5 Ways to Sprinkle Some Personality Into Your Website
The more I learn about promoting online, the more I realize that people are hungry for connection with the content creators who they follow. Almost every marketing expert in the online space talks about how crucial it is to infuse your story and your personality into your website.
To be honest, I didn’t think much of this concept when I first heard it. I always thought of websites as professional and "business-only." But once I started to consider why I connect with the people who I follow online, it was always something about their stories that appealed to me. Whether it was someone who was traveling the world and taking risks in life, or someone who started a business and is growing it from the ground up, there’s always a personal story or a unique personality trait that I admire or relate to.
With so much noise online, you can automatically stand out by simply being yourself. This works no matter what industry you’re in, whether it’s web design, like me, or blogging, photography, styling—whatever.
“With so much noise online, you can automatically stand out by simply being yourself.”
Here are 5 ways that you can infuse some personality into your website.
1. Write like yourself and think of your target audience as friends who you’re speaking with in person or over the phone
One of the best tips that I’ve learned about infusing personality into my website is to write like I’m speaking to a friend. As a grammar snob, it took a bit of getting used to for me, but I love how it makes me sound much more approachable and relatable.
Put it into practice: When writing copy on your website, remember not to be too formal and keep the writing simple. Think of it as an everyday conversation with your target audience.
2. Use photos that appeal to you and that speak your brand’s personality
Photos for your website should all be chosen with intention. It’s not enough to just randomly pick out a bunch of stock images. Before you even start selecting photos, think of the type of “personality” that you want your brand to portray. Do you want your brand to be dark and moody? Do you want to be bright and welcoming? What types of people are you targeting and do your photos reflect them?
Put it into practice: Once you decide on the photo style that you need, only photos that fit in with the image that you want to portray.
3. Talk about why you started your business on your website
The most intriguing part of every entrepreneur’s story for me is why they and how they started. So often, we only see the “finished product” and we discover people after they’ve already been doing the work for years. But we don’t know why they were led to do the work and we don’t know how they got there. Knowing the why and how behind someone’s brand automatically makes me connect with them more.
Put it into practice: Include a little bit about why you started in an “about” section on your homepage and elaborate on that story on your about page. People will instantly relate to you when they see you’re just like them.
4. Use signature brand colors and fonts
Having signature colors and fonts automatically fuses personality into your website. This is because all colors and fonts are conveying meanings, subconsciously.
Put it into practice: Be sure to research the meanings of the colors and fonts that you choose so they can correctly express your brand personality and support your message. Then, use only those fonts consistently everywhere on your website.
5. Add videos of you speaking to your website
As I’m sure you know, video is huge now online! Videos are everywhere from YouTube, to Instagram, to Facebook. Using videos of you speaking on your website is a great way to give people a taste of your personality. I do this with the introduction video that I have in my footer. It gives a quick overview of my website and the benefits that I offer to my audience. I also do a little goofy dance at the end to show my personality. It allows people to see what my energy is like and to see that I’d be fun to work with because even though I’m about my business, I still don’t take myself too seriously.
Put it into practice: You can do this by having a video in your about section, or on your homepage, or you could place a video in the footer, like I did.
Once you incorporate these elements into your website, you’ll be much more relatable to your target audience. The key to being remembered online iiiiiis…drumroll….just being YOURSELF! People can relate to authenticity much more than they can relate to "fake-perfect" lives. Just know that who you are is already enough.
