6 Easy Fixes to Make Your Brand Look More Professional
Professionalism isn’t about being buttoned-up and boring. It’s about looking like you and being consistent throughout your messaging. Sometimes the smallest things are quietly undermining all the effort you’re putting into building your brand.
I once had someone tell me that a website should feel like a hotel concierge getting the visitor to exactly where they need to go. It’s a first impression and it should equally appeal to the clients you want to attract as it does repel the ones that might not be a good fit for the work you do.
6 mistakes and 6 fixes that you can do in minutes.
Your website doesn’t say where you are
How often do you land on a website, dig around looking for a location, and finally figure out they’re three states away? If you’re a local or regional business, put your city somewhere visible — at minimum in the footer. Don’t make people hunt for something that basic.
As long as you’re in the footer:
Update your copyright year. A stale date — especially one from four or five years ago — quietly signals that nobody’s home. If you’ve been in business for more than a few years, show it: list your starting year with a dash and the current year. It’s a tiny credibility flex that takes thirty seconds.
Your fonts and/or colors are fighting each other
Most websites don’t have a font or color problem, they just have too many that are talking all at one time. When your headline is one thing, your body text is another, and your call-to-action button is doing something completely different, your visitor’s brain registers that as disorganized — even if they can’t name why.
Pick two fonts and commit. One for headlines, one for body copy. Make sure they actually complement each other (Google Fonts has pairing suggestions built right in). When in doubt, a serif + sans-serif combo almost always works.
Pick 2-3 colors and balance them with 1-2 neutrals. I always like to have one brighter accent color to add bits of pop throughout.
Your formatting is inconsistent (and probably looks worse on mobile)
Headers that are too big, spacing that breaks on smaller screens, text that’s nearly the same size as your body copy. It makes it look like someone isn’t too sure about what they’re doing. It looks like a second thought rather than a first impression.
Do yourself a favor and pull up your website on your phone right now. Scroll through every page. Note anything that looks off. That list is your to-do list. Just take it one page at a time.
Speaking of which: I need to go check my own site on mobile while I’m writing this. None of us are immune.
Your font sizes are yelling at your visitors
There’s a thing that happens when people want something to feel important — they make it bigger. And then a little bigger. Until suddenly everything is VERY LARGE and nothing actually stands out because it’s all competing for attention at the same volume.
Good type hierarchy isn’t about making things big. It’s about making the right things big and letting everything else breathe. If your H1 is 72px on desktop, ask yourself honestly: does this serve the reader, or is it just off-kilter dramatic?
Your photos are pulling in different directions
You don’t need perfect photos. You need cohesive photos. When your homepage has a crisp, bright image next to a dark moody shot next to a blurry candid from 2019, the visual noise adds up fast.
A few things that make a huge difference: consistent editing (brightness, contrast, color temperature), photos that were taken in a similar style, and using good-quality images. A curated set of fewer, well-matched images beats a big library of inconsistent ones every time.
And please, if you use a phone photo, adjust it before you use it so the verticals are vertical.
Your email address is working against you
If you’re sending client emails from a Gmail or Yahoo address, you’re leaving an easy credibility point on the table. A branded email —name@yourdomain.com — costs almost nothing through Google Workspace, Zoho, or your hosting provider, and it signals that you’re operating a real, established business.
It’s a small thing. But first impressions live in the details.
Rather hand this off entirely?
All of this is absolutely DIY-able — but if you’d rather have a professional take the wheel, I have some people I trust. I’m happy to match you with a couple of personalized recommendations based on your needs. Just send me a note!
And for the photography? I’d love to support you. Let’s chat more about what you might need and the story you want to tell.