop with coffee blends and cups and maybe pages leading to a membership or courses besides the blog.
Affiliate Disclosure: This article might include affiliate links. This means that I earn a small commission without any extra cost to you when you buy something through these links. It helps me continue creating useful blog posts for you. Thank you!
6. Imagery & Photography
The images you use on your blog posts and social media are a huge part of your brand identity as well. Develop a consistent photography style that fits your niche, whether that’s bright and airy or moody and dramatic.
To create a professional look, use a mix of your own photos, especially on your home and about pages, and high-quality stock images. I’ve also been experimenting lately with AI-generated images from Microsoft Designer, which has been really fun.
As you can imagine, the photos on our coffee blog will be hugely important to get the feel and maybe even the taste across to the readers. Photos taken in a garden setting during a sunny day have a totally different feel than photos taken in a dark, cozy café on a winter’s day.
7. Brand Voice
Your writing style and tone are just as much a part of your brand as the visuals. Are you bubbly and energetic or more serious and informative? Define your brand voice and use it consistently in your blog posts, newsletters, and social media captions.
Putting all of these elements together creates a strong, cohesive brand identity that helps your blog stand out and attract the right audience. It takes some work to develop your brand style, but it’s so worth it in the long run.
Imagine how put-together and professional your blog will look when every detail, from your logo to your Pinterest pins, perfectly matches your unique brand personality. That’s the goal!
Why Branding is Important for Your Blog’s Success
Now that we’ve covered the most important elements of a blog brand, you might be wondering, why does all of this matter? How does having a strong brand actually help your blog succeed? Aren’t my excellent blog posts enough? Great questions! Let’s dive into the importance of branding for your blog’s growth and impact.
Having a distinct, cohesive brand is essential if you want your blog to stand out from all those other blogs and make a lasting impression on your readers. Here’s how branding can take your blog to the next level:
1. Stand Out
With millions of blogs out there, it’s crucial to be different from the rest. A unique brand will definitely help you to stand out in your niche and be original.
When your blog has a recognizable look, feel, and voice, it will naturally stand out from all the other blogs in your niche. Readers are more likely to remember you and keep coming back for more.
2. Build Trust & Credibility
A professional, consistent brand builds trust with its audience. We trust them to deliver every time we interact with them.
The same is true for your branded blog. When it looks polished and put together, readers see you as a credible authority in your niche. They’re more likely to view your content as valuable and share it with others. Building trust is key to growing a loyal following.
3. Develop Emotional Connections
In line with building trust comes developing an emotional connection with your readers. When your brand personality shines through in your writing style, visuals, and interactions, readers feel like they know you.
They start to see your blog as a familiar, relatable presence in their lives, like their favorite drink or clothing company! That emotional bond keeps them engaged, and they want you to succeed.
4. Get Recognized and Remembered
A cohesive brand sticks in people’s minds. When your blog has an individual look and voice, readers associate all that with your content. They’ll recognize your brand: your blog name, logo, and style, even when they see it outside of your website, like on social media or in their inbox.
Being recognized and, in the end, remembered is essential for driving people to your blog posts and growing your reach.
5. Grow & Monetize
A strong brand builds the foundation for your blog’s growth and monetization. When you’re known for a specific topic or style, you attract readers who are interested in what you have to offer.
Companies and other businesses in your niche will want to partner with you because they want to get in front of your readers with what they have to offer. This could result in valuable sponsorships, partnerships, and product sales down the line. Branding helps you build momentum and helps turn your blog into a thriving business.
Do you see how these 5 reasons for creating a brand follow up on each other? Your brand will make your blog stand out, people will notice you, and they come to read your posts. When they feel they can trust you, your readers will develop a connection with your blogging business.
Through the Baader-Meinhof Phenomenon (where people see what they like, popping up everywhere), your brand will pop up for them all around (that is, if you share your message across the board). When your following grows, your blog will grow into a flourishing business.
Isn’t this fascinating?
How to Set SMART Branding Goals
Alright, let’s talk about how to set effective branding goals for your blog using the SMART framework.
SMART is an acronym that stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. By crafting your goals with these criteria in mind, you’ll be able to create a clear roadmap for building a strong, recognizable brand.
Specific
Get crystal clear on what exactly you want to achieve with your blog’s branding. Instead of a vague goal like “improve my brand,” dig deeper into the specifics. What part of your branding needs work? Is it your logo, your color palette, your photography style? Hone in on the details.
Measurable
Make sure your branding goals are something you can measure and track over time. For example, “increase brand recognition” is hard to measure, but “increase brand recognition by 25%” is much more concrete. Putting numbers to your goals lets you see your progress.
Achievable
It’s great to dream big, but your branding goals need to be realistic. Setting goals that are too grand will only leave you feeling discouraged. Look at your current resources and audience, then set goals that feel challenging but doable. You can always set bigger goals as you grow!
Relevant
Your branding goals should tie into the bigger picture of your blog and business. For instance, if your main monetization strategy is affiliate marketing, a goal to get 100 new email subscribers might not be as relevant as a goal to increase your click-through rates. Focus on branding goals that directly support your overall business goals.
Time-bound
Putting a deadline on your goals will create a sense of urgency and accountability. By giving yourself a specific timeframe to achieve your branding goals, you will stay motivated and on track. Just make sure the timeline is realistic for the goal you’ve set.
