Why SEO Services in Los Angeles Are the Key to the Future of Your Business

 

Creating a website is just the first step in becoming an eCommerce business or expanding your brick-and-mortar business to include online ordering. Even if you’re not selling a product online, you want people to find your website to learn more about your services or your organization. Without search engine optimization, though, you may find that your website gets very little traffic. This is why it is so vital that you work with a company that offers experienced SEO services in Los Angeles. Here are some of the ways your business may struggle without SEO.

Customers Will not Be Able to Find You

If you don’t have good SEO, search engines simply won’t be able to properly match what your website offers with what customers are looking for. Your site will constantly be ranked lower than those with better keywords, which means you won’t be on the first page. You may not even be on the second or third pages of results, and very few people search beyond that. You’ll likely see that you are getting very little traffic and even fewer conversions. It won’t be because of your products, services, or even your webpage design—it will simply be because people aren’t seeing your website in search results.

Competitors Will Steal Your Customers

Without a good Pasadena SEO company on your side, you’ll be at a disadvantage when compared to your competitors. They will be working with top SEO companies and other online marketing experts, which means they will be ranking in the top positions on a search. Potential customers who are simply looking for a product or service instead of your specific business are going to look at these competitors first. If they find the product they want at the right price, they will never get to your website. They’re going to buy from your competitor, and they are likely going to become repeat customers unless they have a compelling reason not to. Every time this happens, your potential customer base shrinks.

You May Lose Mobile Customers

When it comes to SEO and web design, fighting to bring in PC users is no longer enough. Many people use their smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices to search for local businesses, especially retail businesses and restaurants. If you don’t have your website optimized for local queries and aren’t working with a top web designer in Burbank to create a website that reads well on mobile devices, those customers will go elsewhere. You may find yourself struggling as fewer and fewer customers look at things like flyers and signs but instead turn to mobile searches to find nearby businesses.

Your Marketing Campaigns Will Be Less Effective

Speaking of flyers, signs, billboards, and other traditional marketing means, you may find that you no longer see as good of a return on these campaigns as you once did. There are several reasons for this. First, of course, is that many people look online for businesses rather than looking at flyers or other information. Mailers often go right in the trash or recycling unless they come at just the right time. Signs are often ignored since customers often do their online research before they leave the house, so they already have their destination in mind. Then there’s the increasing costs of doing traditional advertising. Direct mailing, for example, is more expensive than ever due to postage costs going up. Printing, too, has increased in cost. These additional costs mean your campaign must bring in more revenue in order to justify those costs.

That’s not to say that you should abandon these traditional marking methods—they do have their place in increasing your customer base and revenue. However, relying on them alone can be a mistake. Instead, SEO should become a key part of your marketing plan. In fact, SEO typically has a much better return on investment and is a more effective manner of reaching people than any print material. This is especially true if you work with a great content writing company to craft text that highlights your company, your products, and why customers should work with you instead of others.

If You Take a DIY Approach to SEO, You Can Do More Harm Than Good

It is true that there is a lot of information online about SEO, including several tutorials and DIY instructions. Some, especially small business owners, are often tempted to take on the task of optimizing their websites themselves. However, while this may sound like a way of saving money, ultimately it can cost much more. SEO is always changing, and methods that were once widely used may no longer get any results. In some cases, they can cause search engines to penalize your website. Keyword stuffing, for example, used to be done all the time. Today, though, websites that do this often get de-listed from results.

This means trying to figure out how to do your own SEO can backfire if you don’t keep up with SEO trends or if you read old information. You may end up using ineffective keywords, which means your website won’t rank in the right searches. It can be difficult to work out what’s wrong with these keywords if you don’t have experience with SEO, so you may not be able to improve your results.

Then there’s the fact that you’re focusing your time and energy on learning SEO instead of doing what you need to do to advance your business. You may find yourself trying to your business, coordinate with manufacturers, manage your shipments, and learn SEO all at once. That will take its toll on you and likely means things aren’t done to the best of your ability.

