Tell us a little about you, your business and what you do.

Hi! I’m Cahlia (car-lee-ah) and I run a branding and website studio called South Co Studio, located in Geelong, Australia. In basic terms, I get to make pretty logos and websites for a living, for some pretty incredible businesses and it’s an absolute dream!

When I’m not designing new things, you’ll often find me with an almond croissant, an almond caramel iced latte and my adorable calico cat Missy on my lap bingeing a good show on Netflix (most likely a medical drama, a true crime doco or some cheesey rom com that I will absolutely deny watching if asked).

Finding a designer can sometimes be a little bit of an overwhelming task, can you share with us your top tips to finding the right fit?

Finding a designer (or anyone to help with your business) can be SO overwhelming and so daunting. My top 3 tips for finding a designer who is the right fit for you are:

1. Go off recommendations

 If people have a good experience with a designer (or a bad one) they’ll either recommend you to them or not. If you have fellow business owner peers around you, ask them who they worked with and what their experience was. Not only does this give you really good insight into the experience of working with that designer, but it means you’re getting solid advice from someone you trust and you’re not having to make this judgment/decision on your own.

2. Make sure you LOVE their work

 A mistake I see often is business owners just going with a designer because they were the cheapest, or closest in location, or just because they offered what they needed done. But something to remember is that every designer has a different style to their work and they generally don’t design outside of this. So if you don’t really love anything they’ve designed, then chances are you won’t love what they design for you. I know it can be easy to compromise on this when money is involved, but in the long run you’re going to end up spending more to get it right later on. So before signing on with a designer make sure you love their style and there are previous projects they’ve designed that you LOVE.

3. Jump on a call with them

 Signing on to work with a designer and not having a call with them is like going on a blind date. There is a 50/50 chance it’s going to be great, but if it’s not you’re stuck there and can’t leave. Jumping on a quick 20-30 minute discovery call allows you to get a feel for the designer and make sure you hit it off and vibe well. It’s also a great way for you to ask any questions and to make sure you feel comfortable and confident going into this investment. 

Sometimes we can’t afford a designer and need to get a bit creative with DIY - what do you think the pros and cons are of using template websites? And which platforms would you recommend for those just starting out?

Investing in your brand and website can become pricey, and in those early days you often want to keep as much money in your business as possible and investing can feel near impossible. Trust me, I’ve been there! And whilst there isn’t anything quite like a custom-made brand and website for your business, templates can absolutely be useful in the beginning. 

Pros:

• Templates are generally much cheaper than custom branding & websites
• They are more convenient because you can simply find the one you want and “add to cart”
• Templates have a much quicker turnaround time, which means you’ll be ready to launch in no time
• It may feel less overwhelming to get started as you’re not overwhelmed with endless designers to choose from
• They’re great to get you started and allow you to launch your business with ease and not much upfront costs.

Cons

• Templates are not unique, which means lots of your competitors/fellow small business owners may have the exact same website/branding template as you
• If you still have to implement the template and edit things (unlike with a done-for-you service) it can get overwhelming and means you can’t fully focus on your business
• Unfortunately templates are only going to last your business so long until you’ll need to invest in custom made branding & websites, which means the template won’t serve you in the long run
• It hasn’t been made for YOUR brand, meaning it’s not strategically created to attract your audience or stand apart from your competitors 
• They can lead to inconsistency within your brand and never feeling like you have a consistent brand identity

All in all there are multiple pros and cons for each, but more importantly it’s about you weighing up what feels important to you at the moment. Is it to save as much money as you can? Then a template identity and website is the way to go! Or do you feel like you’d rather spend a bit of money to get it right from the start and therefore have more time to work on what you love? Then a custom brand and web is calling your name!

Platforms I’d recommend for starting out in the website world is absolutely Squarespace. It is SUPER user friendly and operates on a drag and drop system, which means you’ll very easily be able to edit and add to your website without having to know anything about code. It’s also quite affordable and widely used amongst small businesses. The bonus is, if down the track you want to invest in a designer/developer — you won’t struggle to find a designer to help you, as most of us specialise in Squarespace.

