Whether you are designing your own real estate website or looking to hire a designer to do it for you, having your style guide is vital to the success of your website.
Your style guide helps in effectively showcasing your skills, services, expertise, and professional image to your target client in a presentation package designed to appeal, attract, and reveal your unique identity.
What is a style guide?
A style guide is generally a table or set of guidelines that are unique to your own website, which is also the style template for uniformity and consistency in promoting your brand.
Aside from the design templates, it also specifies the distinct visual and experiential elements that make your brand stand out online to maintain authenticity and create impact upon readers.
The importance of having your design style guide
The objective of having your design style guide is very impactful, since it primarily helps identify your brand characteristics and avoids misrepresenting it online and within your organisation, as well as helps encourage good communication across all channels.
You need to invest time and research to develop your design style guide that would effectively appeal to your target audience and helps you better showcase your brand to readers such as your business goals, being distinct from your online competitors, and everything else that generates targeted impact using your style guide.
What are the elements of a style guide?
Whether you outsource services to for your style guide or have it done in-house, the purpose and objectives are the same.
As a general guide, your real estate agency’s style guide must contain these basic elements;
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Specific guidelines for using and presenting your brand logo and template designs.
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An overview of your brand personality and image.
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Your prescribed writing style for website content.
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Use of primary or prescribed colours that define your brand and professional image.
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Use of your chosen font styles and designs
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Image, video, and photography styles that will be used in your real estate website.
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Web design and styles.
When using your styles guides, also be mindful how this can also be reflected in your marketing collaterals such as printed ads, signboards, business cards, letterheads, newsletters and publications, and digital marketing campaigns for consistency and recognition across multiple media and channels.
Getting started
If you have not yet established your agency’s style guide, chances are it is reflected in your current brand recognition performance online.
So, it is best to get started in having one right away and it all starts with careful research and planning.
You need not be a compelling writer to start developing your style guide because your primary aim is to make a simple checklist of the do’s and don’ts that you expect from everyone you come across- from your internal organisation, audience, and clients.
Also, it is important to note that your style guide must also conform to your target market behaviours and preferences, so it must be regularly monitored and updated, when needed.
Have your style guide available for everyone in your organisation, as well as when onboarding new members of your staff to ensure that everyone is on-page for your real estate business and website image.
Important tip: know your brand and your target audience
For your style guide to be truly effective and impactful, it is critical that you truly understand your brand and audience. This will give you the benefit of connecting effectively with your audience to boost your expertise and authority.
Know their language and understand their behaviours, that way your style guide will create the most impact in establishing that perfect connection with your audience and clients.