The teams that offer SEO services in Los Angeles focus solely on SEO and web design. They aren’t dividing their attention between tasks. You can rely on them to use today’s best SEO strategies to get your website the attention it deserves. Don’t hesitate to partner with an SEO services company to reduce the struggles you face.

Content is originally posted at https://www.pxmediainc.com/why-seo-services-in-los-angeles-are-the-key-to-the-future-of-your-business/

Cryptocurrency's Huge Impact on Businesses in 2021

 

You can’t help but hear the buzz about cryptocurrency these days. You may be at the point of being ready to invest in it, and perhaps you’ve thought about accepting crypto at your business. Here are several compelling reasons to strongly consider making that move in 2021.

Crypto’s User Base Is Growing Globally

It’s often easier to make business decisions when you can refer to reliable, relevant data. Statistics can give you an idea of the overall trends that could positively or negatively impact your company. Seeing measurable indications that a progressively larger number of people use cryptocurrency could be enough to convince you that 2021 is an excellent time to start accepting it at your business.

The University of Cambridge’s 2nd Global Cryptoasset Survey may provide the content you need. It includes data through part of 2018 — the most recent information available from the authors — and shows a clear growth pattern in the number of people using cryptocurrencies. For example, the research highlighted a 94% growth rate in the number of identification-verified cryptocurrency users between the end of 2017 and the first three quarters of 2018.

Moreover, identification-verified user accounts only comprised 10% of all signups at cryptocurrency services in 2016, but the percentage rose to 25% in the first quarter of 2018.

The study’s data came from 47 countries and five world regions. That means wherever you operate, there’s a good chance your nation will experience some of this growth.

The researchers also mentioned that measuring identification-verified users provided a more accurate total than overall people on a crypto platform. Some may sign up but never do anything more at the site. Those that take time to verify an ID are likely more serious about actively participating.

Specialized Maps Show People Where They Can Use Cryptocurrency

You probably already know the importance of going through the steps of getting your business verified and making it show up on Google Maps. Something useful to know when thinking about accepting crypto at your enterprise is that there are several specialized maps showing the tens of thousands of places worldwide where people can pay with cryptocurrencies.

Getting your business listed on them is typically a self-service process you can do in a few minutes. Some maps also show you where crypto ATMs are located. Studying those specifics can help you decide if it’s worthwhile to have one on your premises.

The fact that these specialty maps exist is another solid reason to start accepting cryptocurrencies at your business in 2021. Consider that the people most often accessing them are probably either long-time crypto enthusiasts or individuals who are just beginning to get involved and want to find cryptocurrency-friendly merchants. Consumers from both of those segments could bring you new business and become repeat customers.

Some of your existing customers may use cryptocurrencies as well. That’s why it makes sense to publicize your acceptance of those forms of payment on your blog, social media pages, and website. Consider how signage such as a window sticker on the front door could inform passersby that you accept some cryptocurrencies, along with more traditional types of payment, such as credit and debit cards.

Most People Use Cryptocurrency for Aboveboard Transactions

Maybe you’ve seen headlines associating cryptocurrencies with illegal activities like Ponzi schemes, ransomware attacks, and money laundering efforts. You might think cryptocurrencies could hurt your business more than help it, given those eyebrow-raising ways that some people use them.

However, the critical thing to remember is that the vast majority of people dealing with cryptocurrencies do so for legitimate, legal reasons. Research into incidences of cryptocurrencies used in financial crimes shows that they account for a tiny amount of overall digital currency activity. Only about 1% of cryptocurrency transactions in 2019 had links to illicit activities.

The report also cited that 81% of Americans are familiar with cryptocurrencies. You can take those two statistics together and see why accepting cryptocurrencies at your business in 2021 makes sense.

