Internet users will quickly leave a site if it's not up to their standards, so you only have one chance to make yours unique enough to capture viewers. To make this kind of impression, your website needs to have personality. A distinct personality sets your site apart from the vast number of other sites out there, and thus encourages long-term memory of your brand.

However, it's important that your site's personality extends beyond your homepage; the same creative visual aspects should be carried out on every page to develop brand consistency and to build repute among your users.



What Makes Up A Site's Personality?

When developing a personality for your site, always focus on your brand's message and what your target audience will be expecting from you. You can expand on those expectations by adding creative elements to your pages, as long as they still serve your brand's purpose.

Copy
The kind of language you use on your site says a great deal about your brand's purpose and how you relate to your audience. Whether your copy uses professional or informal language, it should connect with your audience rather than confuse them.

Visual Language
The visual language of a website includes elements like type choices, layout, color, and design style. A crisp layout with ample white space and few graphic elements establishes a much different image than one that is full of colors, illustrations, and casual language.

Check out this error page on Etsy.com. This online marketplace for homemade items caters to its audience through a clever pun and a hand-drawn illustration.


Color and Texture
Color has the power to psychologically and emotionally affect its onlookers. Most people make subconscious associations with colors and have subtle emotional reactions to them. For example, blue is calm and reassuring, and red is urgent and impulsive. The colors on your website can impact users' browsing and buying decisions, as well as build up your brand's image in their minds.

Texture can be created graphically or through photographs on your site, and it also helps construct the image and character of your brand by bringing out reactions and connotations that viewers have with the "tactile" aspects of the site.

The images on 185 Plymouth Street's site reflect the style and class of its brand, and connects with its audience through crisp textures and contrasting colors.


Subtlety is Key
Even the most subtle aspects of your site can affect the way viewers perceive its personality. Consider how each element contributes to the atmosphere, user experience, and users' preconceived connotations to make sure you're creating a unified and memorable brand image.

Pages To Focus On

Many website owners' instinctively put all their creative efforts into the most visited pages. But you'll impress your visitors by going beyond common expectations and sprucing up the personality of the less used and often boring pages.

404 Error Page
If a visitor gets lost in the site or the site itself is malfunctioning, it's important to redirect them to useful content. The normally plain or ugly 404 pages are discouraging, but they present an opportunity for creativity and positive user enforcement. Show your creativity and dedication to your users by expanding the site's personality to this negatively associated page. Look for inspiration in Shutterstock's collection of favorite 404 pages. Not only does the site below reveal its creativity and humor, it also offers a solution by giving navigational options to redirect the user back to its main content.


Contact Page
A contact page is a vital part of a website, as it allows for customer feedback and connection. Show that you care what your visitors have to say by making this ordinary communication page unique. Spokes' contact page makes its information clear while adding artistic flair to the page.

How To Add Personality

If you're struggling to find a starting point in adding character and creativity to your web pages, consider the "Fun Theory". This theory is based on the idea of making something ordinary fun (like turning stairs into a piano). The idea is to keep users engaged by making your site fun and enjoyable to use.

To start, look at the most ordinary aspects of your site (navigation, contact page, home page, etc.), and come up with ways you can add to your user's experience by making it enjoyable to interact with. Doing this immediately sets you apart and above many sites that don't take the time to make improvements.

Google is a good example of showing its personality on its main page. It often features "Google doodles" based on history, news or the time of year, which adds some excitement and interest to an otherwise ordinary search engine page.

Additionally, it adds witty copy based on current events.

Be Memorable and Unobtrusive
Above all else, make your creative content distinctive so your brand will easily be remembered. All of your fun additions should add value to the quality of your site's design and the experience it provides users. They should never interfere with the functions of your site, as that can easily cause frustration for your users and take away from their experience with your brand.

Author Bio
Rob Toledo is a Seattleite who matches the usual stereotypes. Loves coffee, the rain, and prefers dogs to cats. When not rambling about marketing and web design, he can be found in the mountains either climbing or hiking.