Start Smart: The art of preparing for a winning website

Denny Lai

Denny Lai
Denny Lai

Get to know Denny Lai, the entrepreneurial genius behind DreamFox Design and a man of great vision. Denny is a visionary leader with an impressive history of success in the field of strategic branding and marketing. As the founder of DreamFox Design and FoxPixel. Denny’s enterprises are driven by a mission: to create innovative, results-driven solutions that go above the norm. Denny Lai’s dedication to quality is unyielding; he relentlessly pushes brands to new heights of success by combining imagination with strategic intelligence. His major clients are Toyota, AVRA and Saxo market.

1 Planning: setting the foundation for your brand

1.1 Domain extension

Online success depends on selecting the correct domain extension. While.com domains provide worldwide recognition,.com.my domains offer better regional presence, and local SEO is crucial. Even if Google doesn’t favour any one domain extension, e-commerce websites still need to use country-specific extensions like.com.my to build confidence and make transactions easier for customers. In the cutthroat world of e-commerce, successful firms differentiate themselves by forging genuine connections with their customers and delivering real results.

1.2 Content Management system

Image credit: wordPress.org

Consider WordPress as a content management system (CMS) for your brand because of its adaptability and wide range of customisation choices; it’s perfect for companies who want control and flexibility over their online presence. For startups and small businesses seeking to build an attractive website fast, Wix’s user-friendly design tools and simplicity are ideal. With its robust features designed specifically for online selling and its easy integration, Shopify stands out as an e-commerce platform. Pick the one that works best for your brand’s objectives.

1.3 Web hosting

Do your homework before deciding on a hosting provider. Cloud hosting is great for businesses that are growing and see fluctuations in traffic since it offers scalability and flexibility. For small to medium-sized websites, web hosting offers ease and affordability. Private hosting is the best option for businesses that deal with sensitive data or are subject to strict regulations since it provides security and control. Find the best hosting solution for your project by evaluating your needs and priorities.

1.4 Builder

Elementor stands out as the best builder for WordPress, thanks to its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface and wide range of customisation options. Businesses looking for creative control and smooth integration within the WordPress environment will love it because it makes it easy for users to construct visually attractive websites.

2 Craft your brand

2.1 Unique value proposition

Image Credit: wordstream

Apple has always prioritised innovation, design, and the user experience, which is its unique selling point. Apple stands out in its ecosystem of products, which target tech-savvy customers seeking aesthetic appeal and seamless integration, with its famous durability and intuitive interface. Because of its distinctive brand name, seamless ecosystem, and unmatched quality, Apple is preferred by customers over competitors.

2.2 Brand story

  • origins
  • values
  • mission
  • build emotional relationship with customer

2.3 Visual identity

Consistent branding across all touch points on your website, social media, packing and advertising

  • Logo
  • colour
  • typography
  • image type
  • design brand message

Visual identity in the digital era is powerful instrument for engagement and brand recognition, going beyond just aesthetics. The necessity of maintaining a consistent brand image across all platforms is demonstrated by Toyota’s extensive guidelines. A fully realised visual identity that connects with consumers can be achieved by enterprises with as little as SGD 100,000. Search engine optimisation (SEO) benefits from a unified brand narrative, which includes everything from important vision statements to brand voice. If large corporations want to stand out in a competitive market and gain consumers’ trust, they must have a consistent voice for their brand.

How can you apply it for your brand to get across all platforms?

To build trust and familiarity with your audience in today’s digital landscape, it is vital to maintain a consistent brand identity across numerous channels. Make sure your brand message always hits home with these tried-and-true methods:

Craft Your Brand Message:

Develop a clear and concise brand message that communicates your company’s value proposition, personality, and competitive differentiators. Keep your slogan consistent across all platforms to strengthen your brand’s identification.

Moodboarding:

Image credit: just in mind
Image credit: just in mind

Create mood boards or storyboards to define your brand’s visual elements, including colors, typography, icons/images, and layout styles. Keep the font size consistent across headers, paragraphs, and buttons; use no more than eight to twelve colours; and use no more than two or three types of typography.

Colour psychology

Make use of colour psychology to make people feel a certain way or think about your brand in a particular way. Pick out some colours for your brand and its accessories that speak to its character and principles. Keep the colour of your call-to-action (CTA) consistent across all platforms to motivate people to take action.

Think About Contrast:

articularly between text and backdrop colours, to make sure things are easy to read and accessible. Make sure that all users, including those with vision problems, can read your content easily by using tools like Colourable or contrast checkers.

Typography Matters:

Image Credit: blog market

Select fonts that align with your brand’s personality and enhance readability. For better usability and faster loading times, stick to minimalist designs. To discover complementary font choices that represent your brand’s style and tone, try Google’s font pairings tool.

Optimize Loading Speed:

Keep your website minimalistic to improve loading speed and user experience. Keep your site’s performance in check by avoiding overly complex layouts and design components. Link: https://pagespeed.web.dev/

UI Design Tips

  1. Spacing: keep an consistent spacing
  2. Consistency: maintain inconsistency throughout the elements
  3. Behaviors: ensure similar looking items behaves similarity
  4. Important : give prominence to important elements / speak able must be in ONE colour
  5. interactive: keep interactive in a consistent colour
  6. readability: use san serif font / left align text / increase line hight

Tips for entrepreneurs:

  • LEARN from good design by doing pixel perfect copy and keep practice
  • apply culture element for clients’ customer
  • when client has weird or unreasonable request, take a step back and see what the client try to solve.
  • DONT just blindly follow clients’ request.



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