The chances of you directly encountering someone using cryptocurrency illegally are incredibly slim. It’s even less likely that your business would get wrapped up in a crypto-related crime just because one of your customers did not abide by the laws. Keep in mind, too, that the ways law enforcement officials catch people engaged in financial crimes have evolved along with the nontraditional payment forms those criminals might use.

Artificial intelligence (AI) and the blockchain are among the emerging options that can spot potentially unlawful activities. As it stands, business owners should not feel overly fearful about people who use cryptocurrencies for illegal reasons. They should instead focus on how accepting crypto could appeal to new customers and help their enterprises grow.

Research Indicates That Accepting Cryptocurrency Drives New Customers and Sales

Perhaps the statistics about the growing usage of cryptocurrencies is still not enough to wholly win you over and convince you to start accepting them at your business. If so, consider that a study also found a connection between merchants letting people pay with cryptocurrency and getting more customers and sales.

The study examined the outcomes of sellers that used a service to accept bitcoin at their businesses. It found that up to 40% of people who paid with that cryptocurrency were new customers. Additionally, the sizes of the bitcoin purchases were more than twice that of credit card transactions.

Due to those advantages, the merchants that chose to accept bitcoin saw an average 327% return on investment, the research revealed. Another interesting conclusion was that enabling people to pay with bitcoin caused a substantial reduction in business risk by lowering or eliminating expenses related to fraud or errors.

Accepting cryptocurrencies does not mean you can scale back on the things that ordinarily attract people to your business, such as fantastic service, reasonable prices and a wide selection of products people want. However, as this study confirmed, being open to cryptocurrency could make more consumers eager and willing to buy from you.

What Can You Expect as a Crypto-Friendly Merchant?

It’s impossible to predict what will happen if you decide to start offering cryptocurrencies at your business. However, this overview uses data to give you a trustworthy look at what’s likely.

For example, the rising growth and familiarity with cryptocurrencies mean a larger segment of your audience may already be using them or want to soon. Additionally, crypto integration services and maps showing the locations that accept cryptocurrencies make it easier for merchants to take digital currencies and promote the fact that people can pay with them.

Statistics also emphasize that accepting cryptocurrencies could have a direct and positive impact on sales and customer volumes. Plus, although some people use cryptocurrencies for illegal reasons, the percentage of doing so represents a remote risk. It should not make you avoid catering to people who want to conduct their transactions with bitcoin or other popular crypto options.

Think of this information as food for thought. You should do a substantial amount of additional research before finalizing this or any other business decision. However, the odds appear in favor of company owners who decide to embrace cryptocurrencies in 2021.

Lexie is a digital nomad and graphic designer. If she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her Goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

Content is originally posted at https://www.pxmediainc.com/cryptocurrencys-huge-impact-on-businesses-in-2021/

How to Prepare for Another WFH Quarter

 

2020 has been a year filled with personal and professional challenges. To promote social distancing, many companies have gone to a work from home (WFH) model. The longer employees complete tasks from the comfort of their homes, the more likely it is they’ll want to continue for the foreseeable future.

According to Stanford economic researcher Nicholas Bloom, 42% of Americans now work from home, with only 26% working in essential positions and service jobs. There are also many still unemployed due to lockdowns and the subsequent recession.

Bloom points out that there are both positives and negatives with a WFH-centric economy. As we near the one-year mark of being on a pandemic shutdown, here are some ways you can prepare for another quarter of remote work for your business and employees.

1. Audit Your Expenses

Although the first coronavirus vaccines have arrived in some areas of the country, it may be many months before everyone gets an injection and life returns somewhat to normal. It’s also possible that another virus or threat arrives at the tail end of COVID-19, throwing the country into a longer social distancing period.

Now is a great time to look ahead and decide if you want some roles to continue in remote work even after the threat eases. If so, you may be able to reduce some of your expenses. Do you need such a large office space if you have half the workers in the building?

