Research is the cornerstone of effective logo design
Never make the mistake of rushing into creating a logo design. You need to do outline your company’s objectives, its mission, vision as well as its business goals– both short and long term. You also need to know the demographics of your target audience.

 Attractive and unique logo design
You would obviously want your logo design to catch the attention of the customer. At the same time it should not be subtle and not screaming for attention. It should test the intellect of the customer; make him or her think a few minutes after seeing the logo. If you notice some of the top logo designs each of them have a unique aspect to it that depicts something about the company.

 Simple and memorable logo design
One of things you need to really focus on is to make sure your logo design is not too cluttered or too fancy. This will just confuse the customer. Ultimately you want the customer to remember your brand. That will only happen if the logo is easy to remember. Also be sure that the logo evokes positive emotions to the customer.

Flexibility is a major issue in logo design
Your logo needs to be flexible enough to work and create a lasting impact on any medium whether it is a product wrapper, your company website or even any promotional materials you send out!  That means you need to consider the size of the logo and the usage of appropriate colors. The colors used need to match well with any background which will help your brand to stand out.

 Use fonts that promote readability in your logo design
You might select a font that looks great on paper but when you use it in the logo it hampers readability. There is absolutely no point using classy fonts in logo design if they are going to prevent customers from remembering you. Make sure fonts are easy on the eye.

 Usage of color in logo design
Great logo design will always focus on using complementary colors that looks good against a black or white background.

Business sites obviously run a gamut. But for the purposes of site facelifts, differences boil down to how frequently you must make changes. Consulting services may update sites only quarterly or even annually. Ecommerce sites or research companies may require updates by the hour as the information on them needs to be up to date.

Here are 11 ideas culled from web marketers and developers that can modernise your site without you incurring excessive costs.

 Reduce the number of site pages
Focus on redesigning only the core 10 to 15 pages; you can then archive any remaining popular or highly trafficked pages into Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word documents that are suitable for download.

 Make your site a marketing tool
If you’re not yet capturing data basics, such as which sites and search engines visitors are clicking from or which pages get most visitors, get started now. Use pre-packaged software or a web services provider to capture detailed information about site visitors. “The first question to ask is: ‘When visitors come to your site, what do you want them to do?’  Once you have answers, you can define the tracking metrics and develop the content, navigation and structure that will quickly satisfy your targeted visitors.

 Set up an e-mail programme
Create an incentive for visitors to register or give you their email addresses. Once you have addresses, send out useful email. But make sure who have explicit permission to do so – and don’t cause more harm than good by bombarding them. Make sure you have an “unsubscribe” link your visitors if they don’t want to receive any more email from you. Failure to do so may cause them to mark all your future as spam thereby hurting your online reputation.

 Create an online reward for prized customers
Treat your best customers with perks or discounts. You can also, of course, email special offers. This will encourage people to visit your website.

 Speed loading time
Fancy graphics and animations are obstacles in the path of getting to information. This generally slows down your page loading speed. Make sure your visitors can easily find what they’re after.

 Invest in a content management system
Stop relying on static HTML. Instead, invest in a reliable CMS (Content Management System) which lets you update your own website content without getting a developer involved. If you update content a lot, this will pay for itself quickly. This gives you the freedom and ability to update the content on your website as frequently as you need.

 Align the site to the organisation
You might have reinvented your business a half-dozen times over the past few years. How appropriate is your site now? Make sure your site’s messaging is always in tune with offline marketing.

 Get your content right
Many websites talk about themselves. “we do this” and “we do that” without telling the potential customer what they can do for them. Investing in a copywriter to write your website content is a worthwhile investment. If the information on your website leaves the reader asking “so what?” then your copy is not well written. For example, “we manufacture tyres.” Your website content should inform your reader what you can do for them.

 Add testimonials or success stories
Very few sites do this and there’s no question that they add major credibility for buyers. Ask long-time customers for quotes or permission to post their case histories and their satisfaction with your services.

Any of these ideas will help update your online presence. But the real advice is simply not to get complacent. Pay attention to your website whenever you shift direction or significantly grow the business. An up-to-date website will generate custom. But failing to keep it current will leave your customers unimpressed. All marketing and messaging must be seamless — consistent, uniform, multimedia and multi-channel.

 Make it easy for your would-be customers
Finding a good business to provide the service or product you need has never been easier for the customer. Today, it is as simple as looking up local businesses online. In fact, studies show that about 75% of all new customers begin their search online. If you do not have a website, then you are missing out on a big piece of the marketing pie.

Give your website global exposure
Since the Internet is available to everyone worldwide, you will no longer be limited to local business. Anyone can search for your product or service. Now, face to face meetings are not required in order to gain business, and you do not have to rely on customers driving by your business, or hearing a radio commercial or other forms of traditional advertising.

 Post More Information on your website
You can post so much more information about your business then you ever could in print ads, brochures, or on air commercials. You literally have unlimited space to work with. Furthermore, you can update content to your website and/or remove obsolete information as you go along.

Make your business always accessible 
Potential customers will be able to inquire about your business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no matter if your business is open, or not. If a potential customer is interested in your service, they will be able to send you an email, and then you can get back to them during the business day.

