These 8 Branding Mistakes Scream ‘Amateur’
Small design flaws with big consequences for your business’s reputation
Amateur branding choices can silently undermine business credibility, causing potential customers to question a company’s professionalism before they’ve even engaged with its products or services. These seemingly minor design decisions often communicate unintended messages about a business’s attention to detail and overall quality.
“I frequently encounter business owners who don’t realise how quickly customers form judgments based on visual cues,” explains Jacob Kettner, Founder of First Rank, a top-ranked SEO and digital marketing company focused on helping businesses generate leads through their websites. “Even with an excellent product or service, poor branding choices can make customers question your professionalism.”
The psychology behind branding is fascinating. When visual elements are inconsistent or poorly executed, it creates cognitive friction for customers – something feels ‘off’ even if they can’t immediately identify what it is. This subconscious disconnect often leads to distrust. The brain craves visual consistency and coherence, which is why even small branding mistakes can significantly impact how potential customers perceive your overall competence.
Whether you’re a startup or an established company, investing in quality branding is about more than just aesthetics, it directly influences customer perception, purchasing decisions, and ultimately your bottom line. The good news is that fixing these issues is often simpler and less expensive than a lot of business owners realise.
Below, Kettner shares the most common branding mistakes with YCB, that inadvertently signal low quality to potential customers, along with how to fix them.
1. Inconsistent Visual Identity
When your logo appears in different colours across platforms, or your website uses fonts that don’t appear in your marketing materials, it creates a disjointed impression. This inconsistency signals a lack of attention to detail and can make even established businesses appear unprofessional.
“Visual consistency builds trust,” says Kettner. “When elements like colours, fonts, and spacing vary across your marketing materials, it creates cognitive dissonance for customers – they may not identify exactly what’s wrong, but something feels off.”
The fix: Create a simple brand style guide that documents your exact colour codes, typography, logo usage rules, and image styles. Share this document with everyone who creates content for your business, including freelancers and agencies.
2. Poor Typography Choices
Using too many fonts, selecting overused typefaces like Comic Sans or Papyrus, or choosing fonts that clash with your brand personality immediately diminishes your brand’s perceived value.
The fix: Limit your brand to 2-3 complementary fonts – typically one for headlines, one for body text, and perhaps an accent font for special elements. Invest in quality typography that aligns with your brand positioning.
3. Low-Quality Photography
Poorly lit, blurry, or obviously stock photos can make even exceptional products or services look mediocre. In an increasingly visual digital landscape, image quality directly influences how customers perceive your business.
“People process images faster than text,” Kettner explains. “Low-quality photos send a signal that you cut corners in other areas of your business too.”
The fix: Budget for professional photography for key brand assets. If you must use stock photos, select premium images that don’t look generic. For product photography, ensure consistent lighting and backgrounds.
4. Cluttered Design Elements
Overcrowded websites, business cards packed with too much information, or marketing materials without sufficient white space can overwhelm potential customers and project an image of disorganisation.
The fix: Embrace white space in all design elements. Remove unnecessary information from marketing materials and focus on what matters most. When in doubt, simplify.
5. Misaligned Brand Voice
When the tone of your written content shifts dramatically between formal and casual, or between different marketing channels, it creates confusion about who your brand really is.
The fix: Develop clear brand voice guidelines that define how your business communicates. Is your tone conversational or authoritative? Playful or serious? Apply this consistently across all customer touchpoints.
6. DIY Logo Design (When You’re Not a Designer)
Many new businesses try to save money with homemade logos created in basic software programs. These logos often feature generic clip art, inappropriate fonts, or complex designs that don’t scale well across applications.
“Your logo is the face of your brand,” notes Kettner. “A poorly designed logo signals that you’re either new, temporary, or not invested in quality.”
The fix: View your logo as an investment rather than an expense. Work with a professional designer who understands both aesthetics and the technical requirements of modern logos across digital and print applications.
7. Inconsistent Social Media Presence
Abandoned social platforms, mismatched profile images across channels, or dramatic differences in posting style between platforms creates an impression of disorganisation.
The fix: Maintain consistent profile images, cover photos, and bios across all active platforms. If you can’t maintain a platform properly, it’s better to deactivate it than leave it outdated.
8. Neglected Website Experience
Broken links, outdated copyright years, non-responsive design, and slow loading times all signal to potential customers that your business may not be attentive to details or current with industry standards.
“Your website is often the first substantial interaction customers have with your brand,” Kettner says. “Technical issues create immediate credibility problems that are difficult to overcome.”
The fix: Conduct regular website audits to identify and fix broken links, outdated information, and performance issues. Ensure your site looks professional on all devices, particularly mobile.