As an individual business, you want to stand out, right? Of course, it might be daunting to wade through the large crowd of other businesses in your niche to come out ahead, but how are you doing it? Is your business modeled after another, even your mentor or others in your niche that you admire?
If so, stop! Your business should reflect you, not some other person out there. That goes to your business model, your business cards, and especially…. your website. I find it disheartening to see so many businesses with similar designs. It might be due to inspiration or even lack of investment (or ability to invest), but a business is important. If you start one, you need to invest in it.
Of course, with WordPress powering more than 15% of the Internet at the end of 2011, many businesses are sporting themes that are similar because they were cheap, even for premium themes and frameworks. Its not that purchasing and using them are bad, but not customizing them for your particular business, especially for branding purposes, can hurt you.
So, how can you break out of accidentally being another copycat?
While you can definitely get ideas of what is working in your niche, think about what you are all about. Hiring a designer to put together a clone of another site defeats the purpose of stepping out as a brand and sometimes can create negative flack between yourself and the site you copy. While imitating might be know as the best way to flatter others, it confuses your followers and clients, especially if they follow the other business you have copied. And in some cases, you may need to be careful when you copy another’s design as they may have licensing or trademarks in place that could put you in a load of legal hot water.
There are millions of sites, but always ways to make a unique design, even with already available frameworks. Child theming can work wonders in making you stand out. If you are not a web designer or developer, you need to make sure that who you hire is flexible in designing for your tastes. Both the designer and yourself will need to think outside the box.
While some designers may be really talented, never leave your website’s design and development to 100% creative reign. Your opinion matters as it is your website that you will have to be proud of using and showing off to others. Your designer, even if they say they care, really is just being paid to produce a product for you in exchange for money. You would not tell your hairdresser to cut and style your hair however they want, right? If you did, you might end up with a hairstyle you are miserably stuck with for the next few months. In the case of websites, you have the same result if you do not become active about your site’s design and development. And… above all, you waste time and money spent investing in your business.
So, make sure your website’s design is about you and not one of your competitors in your niche. Be yourself, not a copycat.
Nile,
This is an excellent post. It would be so easy to fall into these traps. It seems like people are losing their creativity these days. And with most things being streamlined, people try to do things as quick as possible so that they can do more things. With that, you might end up being a copycat, and that isn’t a good thing.
Thanks for posting.
I agree with that, the fact that some niches are just too crowded with people who are trying to compete from one another, the best thing to be is someone unique and better than anybody else. One thing that you can consider is to have a personalized service rather than doing robotic stuff. That way your readers, clients or customers can be at ease doing business with you. That’s what I did in my Cable Tunnels business and now it is in it’s full splendor.
Great post we must improved our creativity and have confidence in what were doing,. do our best.Thank’s for this great idea.
I always want to be unique in all respect. If I acquired new knowledge, Ill applied them but I have to modify to make it better and look unique 🙂
That’s right. Always go for a design that can describe you best. As this is what you want to convey with your website to your consumers/users.
Nice post.
Good and informative post which every blogger should read and learn how to be unique and create their own creativity which inspire other peoples.
This really answered my problem, thank you!
One comment I was given yesterday speaking about being ourselves is that my videos do not show my personality at 100%.
I was told I am too distant people that know me know how fun I can be this s a great feedback for all of us starting with video we need to be ourselves as you say Nile, this is the real power of our branding.
Thanks for sharing!
Being unique is the way to keep up in this cut throat competition in the blogosphere and this post clearly explains the same.
From my point of view it’s all about the perspective we see things. Therefore, one can have a short-term mindset and choose the easy way, or think on the long run and work hard to find its own style.
Having a unique brand and style is what customers looking for. Customers these days are very intelligent and wise to choose which product or brand they will support.
Having a unique design is great. This will really tell reader who you really are.
Nile, I would say this time you have made me serious about my theme of business! I have been running behind the top brands and trying to pursue their every way of past but Now I have learned one thing and that is , We have to make our own way! In other words , I dont want to be a copycat anymore!
Being original is the most important aspect. It is just not unique. If you want to make the difference and excel at something, make sure you are unique! Thats what i think..
Good Topic, Nile. Having design that compels visitor to say ‘WOW’ doesn’t come with copycat but it is the result of great ideas and self-confidence. We also apply this thing to creativity and unique creativity which should be able to stand apart from crowd is the only answer to this taut competition.
Reading your post just bring me to reflect on what I learn last week at a by invitation only business forum.. branding was one of my preferred class… wow, I sure learn how important it is to use a personal branding and not a copy cat.. Thanks for your insights.
nick
I always go with a design that is to the point and subtle.
Such good sound advice Nile.
