The wayfinding, promotional, and architectural signage that sit outside of your Seattle business are an integral part of not only your brand—but driving new clients or customers through your front door. 

They help people find your exact location and allow pedestrians and drivers in traffic to discover your business. While Google or Apple Maps can get someone to the parking lot—it’s a lot more challenging finding a company on foot using either one of these two services.

Therefore, it’s important to conduct a quarterly outdoor signage review. It will not only allow you to catch things that you may miss on a day-to-day basis—such as broken lighting or a damaged sign—but it will also enable you to ensure the details the signage conveys are accurate and up to date.

Read on to learn more about how to conduct an outdoor signage audit and the value you’ll get from performing one regularly.

How to Perform an Outdoor Signage Audit

Performing a self-audit is as simple as grabbing a pencil and paper (or your tablet) and walking outside your business. Taking notes will help you remember what you find and serve as a reminder to get those issues fixed as soon as possible. Walk around your parking lot and ask yourself the following questions:

• Are my signs damaged or dirty?
• Does the sign lighting still work?
• Are there any overgrown bushes that are obfuscating my signs?
• Is the info on my signage accurate and up to date?
• Do I need to perform maintenance on my signs?

If there is a massive outdoor digital architectural sign that promotes your business (even if you don’t own or maintain it), stand in front of it until your business is displayed on the LED screen.

You’d be amazed to learn that the property managers or landlords are often entirely unaware their outdoor signage is broken until a tenant calls up to complain. 

Once you see the digital advertisement for your business, ask yourself if the info and logo are up to date. 

Are the colors representative of your brand—or is the LED display washed out from years of UV sun rays? If the outdoor digital sign is looking a bit long in the tooth, consider talking to nearby business owners and requesting as a group that the landlord or property management company fix the issues.

Sometimes, these large digital outdoor signs will advertise Christmas and other messaging long after the holidays have ended. This paints your brand in a negative light—as the people who see it have no clue that someone else controls it.

Finally, walk back out to the parking lot and attempt to “find” your business using only the wayfinding signage that’s nearby. Ask yourself if the directional information is clear and in ample abundance. Also, consider that some people in life have vision problems—does the signage have enough contrast to ensure people with disabilities can see it correctly?

Bring an Employee Along

The thing about owning a business is that you see it every. single. day. Over time, you might not notice things that other people can see clear as day. As such, consider taking an employee or two with you as you perform your outdoor signage audit.

There’s an excellent chance that they’ll see something that you might have missed—or they might have a valuable suggestion that could help people find your business easier. 

Be sure to safely cross the street and attempt to view your signage from the other side of the block. Put yourself in the shoes of a driver sitting in traffic—can they see your outdoor signage from the driver’s seat?

Outdoor Signage Reflects Upon Your Brand

When someone drives by your business and sees yellowed, broken, or misinformation on your outdoor signage—it’s a huge reflection upon your brand. 

For example, let’s pretend that you own a delicatessen in Seattle. Over the years, your outdoor sign has become completely yellowed from the sun and has a few noticeable cracks. When a new customer walks by and sees that sign, they can’t help but subconsciously associate the quality of your food with your deteriorated outdoor signage.

In addition to reflecting upon your brand, your outdoor signage can also institute trust in new potential customers—as it shows that you pay close attention to all aspects of your business and will most likely provide that person with the same high-quality customer experience.

Outdoor Sign Company in Seattle

Outdoor signage is one of the first things people see when they pull up to your business. Let the signage experts at McNamara Signs help you make a great first impression. We have been helping Seattle businesses design and create the perfect outdoor signs for well over 20 years. 

To learn more about how McNamara Signs can produce and design your next project, give us a call at (206) 284-0809 or send us an email.