2. Offer Better Security

One concern many people working from home have is how to keep their network secure. They don’t have an IT department in their home as they have in an office building. They may worry about accidentally spilling company secrets or someone getting on their private network and tapping into their personal computers and smart speakers.

Research shows that about 50% of all remote workers fear security threats in a new setting. Tactics such as multi-factor authentication, single sign-on, and biometrics help ease these worries.

3. Encourage Communication

There are pros and cons to not having someone in the same building as you. One big drawback is that you can’t talk to them anytime you want without picking up a phone or initiating an online meeting. One significant advantage is that you can’t distract your workers by constantly popping into their office for a chat.

How do you encourage communication without taking valuable productivity time away? You can host stand-up meetings via Zoom to start each day. Each person gives a quick update on where they’re at, and you offer some words of inspiration. These meetings should be short and to the point.

You should also have an open-door policy where your remote workers can text, instant message, or email you throughout the day. Make responding a priority, even if you have to assign one person to chat with employees and help with issues.

4. Utilize Third-Party Project Management

Using third-party project management tools keeps all your employees on the same page. Cloud-based solutions update in real-time. So, if your graphic artist logs in, she can see if there are notes on her phase of the project and implement them, thereby avoiding wasted time and effort.

Sites such as Trello, Basecamp, and Asana help everyone stay on track. See at a glance where you are on a project. It’s one of the best ways for people from different locations to work together without confusion. You can even loop in a client to approve a graphic or mockup.

5. Onboard Everyone

Many of your employees may have been thrown into the role of a remote worker when they never planned to work from home. Their initial training was likely in-person through the human resources department. Now, they face a situation where they may not feel fully equipped to finish tasks independently.

The Human Capital Institute conducted their 2020 Talent Pulse Priorities survey with 462 human resources leaders. They found the biggest priority is retaining high performers. The best way to ensure engagement is excellent and applicable onboarding.

Your onboarding process must look different for remote work. Go through some basic concepts with everyone, such as securing their computers, protecting passwords, and what a nondisclosure agreement really means.

6. Improve Time Management Skills

One of the biggest challenges your employees face is time management. For many working parents, their children are home and may even be doing e-learning at the moment. Juggling family responsibilities and work is challenging.

You can help them navigate this time by allowing for some flexibility in the schedule. Let them start the day early before the kids wake up. Give them longer breaks so they can ensure their children sign on to meet with their teachers. Allow them to work later into the evening.

You can encourage higher productivity and loyalty if you provide flexible scheduling. This only works for some types of positions, though. A salesperson must call prospects when they’re most likely to answer the phone, for example. However, someone working on a graphic for a new website design can do the work at any time, as long as they meet deadlines.

Ask for Input

Going from an in-person office setting to a remote environment presents unique challenges. Be open to ideas from your workers. Ask for input on how to improve every process. They deal with co-workers and clients daily. They can see where any wasted time goes and pinpoint a better method to complete tasks on time.

The more you give your staff ownership of projects, the more likely it is they’ll develop brilliant ideas. Anything that improves productivity and team morale is a positive change for your brand, especially when everyone works from home.

Lexie is a digital nomad and graphic designer. If she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her Goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

Content is originally posted at https://www.pxmediainc.com/how-to-prepare-for-another-wfh-quarter/

How to Protect Your Startup During COVID-19

 

2020 is coming to an end. However, for small businesses and startups, this year’s struggles aren’t over quite yet.

While the end of the pandemic may be in sight, with several effective vaccines on the way, vaccine distribution will likely take months. A real economic recovery may not start until sometime around the middle of 2021.

That means there will still be a few challenging months ahead for small business and startup owners looking to weather the crisis.

These nine tips will help any startup stay afloat during the last few months of COVID-19 — and prepare you for businesses during the recovery to come.

