The first impression customers have of your company, more often than not, will come from your logo. There are truly a ton of guidelines that various designers and “experts” have come up with over time in regards to the right and wrong way to design your logo but folks still seem to ignore and/or bypass.

Here are a few tips that come highly recommended from the professionals:

1. MAKE SURE IT LOOKS GOOD. This may seem like an obvious rule but, you’d be surprised how many people disregard it. Share your logo idea with trusted friends and if you aren’t a graphic designer, have someone professionally create the logo for you. That being said, if you cant afford a graphic designer there are a few free services that will help you get started like, FreeLogoServices.com, LogoEase.com & LogoMaker.com. There are some fees involved on most “free logo” sites but, they are considerably lower than hiring someone.

2. KEEP IT CLEAN. The image you want to represent your company is up to you but be sure not to sacrifice legibility and cleanliness of the design. If people can’t read your company name, it defeats the purpose of a logo. Don’t be afraid to have an “abstract” design but, there has to be a method to your madness. Your logo should also transfer well from medium to medium like paper, shirts, websites etc.

3. BE INSPIRED. Most designers prefer for you as the client to have some idea of the direction you want the logo design to go. The only problem is, you often don’t know what looks good. There are sources of inspiration everyday in life throughout the day and in this generation, online! Look at other companies and see how simple or complex their ideas are. There are sites that showcase logo design and it wont cost a penny to peek. LogoPond.com and LogoMoose.com are two good ones.

The most important thing to keep in mind is that your logo needs to leave a lasting impression. You’ll notice that some big companies will change their logo every few years, either for good or bad reasons. That’s because a great logo makes branding easy and branding equals success.