by Eoon
11 replies
Ok, here is the situation my partner and I are in now with one of our websites.

It's an Amazon affiliate website that we planned to build over a couple of months and flip or just get to a couple of hundred bucks per month, but with this one it seems that we were more lucky than smart and it started growing fast and we now have plans on getting it to a next level, adding a forum, branding, things like that...

Our issue is that we didn't plan for this and we have a generic long tail url, a generic looking WordPress theme that is nice and clean but still not memorable.

So, the url is not really brandable, we don't have a logo and we need to make all this happen...my suggestion was creating a cartoon persona that would be our logo and would be kind of a guide through the website to make it more memorable and add consistency My partner is reluctant because as things are now the people we made a small network with know the website as a website with a name and a face behind it.

Long story short, any advice about adding some character and building a brand for this kind of website would be greatly appreciated...
#rebranding #website
  • Profile picture of the author Steve B
    This is what I would do . . . others will tell you differently.

    I would start up a new site with the domain name and branding that your choose. But keep the old site going - don't take it down.

    Build both sites for awhile in the same niche but not using duplicate content. Focus each site in a different area within the same niche.

    When you get the newer branded site to the point where it is the dominant site, you can always integrate the two sites into one at the branded domain. At some point you can forward the traffic from the old site to the new one.

    If the new site with it's branding doesn't resonate with your market, you always can refocus all your efforts on the older original site.

    This approach lets you test the water for your new site without abandoning the old one that is currently working. By focusing each site in a different area of the niche, when you do eventually combine them, you will still be able to use all the content and traffic from whichever site you decide to give up. And there is always the possibility that you will want to keep both sites going if they are each doing well.

    Good luck to you,

    Steve
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    Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
    SteveBrowneDirect

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  • Profile picture of the author Eoon
    thanks steve, but the first question that pops to mind here is what about the links that we built to the old site, we would basically loose them if we integrate the old site into the new one if I understood you correctly?
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    • Profile picture of the author Steve B
      So if you're worried about that, keep both sites up and running and just funnel (or forward) traffic from the old site to the new one.

      Good luck,

      Steve
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      Steve Browne, online business strategies, tips, guidance, and resources
      SteveBrowneDirect

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  • Profile picture of the author Luke Dennison
    branding is extremely important and not really that hard to do, but it takes effort.

    I recently rebranded my blog and saw a massive increase in sign ups and social shares which I measured with Google Analytics event tracking.

    My blog before was just a crappy wordpress theme, but then I introduced a character and a color scheme.

    Welcome To Digital | Your Internet Marketing Resource

    As you can see, it doesnt look amazeballs, but I think it does stand out a little bit more than other marketing sites.

    After trying to find a color scheme however, I realized how difficult color scheming is, and have massive respect for people who can do it really well.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      My approach would be very similar to Steve's, with one small difference.

      Once the time came to integrate the two sites, I'd announce an "acquisition" of the old site by the new site. As content was moved to the new site, I'd replace it on the old site with the announcement and new URL, with a timed forward. After the content is indexed on the new site, replace the announcement with a 301 redirect (page permanently moved).

      For the pages for which you're afraid of losing links, simply leave the announcement and redirect.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Elisson
    Is there any way you can turn the generic domain name into a brand using its initials?
    Or somehow shorten/modify the name so that it looks like a brand?

    Combine that with a good logo and a character and you should be good to go.

    I don't think there's a need to create a second site.
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    • Profile picture of the author Eoon
      Originally Posted by Mike Elisson View Post

      Is there any way you can turn the generic domain name into a brand using its initials?
      Or somehow shorten/modify the name so that it looks like a brand?

      Combine that with a good logo and a character and you should be good to go.

      I don't think there's a need to create a second site.
      I had a smile on my face while reading this one because I had the exact same thought, but the initials are not really soothing to the ears I could hardly imagine people saying: " Just head over to BAGT..." and naming a cute cartoon logo something like that doesn't seem much better, but all things considered I think testing, testing and testing would be the way to go here"...
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  • Profile picture of the author Mike Elisson
    It doesn't necessarily have to be initials. Just look at different ways to compress the name until it sounds good. Lots of companies have done this.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeff Lenney
    Check out this company

    Branding Business With RiechesBaird

    Granted - they do more high level corporate re-branding so you probably won't want to HIRE them, but they've got an excellent blog and update quite often

    hope this helps!

    Jeff
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    Too lazy to write something clever here, so check out my marketing blog and learn from a REAL Super Affiliate at JeffLenney.com

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    • Profile picture of the author Eoon
      thank you to all of you guys, some great ideas here...just based on this thread we've just agreed to go ahead with the re-branding and all that based on what was said here up until now...

      the power of brainstorming...very grateful, when the website is formed in full I think I will contribute to the War Room with a case study about this website and everything we did...
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      • Profile picture of the author Luke Dennison
        Originally Posted by Eoon View Post

        thank you to all of you guys, some great ideas here...just based on this thread we've just agreed to go ahead with the re-branding and all that based on what was said here up until now...

        the power of brainstorming...very grateful, when the website is formed in full I think I will contribute to the War Room with a case study about this website and everything we did...
        yeh man let us know how it goes.
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