Examples of SMART Branding Goals
To give you an idea of what SMART branding goals can look like, here are a few examples:
Develop a style guide that defines all 7 brand elements within the next month. This goal is
- Specific: creating a comprehensive style guide
- Measurable: you’ll know when it’s complete
- Achievable: one month is a reasonable timeline
- Relevant: a style guide is essential for consistent branding
- Time-bound: 30-day deadline
Redesign blog logo and graphics to increase brand recognition by 25% in 6 months. This goal is
- Specific: redesigning logo and graphics
- Measurable: 25% increase in recognition
- Achievable: 6 months gives you time to create and implement new designs
- Relevant: strong visuals are key for brand recognition
- Time-bound: 6-month timeline
Establish a consistent posting schedule of 2x/week to build brand authority. This goal is
- Specific: posting 2x/a week consistently
- Measurable: you can track your posting frequency
- Achievable: 2 posts per week is manageable for most bloggers
- Relevant: consistency supports your brand’s reputation
- Time-bound: implied ongoing timeline
Can you see how the SMART framework helps you create focused, actionable branding goals? It takes a bit of practice to get the hang of it, but once you do, you’ll be setting goals like a pro.
So think about what you want to achieve with your blog’s brand in the next month, 6 months, year, and beyond. Then, put those goals through the SMART criteria to make them as effective as possible.
With clear, SMART goals in place, you’ll be well on your way to building a memorable, impactful brand for your blog.
If you’d like to explore the SMART goals framework a bit more, I have a blog post about it:
A Practical Guide for Setting SMART Goals for Blogging Success.
Improving Your Blog’s Branding Over Time
You’ve put in the work to establish a strong brand identity for your blog – way to go! But here’s the thing: your job isn’t done just because you have a shiny new logo and color scheme.
The most memorable, impactful blogs are always working on strengthening their brand. They know that building a recognizable, trusted brand is an ongoing process.
So, how can you keep refining and growing your blog’s brand? Here are some key steps:
1. Evaluate Your Current Brand Perception
Do you know how readers currently perceive your blog’s brand? It’s time to find out. Conduct a brand perception survey to gather honest feedback from your audience. Ask questions about the emotions and attributes they associate with your brand.
You can also use social media to track online mentions and sentiments about your blog. This gives you valuable insights into what people are saying when they talk about your brand.
2. Compare to Competitors
Your blog doesn’t exist in a vacuum, you need to know where your branding stands in comparison to others in your niche. Take some time to analyze your competitors’ branding strategies. Look at their logos, color palettes, photography styles, and tone of voice. Make note of what they’re doing well and where there might be opportunities for your blog to differentiate itself. It’s not about copying your peers but learning from them to stand out yourself.
3. Analyze Your Brand Performance
With your perception and competitor research done, it’s time to take a hard look at your blog’s brand performance metrics. These might include things like:
- Website traffic and engagement
- Social media followers and interaction
- Email subscribers and open rates
- Reader feedback and testimonials
See which areas are strong and where you can improve your branding. Maybe your Instagram posts are getting tons of engagement, but your email list growth has stalled. Knowing where you stand currently will help you set the right goals.
4. Set New Branding Goals
Armed with all of this knowledge, you’re ready to create strategic goals using the SMART framework to take your blog’s brand to the next level.
For example, maybe you set a goal to update your blog’s About page and core messaging to better reflect your unique message in the next month. Or perhaps you commit to posting 3 times per week on your blog to build your brand authority on your pillar topics.
The key is to keep evaluating, tweaking, and expanding your branding efforts over time. Ask yourself, how can I reinforce my blog’s unique personality in every reader interaction? How can I build more trust and credibility with my audience this quarter?
Consistently showing up with valuable on-brand content is the best way to make your blog’s identity memorable to readers. So keep refining your voice, creating high-quality posts, and engaging with your audience authentically.
Did you like this post? Pin it on your favorite Pinterest board and share it with others!
My Final Thoughts
At the end of the day, a brand is more than just a logo, although that is a great starting point. Branding is about creating a memorable, impactful presence for your blog. It’s how you express your blog’s unique personality and values in a way that resonates with your target audience.
Building a recognizable blog brand takes thoughtfulness, consistency, and a commitment to showing up as your authentic self. It’s not about chasing trends or trying to be something you’re not – it’s about honing in on what makes your blog special and communicating that to your readers in a genuine way.
Developing your brand takes time and consistency, but it’s so worth the effort. When you love your readers and stay true to your authentic voice, your brand will shine through and attract the right people to your blog.
Embrace the process of building your blog brand, one post at a time. Show up consistently, be original, and let your personality come through in everything you create. With each strategic branding effort, you’ll be one step closer to building a memorable, impactful blog brand that stands out from the rest. Before you know it, you’ll have a memorable, impactful brand that lifts your blogging business.
It’s Your Turn
So here’s my challenge to you: take some time in the next week to really think about your blog’s unique personality. What are your core values? What do you want to be known for? How can you infuse more of that signature style into your content?
Jot down a few ideas, do some investigating on how people look at your business, and create your SMART branding goals going forward. Before you know it, you’ll have a blog brand that readers can’t resist coming back to again and again.
I’m rooting for you every step of the way! If you have any questions or insights to share, please leave a comment below. Let’s keep the conversation going and support each other on this exciting journey of building standout blog brands.