1. Find New Opportunities for Business Growth

During the novel coronavirus pandemic, successful businesses have found ways to offer new, safer services. Gyms that offer outdoor exercise classes, outdoor seating for restaurants, and contactless pickup, for example, are three well-known examples of businesses innovating to stay afloat.

Local business partnerships may also be a possibility. Depending on what niche you’re in, you may find other local business owners who are happy to partner on product campaigns or offer services you can’t provide alone.

2. Don’t Skimp on Advertising Spend

Amid a crisis, it can be tempting to cut back the marketing budget.

However, it’s generally better to optimize your advertising spend before trying to make cuts. Take stock of existing ad campaigns and use ad data to launch new campaigns and cut the ones that aren’t working to help you get more out of your current ad spending.

New campaigns adapted to your audience’s needs and preferences during COVID-19 can also help. Collecting additional data, tweaking targeting settings, changing keywords, or adopting new, potentially low-cost advertising approaches — like content marketing — may also be successful.

3. Don’t Leave Existing Customers Behind

According to data from Adobe, purchases from just 8% of shoppers account for 41% of e-commerce revenue. While it’s crucial to pursue new audiences and grow your business when you can, cash for advertising may be tight right now.

When planning your ad strategy, don’t forget about your existing customers — be sure to include campaigns that target current clients and encourage them to keep shopping with your brand.

4. Prepare Your Business’ Digital Defenses

Small businesses are dealing with a growing number of cyberattacks aimed at stealing their data and gaining access to company networks. While larger businesses remain more popular targets, about 28% of all data breaches in 2020 targeted small businesses, instead.

Taking stock of the information you hold on to can make your business easier to secure. Research on retention policies shows that about 70% of the data a business holds on to has no real value or useful information.

Releasing this extra data can help simplify your data management, smoothing the path for you to defend the essential things — and, potentially, saving you some money on data storage.

5. Take Advantage of Government Funding for Businesses

The CARES act provided some substantial relief for small businesses. However, you may have already applied for and received this aid.

At the time of this article’s writing, the government is debating the specifics of a new economic stimulus. Details about the finished bill aren’t available yet, but it’s likely to include individual stimulus checks and additional support for small businesses.

Expanded SBA resources like Paycheck Protection Program loans may be able to help. You may want to stay on top of the news and prepare to apply for any government support programs your startup can qualify for.

In the meantime, other sources of government funding — like the USDA’s Rural Development Grant — may also be a major help for some startups and small businesses.

6. Learn About Local Financial Support

In addition to federal government relief, your startup may also qualify for local relief programs. According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, at least 24 states plus Washington, D.C., offer some kind of relief program for small businesses.

If you find your state on the list of those offering support, you may be able to apply for loans or other stimuli that can keep your business afloat during the next few months.

7. Look to Private Organizations for Support

Some private organizations are also offering support for organizations during COVID-19. FedEx, for example, offers an annual small business grant. The National Association for the Self-Employed also offers grants for self-employed people who need some extra assistance with their small business or work.

8. Remain Flexible

One advantage that small businesses have over larger corporations is their flexibility — it’s possible for a business with fewer staff members to coordinate and fewer resources to manage to rapidly pivot or change how they do business.

Right now, that flexibility is probably the most valuable asset. Customer needs and opportunities are constantly shifting. Businesses of all kinds are dealing with new problems as they arise — like supply chain disruptions or issues with the U.S. Postal Service.

Identifying new ideas to serve your customers — like pickup options or outdoor versions of indoor services — is one of the best ways to keep revenue up during the pandemic. These new offerings may also provide you a competitive advantage long after the pandemic finally ends.

9. Prepare for After the Crisis Is Over

Sudden fluctuations in demand — positive or negative — can be challenging for any business to manage. If your startup is managing a mostly steady revenue and has a loyal customer base, you may want to start looking at how you’ll prepare for the coming economic recovery.

Where possible, you can stock up on supplies or make changes that will help you manage a possible increase in demand once consumer spending starts to return to more typical levels.

