Why Optimal Logo Placement Matters [Contributed Blog]

July 14, 2020 - 8 minutes read - Branding, Contributed Posts

In many ways, your logo is the face of your business. A good logo communicates a lot about your niche, target audience, and values at a glance — and it’s how your customers will recognize your brand in places like a supermarket shelf, sponsor list, or online product catalog.

While logo design is crucial, it’s not the only thing that matters. Where you place your logo can have a big influence on how customers react to your brand — or if they even notice who they’re shopping with. Even the best logo can be rendered ineffective by poor placement.

Here is why logo placement is so important — and how small and medium businesses can optimize their logo placement business-wide.

How Logo Placement Changes the Way Customers See Your Brand

Repetition is the foundation of recognition. The more a consumer sees your logo, the more likely they are to associate it with your brand, name, the products you sell, and the content you offer.

If your logo isn’t displayed enough throughout your online and offline presence, people are less likely to associate your brand with the things it creates — including your products, services, online content, and resources. They’re also less likely to remember your brand when making purchasing decisions or recommending products to their friends and family.

When used online, a logo can also be a valuable navigation landmark. A common approach is to place the logo in the top-left of every page, along with the navigation bar and other site-wide design elements.  Most users “know” that clicking on your logo will return them to your site’s homepage because of how common this web design strategy is. 

You may be tempted to break the mold on this one, but it’s better to stick with the tried-and-true. Visitors can be thrown off in more ways than one by unique logo placement. Some individuals may assume that a centered or top-right logo placement may mean the symbol doesn’t link back to the homepage, for example. Users are also less likely to recall your brand if you shift the logo to the page center or top right.

Associating your logo with your brand’s name, products, and services is critical if you want to expand your business’s influence and grow your customer base.

At the same time, it is possible to use your logo too much. You have a limited amount of space on your site. An emblem that’s too large may take up room that you could otherwise use for content, navigation tools, or other design elements. 

The Impact of Logo Placement on Packaging

How you place your logo on product packaging can also have a significant impact.

Research on product packaging, for example, suggests that customers associate logo size and prominence with power and influence. You can see how this plays out in any supermarket aisle. The most well-known brands — like Nestle, Coca-Cola or Kraft — will dedicate a huge amount of packaging real estate to their logos. Lesser-known brands may use less room, but will still feature their logos prominently. 

Store and “generic” brands often try to smuggle in logos, shrinking them down and tucking them into corners or beneath package labeling. This is likely due to the lower consumer opinion of “generic” or store brands.

A more prominent logo will also help loyal customers pick your brand out from the rest of the competition. This is also why adopting a consistent color scheme can improve brand recognition. Many of the best-known brands are recognizable at a glance due to both color choices and logo use.

Also, because repetition is how you build brand awareness, even if a customer doesn’t buy your product, seeing your logo in-store may lead them to convert down the line. 

Optimizing Your Logo Placement

Start by reviewing your current logo use. Consider if it is placed where visitors will expect to see it — or if it’s large enough to be visible on product packaging.

You should also look for new opportunities for logo placement. If you ship physical goods to your customers, for example, you can switch to new packaging styles that allow for digital box printing. With digital printing, you can print your logo directly on every box you send — another opportunity for customers to see your logo.

It’s also a good idea to check that your logo is present in the usual places. Your website should feature the symbol in a prominent location — top-left is a safe bet. Your products should include your logo in one way or another. This placement can be on the packaging of a physical item or the boot screen, launcher, or user interface (UI) of an app or software platform. 

If you are working to improve the visual appeal of your site’s sales funnel, it’s also worth looking for places where your logo may be relevant. For example, you may want to include it on the checkout screen or in emails about your latest deals.

You may want to see how your competitors are handling logo placement as well. Their logos can provide an idea of how others in your vertical are approaching logo use. Their packaging and web design may offer some unique ideas that you can build on — or missteps you can remember to avoid.

The Impact of Strong Logo Placement

Your logo says a lot about your brand — so you want to make sure your customers can see it. Good logo placement is more of an art than a science, but following the basic ideas in this article will ensure you keep your logo where it will be most effective.

Remember that repetition is necessary for brand awareness — if your logo use is too subtle, customers may never associate it with your brand.

Lexie is a UX designer and IoT enthusiast.

She enjoys hiking, her Goldendoodle, and creating new fudge recipes.

Visit her design blog, Design Roast, and connect with her on Twitter @lexieludesigner.

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Tags: Branding, business logo, custom logo, logo, logo placement