An online business has a greater chance for success if those who buy its products and services recognize its brand. A recognizable brand also makes a business's site more attractive to potential advertisers and partners. On top of that, any brand that can be recognized online could potentially strive to operate on a global market through the internet.

Remember: Recognizable doesn't necessarily mean universally known. This idea simply means that a business's brand will increase its chance to compete successfully for profit and market share. It doesn't take an expensive global advertising campaign to brand your business. Branding can be accomplished through partnerships, direct marketing, guerilla marketing, a robust Web site, and a set of good public relations.

Fundamentally, branding online is pretty similar to branding in the physical context. The palette is different because the medium is reduced to a screen instead of a billboard or a print advertisement, but the opportunity for messaging is the same, if not better.

When a brick-and-mortar company takes its business to the Web, an online brand usually serves as an extension of its standard operations. Think of FedEx, BBC or Nike. For these companies, their online brands reinforce their image, while offering their service/product to a much wider audience. On the other hand, Amazon and Google have developed brands that, for the most part, only exist online.

Logos act as a “visual calling card” for a company's brand. Your company's identity is visually expressed through its logo, which, along your company's name, is one of the main tools used to establishing a brand in the long-run. Think of Coca-Cola, Google, and Adidas. Each one of these companies has a distinctive logo that a large percentage of people globally would recognize.

Your domain name is also an essential part of your branding efforts. While a URL has to be unique and easy to remember, it doesn't necessarily have to relate to what you sell in order to be successful. How does the name "Amazon" relate to books and other product or "Google" to a search engine? These are successful names and brands, but it's farfetched to say they have anything to do with the companies' business.

Despite the recent success of internet advertisement, companies can still get offline brand exposure through TV, radio, print advertisements, and public relations efforts. Remember, a brand constantly reinforces a business's identity, even that of web-based businesses.