Staying Afloat During the Last Months of the Pandemic

The end of the pandemic is in sight, but we aren’t there quite yet. For businesses that need some extra help during these last few months of the pandemic, there are a few strategies and resources that may be helpful.

Government and private grants, for example, have been essential through the pandemic, and another round of federal support may be on the way.

Adopting new strategies, optimizing advertising spending, and creating new offerings may also help you reduce costs and generate more revenue while demand remains low.

Eleanor Hecks is editor-in-chief at Designerly Magazine. Eleanor was the creative  director and occasional blog writer at a prominent digital marketing agency before becoming her own boss in 2018. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and dog, Bear.

Content is originally posted at https://www.pxmediainc.com/how-to-protect-your-startup-during-covid-19/

Five Ways to Grow Your Online Business's Profit Margins

 

Profit margins can vary widely, especially among online retailers. Some businesses are seeing margins as low as 0.5% to 4.5%, and some of the most efficient is making nearly six times as much.

Any business will find it hard to grow without the cash flow to invest in new products, staff, and resources. Some of the most successful e-commerce businesses may have a profit margin of around 20% — double the average. With that kind of margin, you can do a lot more with the money you already make. This efficiency can open a lot of opportunities, helping you reach new markets and grow your customer base more quickly.

These five techniques will allow you to grow your online business's profit margins and see a bigger return on investment across your company's e-commerce operations:

1. Increase Your Average Order Size

Higher average order size can improve profit margins by driving up average order value without increasing expenses — like the cost of shipping per order or the cost to acquire a new sale.

You can boost the value of your average orders by promoting relevant offerings and deals, helping customers find products they may have missed while filling up their cart. For example, when patrons are checking out, serve them links to relevant add-ons and value-adds. These can be insurance policies, warranties, accessories, and products that other users with similar orders bought.

You may also invest in a recommendations engine that offers links to related products when a customer is looking at a specific product page, or when they add an item to their cart.

Offering free shipping at a certain order value threshold can also encourage larger orders — but it may cut into the shipping costs you saved by driving up order sizes.

2. Focus on Your Return Customers

For most online businesses, return customers make up the foundation of their income. According to data from Adobe, repeat shoppers generate 41% of a retailer's revenue on average, despite making up just 8% of the total number of customers.

You can use certain strategies to encourage repeat shoppers. Retargeting, customer loyalty programs, and personalized marketing — like targeted emails that highlight discounts, deals, and product updates — help you encourage customers to keep coming back. High-quality customer service can also go a long way. Satisfied patrons often return and might be better at recalling your brand later on. Shoppers who remember you may recommend your company to their friends and families, helping you acquire additional customers with little extra spending.

3. Offer Personalization and Customization

Small differences in packaging, product design, and branding can make a big difference in profit margins over time.

Customized packaging, for example, can be a valuable opportunity to improve brand awareness and provide a better customer experience. Packaging made with your chosen materials and your logo printed on top can help your brand stick in customers' minds. If they like your product, they may be more likely to remember your brand and come back for another purchase the next time they need something you offer.

This effort may help you bring in more return customers — especially if you're already following the advice from the last list item — and grow your profit margin over time.

4. Optimize for Customer Experience

Whenever your customers interact with your brand, you want to make sure they have the best experience possible. Customer experience can significantly impact spending. According to research from American Express, consumers in the U.S. are willing to spend 17% more on average for good customer service. At the same time, 52% will ditch a transaction due to bad service.

There are many small tweaks you can make to your online presence, sales funnel and customer service operations to improve customer experience.

A fast-loading page, for example, is typically easy to attain with the right web design practices and can seriously enhance your customer's experiences with your brand. Compressing images, minimizing your site's code, and cutting out unnecessary JavaScript can all upgrade site performance.

Fast page speeds can also speak to your site's professionalism and trustworthiness, making it easier for customers to trust your brand.

