Every brand has a personality just like humans.
And this personality helps them to stand out from their competitors.
For this, you need to think out of the box to meet the expectations of visitors and go beyond.
Apart from functionality, website personality significantly influences users’ involvement and attitude towards the brand.
Without it, you can't provide users with what they want: trust and connectivity.
Given this, websites in the digital age are designed to tell your story and communicate your vision through visuals, elements, colours, tone, and overall web personality.
Thus, it is clear that a strong personality can make your website cut through the noise and build an emotional connection, resulting in better engagement and return.
In this blog, we will explore everything you need to know about why personality matters on your website, and how to add personality for large companies and non-personal brands.
The Problem: Why So Many Big Sites Feel Interchangeable
Have you ever noticed why the websites of big brands and companies feel, sound, and even look the same?
From safe wording to clean layouts, their major focus is centered around professionalism, and this approach is acceptable when considering risk probability.
However, it loses the factor of website personality.
Corporate Neutral = Bland
Naturally, when websites are built by following the same checklist, the result is not your personal website but a corporate one.
It is a term used to define a bland and generic style that the majority of big companies adopt. From standard copies to limited colors, the lack of individuality results in the loss of uniqueness.
It may look professional and polished, but it fails to convey your brand personality on the website, which is much needed.
The Real Cost
Corporate neutral isn't just bad and boring, but has notable consequences on performance. A strong and clear website tone of voice is essential for conversions.
When visitors are unable to build an emotional connection, they definitely leave your website.
In search of a relatable and genuine website, the bland website often faces higher churn follows.
The lack of personality for large brands can lead to weak branding over time, making it really hard to compete.
Why Personality Works: The Psychology in Plain Terms
Creative choice isn't what we can call a strong website personality.
It is something rooted in psychology. People are more attracted to human traits, love to be involved in uniqueness, and trust what's consistent.
1. Humans Prefer Humans: Social Proof & Anthropomorphism
Finding human cues is naturally the first thing users do while browsing a corporate or even product-based website.
Brand personality on the website through visuals, tone, and even testimonials can make visitors get what they are actually looking for: trust and relatability.
With the anthropomorphic effect, in which human traits and emotions are woven into websites, there is a boost in trust and confidence.
2. Attention & Memory: Distinct Voices Are Remembered
Website tone of voice holds great significance when connected to attention and memory.
Generic tone can easily get lost and forgettable, but a unique and distinct one hits and sticks differently.
This difference can make you stand out from the crowd and keep you remembered by visitors. It is particularly important for large brands as they need to stay distinctive to stay renowned.
3. Trust & Predictability: Consistent Personality Reduces Friction
Trust can only be built online through clarity, consistency, and relatability. Clear and consistent website personality reduces the friction and smoothens the trust.
It reassures visitors about what to expect, facilitating them in making decisions. It can be incorporated in several ways, from design picks to messaging tone.
Business Benefits of Having a Website Personality for Large & Non-Personal Brands
It is a common misconception that website personality is helpful in creating a good visual impact and nothing more.
However, the truth is that a strong website personality contributes to considerable business value.
For large brands and even non-personal brands, website personality can shift an ordinary website into a well-grown one. It boosts confidence and eventually enhances conversations.
Here are some more benefits of having a website personality:
1. Better Conversions (Landing Page Clarity + CTA Alignment)
A clear brand personality on the website clearly makes your visitors instantly understand your message and encourages them to take the next steps.
The precise website tone of voice makes calls-to-action feel more genuine and convincing. It lowers the bounce rates and improves the conversion rates.
2. Stronger Brand Differentiation in Crowded Categories
In the saturated market with almost identical-looking websites, the key to standing out is to have a distinct website personality.
It helps to stay memorable rather than interchangeable. Unique brand personality builds brand recall and supports better positioning.
3. Improved Customer Retention and Advocacy
A consistent website personality wins the trust and loyalty of visitors, encouraging them to return. Satisfied customers often become promoters.
As a result, favorable experiences can help expand your audience and build a better emotional connection.
4. Internal Benefit: Faster Content Creation
Clear and concise personality guidelines simplify internal operations. A well-defined style and branding help content creators by lessening the workload.
Moreover, it is also beneficial in developing a well-aligned and harmonious website personality.
How to Add Personality to a “Non-Personal” Brand
Even if your branding isn't currently associated with emotion and relatability, still pursue it now.
The first thing is to define a clear and concise tone that reflects your brand.
Remember, it communicates and presents your brand, so make sure to stay consistent through all the channels.
Here are some useful tips to add personality to a non-personal brand voice.
1. Start with Voice Guidelines
Get started by defining the website's tone of voice. It can be formal or friendly. Clear guidelines are essential for a strong foundation and branding.
2. Headlines & Microcopy
Headlines and CTAs deliver their own essence. Even a little bit of text delivers personality. Ensure you use distinct wording to add flavors and crispness that make your website stand out.
However, it is important to keep the content relatable.
3. Visual Personality Without Being Informal
Visuals are important; they don't talk, but they communicate. Use warm design picks to convey emotional connection, trust, and professionalism.
4. UX & Copy Patterns
For smoother interaction and better website personality, consistent navigation and layout are always recommended.
Also, it helps users to get what they want immediately and reduces the friction for conversion.
5. Governance
Last but not least, always set definite rules and regulations for maintaining well-aligned and consistent branding. It should be followed by each team for all platforms.
Measure KPIs of Your Website
Website personality is valuable, particularly if it brings substantial conversions, and here's when the need to check on KPIs becomes essential.
Here’s how to do this effectively:
- Investigate if concise CTAs and a unique website tone of voice are leading to more conversions.
- Customer retention is another important metric to check whether a strong website personality makes visitors return.
- Engagement metrics, including time on page, pages per session, and scroll depth, can help you check if visitors find your content relevant and engaging.
- Check the reviews and mentions to investigate if your brand tone is loud enough to be heard and remembered.
Regularly measuring these KPIs not only ensures emotional connectivity but also offers significant growth and conversion.
Conclusion
To sum up, website personality isn’t a nice-to-have, but rather a must-have.
So, if you want to go beyond and stand out in today's competitive world, your website needs to be hit and recognized differently.
Whether you're just starting or a global brand, your website's personality is what makes the difference. It brings emotional connectivity, strengthens brand positioning, and humanizes the content.
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