And on that note, what are the biggest mistakes people make when building their own sites?

A lack of branding is the biggest mistake I see people make when building their own website. And whilst I understand that sometimes branding is out of peoples budgets I do think there are some really important things to consider when you’re creating your own website (even if you don’t really have branding).

Colour Palette - Your colours play a MASSIVE role in attracting your audience and help them feel a certain way about your brand. Oftentimes I’ll see WAY too many colours, or no colours at all. The sweet spot for this is probably 3-5 main colours. I’d make sure you have a nice neutral colour (not white) that can act as your light colour, and then I’d add a few complimentary colours to the palette. Make sure your colours work well together and don’t clash/aren’t hard to read or view.

Fonts - Fonts are another part of your brand that is really important when it comes to your website. Make sure you’re not using too many fonts and that the ones you are using are easy to read. I know it can be fun to use a really cool script font, but chances are people can’t read it. And making sure your copy is legible is more important than looking pretty. So stick to 2-3 simple, clean fonts.

Imagery - Oftentimes when we’re first starting out we don’t have any branding photos, so this is something I see time and time again. Either zero photos all together, or random stock photos! Whilst I highly recommend investing in photography for you and your brand, if that’s not feasible at the moment then I suggest sourcing some beautiful stock imagery that feels on brand. I’d avoid websites like shutterstock as these sometimes feel really clinical and instead look at websites like unsplash and pexels - these are FREE stock imagery with thousands of different styles and vibes!

Negative space - Last but certainly not least is negative space. Too often I see SO much information on websites that there is no room to breathe or digest the information you’re reading. Negative space is simply adding extra space around your text and /or images to make everything feel a lot more calm rather than all squished together and chaotic. A lack of negative space can certainly lead to less people staying on your website. If you’re on Squarespace the “spacer” element is going to be your best friend for adding some padding around your sections.

Can you share your top website design tips for increasing conversion?

When someone lands on your website you have LESS than 15 seconds to convert them to stay on your website. And in most cases, that number is a lot lower. Let’s imagine this in real life…You walk up to someone you’ve just met, you start introducing yourself and in the middle of the sentence they walk away because they’ve heard enough and aren’t interested. Brutal, right? Well it’s exactly the same with our websites and it’s important we remember this when designing our website. The biggest mistake I see is people not prioritizing that very first section of the home page. Oftentimes people will put a pretty picture here, or something “designy” — when in reality you need your strongest message, your strongest image and your strongest call to action (CTA) right here. This is the one thing people will see and determine whether or not they want to keep scrolling so it’s really crucial that it grabs peoples attention. 

If you’re designing your own website, I’d put a pretty picture on one side and on the other I’d put a solid heading (that captivates and draws them in) and a couple of sentences about WHAT you do and WHO you do it for. And directly underneath this paragraph, put a button that is clearly labelled like “view our services” or “contact us” and link it to where you want them to go. Remember YOU want to guide them to what YOU want them to view (portfolio, shop, contact, services etc) - it’s not up to them to figure out where to go, it’s up to you to show them where to go, so make sure you’re intentional about your CTA.

And lastly, what makes you so passionate about good design? Just why do you love it so much?

One of my favourite quotes is “If you think good design is expensive, you should see the cost of bad design” and it’s SO true. Bad design can cost us customers/clients, conversions, time, money, brand recognition but most importantly, sometimes bad design can cost us the lifestyle we dream of living.

I’m SO passionate about helping small businesses thrive in their business and run the successful and sustainable brand of their dreams — one that allows them to live the life they have always dreamed of, with a work/life balance that doesn’t keep them chained to their desk 24/7.

And I believe GOOD design is one of the ways to achieve this.

Good design allows business owners to work on what they’re good at and let the design do the rest. It helps them create a memorable and recognisable brand. It helps them convert their audience. And more importantly — it can create a platform for a successful brand and a sustainable lifestyle.

That’s why I do what I do everyday — and gosh, it’s a dream!