A clear sales funnel and web design that makes essential information easy to access — with pages like contact information, hours, and FAQs easy to reach from anywhere on your site — can also provide significantly enhanced customer experiences.

5. Audit Your Operating Expenses

A cost audit may be a tedious process, but having a full, organized list of your business's operating expenses can be extraordinarily valuable in helping you figure out which costs provide value to your business. You might break down your marketing budget to see which campaigns have yielded the most return on investment. Doing this can help you find better data on why some campaigns work better than others for your company.

You may also catch overlooked expenses and find opportunities to make your business's shipping or fulfillment operations even more efficient.

Getting the Most Profit From Your Business's Budget

Without cash, you'll have a hard time growing your business. Boosting your profit margin will help you make more money without a significant increase in your company's budget, which helps you make the most of the capital you already have on hand.

Simple practices — like product personalization, customer experience optimization, and cost auditing — can go a long way in making your spending more efficient. Over time, your growth in profits will help you keep your business competitive.

Lexie is a digital nomad and graphic designer. If she’s not traveling to various parts of the country, you can find her at the local flea markets or hiking with her goldendoodle. Check out her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

Content is originally posted at https://www.pxmediainc.com/five-ways-to-grow-your-online-businesss-profit-margins/

The Importance of Understanding Logo Design Styles

Logos are a classic and important piece of branding. Regardless of what type of company you have, your logo should be on-message and communicate well with your audience. Your logo also needs to be memorable and unique.

But there are a lot of elements that come into play — and one of the most basic revolves around the type of design style you choose.

Depending on how you define them, there can be anywhere from five to twenty different logo styles — or even more, if you incorporate more elements into the definitions!

But don’t stress out about the sheer number of options! Logo styles can be broken down into some basic categories, and understanding them will help you to choose the best logotype for your brand.

Let’s talk about why.

What Your Logo Design Says About Your Company

As mentioned, creating a logo that is on-message is important to make sure that your company’s values and personality can be understood from the visuals that represent it. In other words, if your brand personality is “edgy and unique,” then you want an edgy and unique logo to match. If your brand is all about promoting family values and creating a trustworthy atmosphere, then your logo should emphasize those.

Yes, your logo’s message is greatly defined by the individual elements you choose, like colors, font types, and graphics.

But the overall style of the logo can also either emphasize the message or clash with it.

You can think of logo design styles the way you think of music genres. An individual song can be unique, but how you react to it will probably depend greatly on the genre it belongs to and your personal music preferences. Country songs tend to have pretty calm lyrics and themes, and rap songs very rarely are about pickup trucks and tractors.

But logos aren’t quite as easy to define as music genres. So how do you know ahead of time what message is sent by any given logo style, and whether it melds with your brand?

Different Logo Styles And What They Mean

Here are seven different types of logos, including some examples of each kind.

As was said earlier, you may encounter fewer — or far more — design types. But these are some basic guidelines, and you can extrapolate information about other types of logos by analyzing these.

Icon or Symbol

A symbolic or iconic logo is a logo that uses a pictorial mark as its center focus. It’s primarily graphics-based, and the graphic is readily identifiable as a certain object.

The most famous examples of an iconic or symbolic logo truly do just use that graphic image as the logo, rather than accompanying the logo with typography. So it can be difficult to establish your company using just an iconic logo; often, companies start with a combination mark (more on that later) and after reaching a certain level of fame, they can drop the typographic part of the logo and just stick to the icon.

This type of logo is great for companies that are very well established in their branding, rather than companies that are still finding their way. It does require that you think carefully about what icon or symbol best represents the brand because if you do it right, this logo will become synonymous with your brand.

Famous examples include Target, with its “target” symbol, and Apple, with its very iconic “bitten apple” icon.

Black and White

A monochromatic logo can make a deep impression on the viewer. These logos tend to be starker, simply because they don’t use rich colors. Color can distract from the message of a logo, at times, so it’s always good to check and see what your logo looks like when rendered in black and white.

