There are so many ways to have a great business sign and so many options for style and placement. Unfortunately, there are just as many ways something can go wrong with your sign during design, manufacturing, installation, and then even throughout your sign’s life. All of these problems can interfere with your customers’ ability to receive your message. Here are 5 of the most common mistakes business owners make with their signs. Make sure you avoid them all!
1. Making your sign hard to read
All signs have one purpose: to be seen! If your sign is poorly designed and difficult to read, all of those eyes that pass by will gloss over it, and your potential customers will miss your message completely. Some common readability problems include:
- Using hard to read fonts and colors: Contrast is central to your sign’s readability. Dark text stands out on light backgrounds, and the reverse is also true. It’s not just about the colors: if your fonts are too narrow, too bold, too loopy, or otherwise unreadable, then they won’t get your message out there.
- Digital marquees that scroll too fast (or too slow): If your message is scrolling by at the speed of light, your audience will become overwhelmed quickly or won’t be able to read it all, causing them to check out before you’ve had a chance to reach them. The same is true if your message is moving at a snail’s pace. Passers won’t be able to read the entire message and will be left wondering what you were trying to say.
- Putting too much text on your sign: You only have a few seconds to hold someone’s attention. It’s understandable that you want to give your audience as much information as possible, but it’s important to know how much is too much information.
2. Not staying in line with your branding
Customers’ trust in your business is like air: it’s not really noticeable until it’s gone. Few things are as jarring to customers as inconsistent branding. Keeping a consistent brand image helps your audience and your customers associate your logo with your business. When clients can easily recognize your brand, they feel more loyal toward your business. Some mistakes include:
- Using inconsistent or inappropriate fonts: Imagine driving up to a business that has an attractive, chic monument sign only to see their other signage using fonts that come across as childish: think of the infamous Comic Sans, known as a joke to designers because it’s a font intended for comics and not business signs. Such inconsistency confuses customers and distracts them from your message. Keep your customers confident and avoid distracting them from your mission by keeping an appropriate, consistent appearance across all signage your business uses.
- A sign design that does not represent your business: A green sign with a heavy, bold font may not be the best design for a cleanup service. The color green combined with old-fashioned typefaces reminds people of money and may make them think that your service is a financial consulting firm. Staying on message and keeping people’s first impressions in mind can help attract customers and avert the need for a redesign later.
3. Having glaring grammatical or spelling errors
A designer or other trustworthy person will probably be looking over your sign and offering input on font, design, or scrolling speed. However, giving this person incorrect information and not triple-checking the final design before having your sign installed could lead to mistakes or even spelling or grammar errors appearing on your sign. This is not a good look for your business and could create a poor reputation in your community.
4. Not using a trusted sign manufacturer and/or installer
Even signs that are designed well are susceptible to manufacturing defects or poor installation if they are not handled by experts in the industry. Poorly manufactured and installed channel letters may not be properly sealed from rainwater, damaging the lighting components inside. Improperly fabricated and installed signs are susceptible to many hazards, reducing their effectiveness, decreasing their longevity, and requiring repairs. In the meantime, while your sign has burnt out or fallen down, you’re missing out on a chance to be seen!
5. Not maintaining your sign’s condition
Maybe your sign looks great when you first have it installed, but what about later along the road? Will it attract customers for years to come? Make sure you’re maintaining your sign properly and updating it when needed.
- Replace your sign when necessary: All signs need attention to keep them from becoming faded, dirty, or otherwise too shabby to represent your business well. Temporary signs made from materials like acrylic are particularly susceptible to the outdoor elements, so replacing them often will keep your business’ image clean and crisp.
- Keep the lights on: Letting lighted signs burn out prevents your audience from receiving your message, and missing letters give your building a haphazard, disorganized appearance that could keep potential customers away. Choosing LED signs instead of neon signs can avert this problem. LED signs require little maintenance, whereas neon signs are much more demanding.
With help from a trusted sign company, you won’t have to make these mistakes
An experienced sign company knows how to avoid these common mistakes before they happen. It’s best if your sign company can advise you at every step of your sign’s development. One-stop sign shops can handle each part of the process. If you can trust them to do a good job with all aspects of the project, you’ll have more time to spend on your business, which will hopefully start getting a lot of customers once your new sign is up!.