 Save on time
You will save time by only getting inquiries from customers that are genuinely interested in your business. You will no longer have to answer customer phone calls and meet with customers, only to find out that they are no interested in what you provide. Instead, they are able to read about your business online, and then decide whether or not they are interested in doing business with you.

Your goal is to isolate a credible and compelling message that will resonate and reinforce the core values of your company. What are you good at? What differentiates your product or service from the competition? What are your strengths compared to your competition? What do you want your company to be known for? What characterises it?

Create a list of key attributes that effectively describe the image you want to project about your company. Then, narrow them down to only the most important. Ideally, your logo design should focus on no more than one attribute and support a single aspect of positioning. In this case, you pride yourselves on the fleet management solutions that you offer. This is what your logo should resound.

Font
The choice of typeface is very important because the basic letterform establishes the overall character of the logo and influences the way you are perceived on the market. Making the right typographic choices for your association’s brand identity is absolutely critical to successfully capturing the image you want to project. The skilled application of typographic element is probably equal parts of science and art.

Tag line
This serves to describe in a nutshell what the company does. Most people want to know at a glance what the company does. Being relatively new in the market, your logo should be indicative of the activity of your organisation.

Image and Shape
Shapes can convey universal meanings, organise information and guide the eye. We have a spontaneous perception of shape that is probably connected with the deepest levels of our perception of the world. Shape is universal and can be understood beyond the limits of cultural identity. The endless interplays and variations of shape stimulate our curiosity constantly, with each shape holding for us it’s own expressive meaning and character telling us completely different stories from one shape to the next. Shape can add it’s own meaning to a design, or simply reinforce the perception created by other design elements such as line and colour. For this reason, it is vitally important to understand the impact of shapes as they can mean the difference between the success or failure of your logo design.

Every time a customer comes in contact with your brand, they will have either a positive or a negative experience.  Those experiences will add to their perception of your brand.  Those experiences are recalled later when it’s time to make a purchasing decision.  How do you want your brand to be remembered when the time comes for a prospect to buy? You need to start building that positive perception today and do whatever is necessary to maintain it.

Here are simple rules to bear in mind as you build your company’s brand:

 Narrow down your business to the most significant element
A common mistake made by small companies is trying to be all things to all people. Narrow down the core activity of your business in a single clear message. This is what your clients will associate your business with. For example, Mercedes Benz focused on “Engineering” for decades. In terms of branding, Mercedes now owns “engineering” because it focused on that singular message for years

 Be Consistent
Consistent presentation will ensure that your customers recognize you. Be consistent in the use of logos, taglines, visual elements, tone, and ad copy.  Make sure your brochures, website, Direct mail, and all the other advertising have the same feel and message.

 Strive to remain relevant
Know your audience, know what they care about and know how to speak to them.  Make sure what you sell is what they need.  Remember the conversation should always be about your audience, not you.

Your goal is to isolate a credible and compelling message that will resonate and reinforce the core values of your company. What are you good at? What differentiates your product or service from the competition? What are your strengths compared to your competition? What do you want your company to be known for? What characterises it?

Create a list of key attributes that effectively describe the image you want to project about your company. Then, narrow them down to only the most important. Ideally, your logo design should focus on no more than one attribute and support a single aspect of positioning. In this case, you pride yourselves on the fleet management solutions that you offer. This is what your logo should resound.

Font
The choice of typeface is  important because the basic letterform establishes the overall character of the logo and influences the way you are perceived on the market. Making the right typographic choices for your association’s brand identity is absolutely critical to successfully capturing the image you want to project. The skilled application of typographic element is probably equal parts of science and art.

Tag line
This serves to describe in a nutshell what the company does. Most people want to know at a glance what the company does. Being relatively new in the market, your logo should be indicative of the activity of your organisation.

Image and Shape
Shapes can convey universal meanings, organise information and guide the eye. We have a spontaneous perception of shape that is probably connected with the deepest levels of our perception of the world. Shape is universal and can be understood beyond the limits of cultural identity. The endless interplays and variations of shape stimulate our curiosity constantly, with each shape holding for us it’s own expressive meaning and character telling us completely different stories from one shape to the next. Shape can add it’s own meaning to a design, or simply reinforce the perception created by other design elements such as line and colour. For this reason, it is vitally important to understand the impact of shapes as they can mean the difference between the success or failure of your logo design.

You want to have a successful business which means you simply cannot afford to have a poorly designed logo. Good logo designers are not only able to design you a professional logo, but they will also make sure that your logo is distinct and unique so as to create a long lasting impression. Therefore the question that now comes to mind is, do we really need logo designers or can just anyone design a corporate logo? The answer to this question is not as simple as it seems. While the obvious answer may be no, the fact of the matter is that we do need professional logo designers because they are specialists in their field and are able to produce quality work that is distinct and one of a kind.

Professional logo designers are important because designing a logo is not just some haphazard exercise. There is deliberate and well convinced thought that go into making a logo that represents a company and the image it wishes to portray. Logo designing is more than just selecting the right color of a logo, it is about creating an image that aptly represent a company in every sphere that it is presented.