Most businesses are now using digital marketing and social media as part of their overall marketing strategy, and for good reason. The internet has created a world of opportunity where smaller, more creative businesses can compete on an equal footing with the big brands. You can be equipped with the right tools and the know-how to take advantage of that opportunity and grow your business.
In today’s world, a business’ marketing material—their website, social media pages, and any other online content—forms a digital identity for the company. The nature of the internet means this material is easily copyable and reusable, which makes it more perfect for marketing purposes. That’s why you’ll often see a business’s logo mirrored, almost identically, on social media platforms and websites.
If you’re launching a new product or service and need a short-term solution for brand recognition, you might consider creating an online logo to represent your business. You can use a variety of tools to make an online logo, and this article will introduce you to two of the most popular ones:
- Canva: The Best Free Logo Maker
- Squidoo: The Ultimate Online Logo Maker
What Is an Online Logo?
Traditionally, a business’ logo has been used to distinguish their brand from others. In modern times, a logo isn’t just a logo; it’s a whole brand identity built around what a business stands for and the values it represents.
These days, a business’ web content—their website, social media pages, and any other online content—forms an integral part of their identity. If you visit a business’ website, for example, you’ll often see their logo displayed in multiple places throughout the site. When a business creates content for the internet—whether that’s social media posts, product pages, or any other form of content—they’re essentially building their brand identity around what they post.
An online logo is simply an extension of that brand identity. When you create an online logo, you’re not simply designing a logo; you’re designing a marketing campaign. When you put a business’ logo on social media, you’re not just sharing a logo with your audience; you’re sharing the story of the brand itself.
Why Use an Online Logo?
There are several benefits to using an online logo for your marketing campaign.
- An online logo isn’t just a logo; it’s a whole brand image built around your business.
- Branded content looks more professional and is more likely to be viewed as valuable by potential customers.
- Having a branded image available for every social media platform means you can always be updating your content whenever you post on any of those platforms.
- An online logo is easier to update and manage than a branded hashtag or image banner, and it requires less effort to maintain.
Of course, there are also disadvantages to using an online logo. You must consider what a business does before choosing this branding method as a whole. If you go with an online logo, you must prepare to constantly update and maintain it. This is because the nature of the internet means a business’ logo can be easily copied and used by other businesses, potentially causing you legal problems. Just make sure you keep a close eye on any copyrighted material you use in your logo design (e.g., designs registered with the copyright office).
How Do I Create an Online Logo?
There are two basic ways to make an online logo: using a free tool or designing it yourself. Let’s take a look at each option.
Using a Free Tool
An easy way to make an online logo is to use a free tool. The two most popular web-based tools for this purpose are Canva and Squidoo. Canva is a completely free tool, while Squidoo offers a basic free plan that gives you limited features. (You can also choose to pay for a premium account on Squidoo for additional features.)
You’ll see both Canva and Squidoo offer a wide variety of stock images and clipart to use in your logo design. These are typically the logos of famous brands, so you can be sure they’re not going to be used by others without your permission. (They also offer unique clipart and fonts that you can use in your design as well.)
When you first land on either Canva or Squidoo, you’ll see a panel of templates designed by the website’s community of designers. These templates are laid out with a drag-and-drop interface, which means you can simply click on the items you want to use in your design and rearrange them as you see fit. Both platforms also offer a variety of layouts for your business’ name, slogan, and logo—the three main elements of an online logo.
While there’s nothing wrong with the templates Canva and Squidoo offer, you might feel more comfortable designing your own logo. If this is the case, you can download a free logo maker from the web that’ll allow you to make a logo in minutes.
Designing Your Own Online Logo
If you feel comfortable designing a logo from scratch, you can use a tool like Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW to lay out your design. (There are also plenty of free and open-source tools you can use, like Inkscape, that allow you to make logos)
Once you’ve laid out your design, you can take a close look at how it works in both 2D and 3D. You can even add textures and adjustments to make it look more realistic. If you use the correct fonts and have a design background, you’ll find designing a logo much easier—and more enjoyable. Don’t forget to take your time during this process and try out a variety of fonts and styles to see which one looks best.
The advantage of designing your own logo is that you get to choose everything about it. Not only will you have full control over what’s included in your design, but you can also adjust everything about it—the font, the color, the style, and even the composition—to better fit your needs. If you’re looking for a simple and affordable solution to generate some initial brand recognition for your new business, you can use this method and create a logo that’ll serve your purpose.