The importance of having a consistent message should never be overlooked, especially when it comes to your website. Recognition that carries over from print or traditional media to the internet will greatly strenthen your brand and can result in customer loyalty. If you are planning to update the your website design in the near future, here are some points to keep in mind to help ensure your message is clear and consistent:
1) Are you basing your website design on existing marketing materials or vise versa. If you have boxes of already printed materials, this may be a very easy question to answer. On the other hand, if you are going to have the website designed first then create your print material, your web development company will have much more flexibility in the design.
2) Do you already have a recognizable brand? If so, it may not be wise to deviate very far with your website. A recognizable brand is, of course, extremely valuable (assuming it is a positive image).
3) “Link” your various marketing materials. This means referencing your website within your print materials and including pdfs or web pages of offline ads. This will help bring your customers full circle. It will make your company look bigger than it may be and gives a sense of continuity.