Brand guidelines for your website: what to include

Key takeaways

Brand guidelines for a website set the rules for how your logo, colours, fonts, images and words are used online, so every page looks and sounds like the same business. For a small business, one or two pages is enough. The aim is consistency, which visitors read as a business that is organised and real.

• One or two pages of rules is enough for most small businesses.
• Cover logo use, colours, fonts, imagery and tone of voice.
• Include web-specific rules: buttons, contrast and image sizes.
• Share them with everyone who edits the site or posts for you.

What are brand guidelines for a website?

Brand guidelines are a written set of rules for how a brand's visual and verbal elements are used. Website brand guidelines apply those rules to digital pages: which logo version goes in the header, which colours are used for text and buttons, which fonts and sizes, what photos look like and how the business writes.

• How website design influences brand credibility
• A design system for a small business website

Why do brand guidelines affect credibility?

Guidelines affect credibility because they prevent drift. Without them, each new page, post or advert uses slightly different colours, logos and tone. Visitors who see your website, social profiles and quotes in quick succession notice the mismatch, and a mismatch makes a business look less established or, at worst, like an imitation.

• Inconsistent branding across your website and channels
• NAP consistency: same name, address and phone everywhere

What should website brand guidelines include?

Keep each section short and practical, with do and do not examples.

• Logo: versions for light and dark backgrounds, minimum size, clear space.
• Colours: exact values, and which pairs pass contrast for text.
• Type: fonts, heading sizes and line length.
• Imagery: real photos preferred, subjects, style and sizes.
• Voice: three words that describe how you write, with examples.
• Web rules: button style, link style and icon style.

• Tone of voice for your website: sound like a business
• Choosing a website colour scheme: mistakes to avoid

How do you make people follow them?

Make the right choice the easy one. Set brand colours and fonts as global styles in your website platform, keep approved logo files in one shared folder and save templates for social posts and documents. Name one person to approve new pages and campaigns until habits settle.

• A design system for a small business website

When are brand guidelines not the priority?

Guidelines are not the priority when the site lacks basics such as proof, contact details or working forms. They also matter less for a business with one person editing a small, stable site. Write a short version anyway, because the first time someone else edits the site, drift begins.

• Website credibility quick wins you can make this week

What does this look like in practice?

A pattern we see: a business has a brand book from a designer, but it covers print only. The website uses a lighter colour for text that fails contrast, and the logo is squeezed into a small header. A one-page web addendum covering contrast-checked colour pairs and header logo size fixes both.

• See client work
• Website Design & Development for UK businesses

Brand guidelines checklist

• Collect approved logo files in one place.
• Record exact colour values and contrast-checked pairs.
• Name two fonts and a heading scale.
• Describe your photo style with examples.
• Write three voice words with examples.
• Set the rules as global styles on your site.

• The website credibility score: rate your site out of 10
• Distinctive brand assets: be recognised at a glance

Next step

Put your website, Google profile and latest quote side by side. Every difference you see is a rule to write down.