Brand website design in Japan – tell your story and lead to your store

What a brand website is for

A brand website exists to give people a reason to choose your product. It works alongside two other kinds of site, and it helps to be clear about which job each one does before you plan any pages.

• Brand website: the origin story, the makers, materials and methods, the moments your product belongs in
• Online store: browsing, cart, checkout and shipping – getting the purchase done smoothly
• Corporate website: company profile, business areas, recruiting and information for partners

For a small brand, a set of brand pages built inside a Shopify or BASE store can do both jobs well in one site. If your focus is presenting the company itself, see corporate website design.

Five things every effective brand site has

Memorable brand sites look good, and they also say things in a deliberate order with deliberate words. Before you talk to any studio, try writing these five down for your own brand.

• A one-line concept: who the brand is for and what it gives them, in a few words
• A story: how it started, the frustration it set out to fix, the people behind it
• Proof: materials, origin, process, testing or certifications that back up your claims
• Photos and video: product shots plus the product in use and the place it is made
• A consistent tone: colors, typefaces and wording that match your packaging, social accounts and store

Photography shapes the first impression more than anything else. If you are planning a shoot, ask for wide and tall versions of key images and compositions that still read when cropped on a phone. It saves a lot of time during the build.

Page structure for a D2C brand: from story to checkout

A D2C site has to be enjoyable to read and make it effortless to buy the moment someone is ready. For brands with a focused product range, this structure works well:

• Home: concept, hero products and a store button on the first screen
• Brand story: origin and values told in short text with strong images
• Products: features, how to use, sizes or ingredients, FAQs and a link to each store page
• Craft and materials: show the process in concrete detail so the price makes sense
• Journal: tips, seasonal ideas and guides that bring visitors in from search and social
• Contact and stockists: wholesale, press and gift inquiries

Place store buttons throughout the product content. If you are still at the starting line, our guide to launching a D2C brand covers what to prepare first, and e-commerce site design covers the store side.

How a brand website project runs and what to prepare

Typically a compact brand site takes one to two months, and two to three months if photography or articles are part of the work. The steps look like this:

• Brand brief: concept, target customers, what sets you apart, words you want to use
• Structure: the pages you need, routes to the store or bookings, the direction for articles
• Design direction: settle colors, type and photo style on the home page first
• Copy and assets: story and product text, photos, video
• Build and connect: store links, GA4 and ad tags, social sharing images
• After launch: see which pages send people to the store and refine them

It helps to have ready: logo files, brand colors, product photos, the wording you use on packaging and social media, and two or three sites with a similar feel. Keep the domain, analytics and ad accounts in your brand's own name so you stay in control however your setup changes later.

Common mistakes with brand websites

A beautiful brand site that sends few people to the store and does little for your ads is a familiar story. Most of the causes can be fixed at the planning stage.

• Heavy animation and huge images make the site slow on phones
• The story page has no store button, so readers leave right there
• The brand site and the store use different logos, colors or tone and feel like two companies
• Ad tags and tracking are missing, so sales from ads cannot be measured
• Nobody owns updates after launch, and news and articles stop

If you plan to advertise, check early that the site can serve as a landing page. A structure that lets you add campaign-specific pages makes testing Meta Ads and Google Ads much easier.

How UNANOBO builds brand websites: your brand world as a free demo

Before you commit to anything, UNANOBO builds a free demo of your brand site from your logo, colors, product photos and what is already on your store and social accounts. You click through it on a computer and a phone, and decide whether to go ahead once it feels like your brand.

The process is simple: free demo, feedback, launch, growth. The founder handles every project personally – from the first demo to SEO, Google Ads, Meta Ads and GA4 after launch – so the understanding of your brand never gets lost in a handover. Everything runs by message, in Japanese or English, and the link to your Shopify or BASE store is planned from the demo stage.