Since my first visit to your site I was taken with the eye catching design, love the color palette you’ve chosen and the linen look wallpaper background. Curious to know do you play a guitar and is it pink?! Thanks for all that you share… I appreciate the time you take to share your knowledge 🙂
Very interesting title. copying design of a different website is of no use. If you want your website to be successful you need to use a unique design for your website. thanks a lot for a wonderful post.
i am happy i chanced on this webpage. thank you for sharing with us
Hi Nile, in any business being unique in every way is one of the fundamentals for success, for this reason we should try to present ourselves in a way that people will easily recognize our business. Having said that a website of a business is its face the world and it cannot be the same with others, thanks for sharing…
It is all often down to budget. I have done a few wordpress sites for friends how have small/local businesses. However they dont really have the cash to build a totally unique site, thats why they use me. I use premium WP theme and try and customised them a little, however my skills are limited and most of the sites are freebies so I dont have the time.
Thanks Nile for providing this informative post on brand and design. I totally agree with you. Being on its own is always a good concept to do. I feel that designing is expressing our creative mind and it should be unique and not a copycat. Copying a design from others wont go in the long run. Instead of that, being an unique designer is a better option and you should always opt for that. Thank you once again for the share!!
Its such as you read my thoughts! You seem to understand so much about this, like you wrote the book in it or something. I feel that you can do with a few p.c. to drive the message house a bit, but other than that, that is excellent blog. A great read. I will certainly be back
I do agree with you Nile when it comes to Branding and Designing your site it should be in your own Idea not just copying someone else’s work.Although at the beginning it is really difficult to brand and design a website but with the others site you can have them as a guide but don’t dare to copy paste the concepts that they have.REmember guys it serve as a Guide not a copier.
It is important to be ourselves and be unique. If we aren’t real, we just blend in with all the noise out there.
This is a wonderful article in interesting topic. I agree with the most unhappy people on the planet are those who don’t listen to and don’t pursue what matters to them most.
Thanks for the article anyway.
Here in my country, designing and selling web pages has become a trend.
Now everyone is offering websites for as low as 80-90 USD 🙁
Needless to say, they are all made with poorly designed templates, usually they just copy/paste text provided by the client.
The result? Several dozens of ugly websites, made from the same ugly free templates
I really think that some new enterprises could not care less about their own image, their own brand
I agree with that, the fact that some niches are just too crowded with people who are trying to compete from one another, the best thing to be is someone unique and better than anybody else. One thing that you can consider is to have a personalized service rather than doing robotic stuff. That way your readers, clients or customers can be at ease doing business with you. That’s what I did in my Cable Tunnels business and now it is in it’s full splendor.
Hi
It is a really great post. I am happy for read the post.
Thanx.
Branding is very important to our site and to our business, it help remember people about our products and services, thus it brings lots of potential customers and traffic to our site.
I like your post very much the information provided in it is very useful to me thanks for the share …
Its really incredible to me. Now a days it can make easy to promote the business as easy as possible. Yes now-a-days facebook is most popular social network site and it promote multidimensional activities. I like this post. I think it would be effective for all community.
Great article; thank you! I have been reading a few books about marketing and the trend has been going towards branding as a way to connect with people. Create and identity and people will be able to connect with you! Times are changing.
Nile, thanks for the great challenge. I’m going to be thinking through this over the next couple of years for both of my sites. Do you have any other articles you would recommend on this topic (prior articles you have written?)
Its challenging to be in a world where it seems that every idea has been used and had been made money out of.
But I still think it’s important. I enjoy making my own website and tweaking stuff… I can call it my own even if I have limited tech know-how..
Hi Nile
Thanks for the post, I agree and I always try to use my own voice to speak and say ‘I’ rather than we as it is just a small company and why not let people know that!
I once told someone to cut my hair however she wanted — I looked ridiculous all summer.
That being said, I think it’s important to stay in the design process. Obviously, the designer is the professional; you shouldn’t work with anyone who isn’t willing to work with you, though.
Nile, Such a great article. You definitely have a one of a kind site. I like it. 🙂 It is crucial to find your own individual niche. Looking at other sites is a good way to get an idea for what you want your site to represent. Sometimes that can take some time to develop, but hopefully it is “all you”.
Have a great week,
Lynn
as I know and have read around the web a Killer design it a key to successful website the same way is content, it is hard to find a cheap talented web designer because if I want to change my theme it is impossible for me to spend 1000 $ on a personal blog.
