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When developing your brand’s story, one of the key channels through which you can tell that same story is your website and the web design elements you choose to feature on it.

After all, the way you choose to design your website will speak volumes about who you are as a brand and what you stand for. To give you the most basic of examples, if you are a brand who sells children’s toys, you might not want to go for a black-and-white website.

Let’s take a look at some web design elements that will help you humanize your brand, make it more relatable, and help it connect to your customer base.

Use Real Images As A Web Design Element

A lot of brands choose to use stock images on their website. While these images are often very high-quality, and the subjects they showcase match the message the brand in question is trying to convey, they are impersonal and too general.

Also, anyone can purchase the same images, so you will be doing nothing to stand out and actually be more relatable.

By using your own images, real images of real people and objects (your staff, your products, your customers), you will be doing a lot to connect with your leads and future clients better.

Use real images taken by real people.
Source: gilisports

Here is an example from Gili, which features real images of real people using their paddleboards all across their own website, and across all of their social media. This makes it much easier for potential shoppers to imagine themselves on board and relate to the product. Images are just one of the web design elements you need.

Use Real Videos

On a similar note, all the videos you use on your website should also be completely original and custom-made for your brand. It’s not even that complicated to shoot a professional-looking video today, and you can find someone who can edit it like a pro easily online as well.

The videos you choose to create can be anything from an interview to a how-to, to an instructable or a demo – as long as you make it from scratch, and with your brand’s story and vision behind it, it will work much better than a video made by someone else for whatever purpose. For instance, we’ve seen marketing agencies use Google’s own videos to illustrate their points when they could have just as easily filmed one themselves.

Use Real Videos.
Source: wistia.com

A good example of what to do is Wistia, which features a video in the hero section of their homepage – considering the video is their bread and butter, this should not come as a surprise. This kind of video is not complicated to shoot, yet it can make you stand out and help your leads see you as less of a faceless brand and more of a collective of fellow humans. Videos are another great web design elements that are important.

Create A Relevant Blog

Content marketing is a great way to enhance your web presence, but designing great content-heavy pages can be a challenge. However, if you choose to invest a bit of time in making your blog posts branded, personal, and in line with your overall brand message and story, they can turn into a very human channel.

First of all, make sure your blog posts are relevant and relatable to your target audience. If you choose to write about something you are interested in, but they are not, you won’t be doing yourself any favors.

Also make sure the design is in line with the rest of your pages and that you feature plenty of elements that can enhance your writing: charts, tables, screenshots, and so on.

Create A Relevant Blog
Source: transparentlabs.com

Here is a great example of a relevant and relatable blog from Transparent Labs – they cover topics that are definitely of interest to their audience, they speak to them in their language, and they provide real value to their readers, with plenty of examples and well-thought-out facts.

Keep It Personal And Conversational

Unless your brand is really serious, try to stick to a more conversational tone in your copy. Even if you are a tax accountant, you can add some fun and a lighter touch to the words you use on your pages.

If you’re too somber and serious, you might not be coming off as relatable as you could. On the other hand, if you add a joke or a pun here or there, or if you just stick to a casual way of describing things, you’ll be doing a much better job at sounding more human.

You don’t have to make it too casual – as long as you don’t sound like a robot, you should be just fine.

Keep It Personal And Conversational
Source: dollarshaveclub.com

Here is a nice example of the kind of tone we have in mind from the Dollar Shave Club – the FAQ section on their homepage is relaxed and it speaks a language their customers can relate to, which is what you should be aiming for as well.

Create An About Page

While most websites have about pages, not all of them are relatable or even remotely human.

Instead of talking about your brand and company like a weird foreign entity, try to inject plenty of personalities. Show your visitors who you are, what you do, and why you do it, what drives you, and what they can expect from you.

This is also an ideal place to showcase your team – you don’t have to go too in-depth about them, but at least a little blurb about everyone can help put a face to the brand.

This is truly the page where you can be yourself, write from the heart, and show leads who they are communicating and doing business with.

Create an about page as a good web design element.
Source: eachnight.com

A great example is the about page on Each Night, where it gets pretty personal. From the nifty counter at the top of the page to the blurb about each writer and the promise at the very bottom, this page stands out, sounds very human, and is quite relatable.

To Sum It Up

Take all of these recommendations into account when designing your website, and make sure you inject genuine humanity into it. After all, you want your customers to experience who you are, and not just a faceless and humorless page on the internet. Use these web design elements to make your brand more relatable.