Black and white logos are classy, eye-catching designs. They’re also a great way to include negative space in logo design, making both the active and the inactive portions of the design work for you to create a dynamic logo design. Monochromatic logos tend to be simpler, which can also work well for the overall design, making it easier to print, more scalable, and even more memorable and striking.

Famous examples include the panda from the World Wildlife Fund and Gucci.

Emblematic

An emblem logo includes a shape such as a shield, crest, or banner. It often has text within that shape, and sometimes an additional icon.

Emblem logos give gravity and respectability to a brand, often imbuing it with a sense of trustworthiness and tradition. You’ll see these kinds of logos used frequently in higher-end brands, like certain automakers. But emblems are also popular for schools, and incredibly popular for unique on-trend items, like craft breweries.

Famous examples include Harvard and Lamborghini.

Abstract

Abstract logos, much like other types of logos on this list, are basically exactly what they sound like. Rather than using a readily-identifiable pictorial symbol or icon for the focus, they use an abstract shape.

These types of logos can be difficult to pull off if your design isn’t completely on-point. The design needs to be unique, and not generic; and it also needs to have the on-brand flair and flavor, which can be hard to quantify with abstract shape.

On the other hand, when done well, this is a great logo for a brand that emphasizes uniqueness and creativity.

Famous examples include Pepsi-Cola and the Nike swoosh.

Mascot

Everybody knows a mascot logo when they see one. Whether it’s an animal or a person created specifically for the brand, mascot logos are designed to give the audience something to identify with.

If you want to make your customers connect with your brand on a personal level, increasing investment and engagement, a mascot logo could be the perfect way to go. They’re seen for sports teams across the world, of course, but also pop up for things like restaurants on a regular basis.

Famous examples include Red Robin’s red robin and Wendy’s Wendy.

Wordmark, Lettermark, and Monogram

These three types really fall under the same basic category: logos that are focused on the typography element.

• Wordmark logos use an entire word, usually the name of the company.
• Lettermark logos use a single letter, usually the initial letter of the company name.
• Monograms use the initial letters of each proper name in the company name, usually three or four.

Typographic logos can also be very impressive, though care should be taken when choosing your font. You don’t want a font that is overly eccentric or difficult to read; at the same time, you don’t want to choose something boring that will just blend in with everything around it, either.

Monograms and letter marks are great for companies with more words in their name, allowing you to shorten the branding to a manageable level; and wordmarks are perfect for companies with a single shorter word in their name.

Examples range from things like NASA to Disney.

Combination Mark

A combination mark logo combines two or more different logo styles. Usually, this includes a graphic element and a typographic element, but it can also include things like emblems, too.

If your company is just starting up, this is probably the recommendation for you. It gives you the chance to tie your graphic elements together with your company name and makes sure that your logo’s message stays on-point.

As your brand and your reputation grow, you may choose to update the logo and turn it into a single type, such as an iconic logo.

Great examples can be found among carmakers, such as BMW and Volkswagen.

How To Choose A Logo Style

When it comes down to actually choosing a logo style, it’s important to take all considerations into account.

• What does this style inherently say about my brand?
• Will my other design choices work along with this logo style, or will they clash?
• Is my brand at the point where this logo style will do it justice?
• Will I be able to update my logo as my brand continues to grow?

And if you are pressed for time and don’t know where to start, then you can always work with a professional graphic designer like PXMedia to get a bearing of your brand image.

The short run-downs included in this article should give you a good idea of what message is given by each logo design style.

So which style will work for your brand? The decision is up to you!

Author Biography

Betty Shane works as a professional blogger for multiple websites. Her work as a freelance content writer allows her to explore diverse topics including but not limited to digital marketing, business, and design.

Content is originally posted at https://www.pxmediainc.com/the-importance-of-understanding-logo-design-styles/