This is a good eye opener especially to starters in the business field. Marketing your business online can make or break your goals. Some do not put great efforts on their website because they don’t realize how big the impact will be on their business if it portrayed bad reflection to them. You have lots of competitors on your chosen business and you should definitely do something on how people will remember you. A tagline, logo, website design, and even how you present your services should be unique. Uniqueness is the key because it catches attention. Remember, you do not get customers if at the first place you are not able to catch their attention.
Hi Nile. Unique design and own idea is the most important for any website. However some people in rush, they want something very fast. The second group of people don’t like to spend even a penny.
Thanks for a nice article
I totally agree with you that one should be unique. To be unique is to be independent in any thing and each of us really need to learn that kind of thing.
I do agree – There are some nice branding initiatives that are taken by a lot of companies – both big and small companies. But this should only be used as a guideline or for ideas of your own. There is nothing like two competitors following the same route of marketing and branding to divide rather than conquer a market area.
Awesome post and very informative it is great that branding and designing yourself not to do copycat big reason behind it 🙂
I have a website design client who, instead of giving me any of his own ideas, will basically just give me a url and ask me to make the same exact site.
I always try to advise him that this is not the best way but at the end of the day it’s easy money for me. I have to make sure though he understands about copyright and that he’s fully responsible for any breach in terms of images etc on the website. He doesn’t seem to care though, his problem if anything does happen.
Agree that we shall not be a copycat. But to be totally yourself is not that easy. I thought is that we should see and learn from other, from there we try to improve and come out with something better.
this article deeply explains …..
good content
thnx for sharing
Beautiful write-up. I totally agree, but sometimes novices like me have to be copycats. It’s not necessarily because one is not genuine, but because one lacks enough technical know how. Anyways, thanks for sharing your ideas!
Some very crucial points raised. I always gon on about having original material that makes you stand out from the crowd. Maybe a good follow up article to my previous one would be ” Why home made company branding doesnt work.”.
There must be somthing about off the shelf, generic, un-authentic design, that attracts people. It could be the fact that they have seen somthing familiar before which acts infuences there decisions when making graphic design decisions.
Agree, every business needs uniqueness in the Businesses that you are looking for so, Writing is also one of the business for freelancer and website owners therefore, copycat attitude can damaged the value of the businesses.
branding is actually a double edge sword, if u use it properly then u will gain too much of loyalty, n if u cant use it properly, then u r just falling in a pit….people have actually realised abt branding as important, and they r willing to spend a lot to make it stand out…
After attending Blogging While Brown on last week, I am definitely working on enhancing the Brand of Marcie. This will not only help draw visitors, it will help with my pocketbook.
I totally agree with you. Many of the websites today, especially those who are powered by WordPress looks the same. They actually confuse me a lot. But maybe it’s just because they don’t have the capability to hire someone to make the changes which they can’t do themselves.
I agree. Perfect design makes a good business. I just read your blog and wanna thank you for this. I would like to bookmark this if it’s okay.
I agree. Perfect design makes a good business.
The vital information is spread out now!
Every business needs uniqueness in the Businesses that you are looking for so.when we use your own creative then only
we can create “fantastic c “things.Thank you for sharing facts to us.
Appearance makes 90 percent of reality someone said and I believe nothing could be further from the truth. See someone on a high street in a suit and most of the time you immediately have some preconceptions about them, that is that they must have a better job or more money, authority, etc. The same applies to web design – if you put an effort in having a professionally looking website your chances to get more traffic that would convert into whatever your goals are (subscribers, customers, etc.) are much better. Cheaply designed sites, even though they might be offering value in terms of content, often get rejected because first-time visitors to them simply don’t like what they see and don’t wish to be bothered to explore more. The other side to this (unfortunately) is that there are plenty of good looking websites offering little or no value and this is really bad.
I always want to be unique in all respect. If I acquired new knowledge, Ill applied them but I have to modify to make it better and look unique
It is important what you exhibit, but I am of the people who think everything is invented … creativity has turned evolve or modify existing ideas
Thanks for posting this. I’ve been going back and forth trying to figure out what I want my website’s official logo to be. The tone of the website is down. The social media accounts are rolling. The blog post ideas are coming. But I just can’t seem to come up with any ideas that satisfy me when it comes to a logo.
I want my brand to reflect myself, of course. But it’s kind of hard to pinpoint which values I want to come across, I guess.
But this gives me some place to start thinking. Thanks again 🙂
Nice and informative post. One should read it.and I want to say we have to be a be different and unique and should show our own creativity and skills by which other people get inspire….
I agree with your opinion. But not many people have this creativity. Some companies even refused to spend the money, they think copycat is save lot of time and money, this is the point.
BTW, can you give me some suggest of my ” LED Grow Light ” website? I think my website design is awful.
Great thoughts and thanks for sharing your idea here.
Appreciate that.