Brand guidelines are the written rules for how your business looks and sounds. They cover the logo, colors, fonts, photography and tone of voice, and say what is allowed and what is not. For a local service business the brand shows up on far more than a website: signage, printed materials, invoices, your Google Business Profile and, for some businesses, vehicles and uniforms. Guidelines are what keep all of those looking like the same company.
Briefly explained
- The rulebook for your logo, colors, fonts, photos and voice.
- More than a logo file. It says how the logo is used.
- It covers signage, print and other physical materials too.
- A short guide people use beats a long one nobody opens.
What goes into brand guidelines?
Most guides cover the same core sections.
- Brand foundation: What you do, who you do it for, your values and any tagline.
- Logo: The approved versions, minimum size and spacing, with do’s and don’ts.
- Colors: The palette, with exact codes for print and screen.
- Typefaces: A few fonts, and where each one is used.
- Photos and icons: The style of imagery, ideally your real team at work.
- Voice: How you write, from the service pages to a reply to a review.
What does a local service business add?
The places where your brand actually meets customers. Which ones apply depends on the business: some have vehicles on the road, others a reception area, printed materials or both.
- Signage and print: Building and reception signs, letterhead, quotes, appointment cards and invoices.
- Website, email and online profiles: The website, email signatures, social media profiles, and the profile photo, cover image and exact business name on Google and in directories. For many businesses this is where most customers meet the brand first.
- Vehicles and uniforms, if you have them: The approved layout, logo placement and colors, and where the phone number and website go.
The business name deserves a rule of its own. If the sign says one thing and the listings say another, you also have a NAP consistency problem.
Why does consistency matter?
Because customers trust what they recognize.
A customer who saw your sign or your vehicle, then finds a website in different colors under a slightly different name, has to work out whether it is the same company, and some will not bother. Customers learn to recognize a consistent look, which makes it easier for them to come back or recommend you.
How do you create brand guidelines?
Start from what you already use.
- Collect every logo file, sign and printed form in use today, plus any vehicles or uniforms.
- Decide which version is correct, and retire the rest.
- Write it down in a short document, with the actual files attached.
- Hand it out to the printer or sign maker, any outside supplier and whoever runs your website and ads.
- Update it when something changes, so the guide does not turn into a record of how things used to look.
A common mistake is treating a logo file as the whole job. A logo without rules ends up stretched across the office sign and recolored on the next flyer.
What do the terms mean?
- Brand identity: The visible parts of the brand: logo, colors, type and imagery.
- Color codes: Exact values for each color, so print and screen stay as close as possible.
- Logo lockup: A fixed arrangement of the logo with the name or tagline.
- Tone of voice: How the business sounds in writing and on the phone.
- Wireframe: The page layout plan the website design is built on.
Owner questions
