If you sell products for your small business, you may want to create labels. Custom labels allow you to provide essential information while helping your products stand out. 

Overall, labels are a great way to enhance your brand. But if you’re not sure where to start, we can help.  

This guide covers how to make labels for business, including:

  • Doing your research 
  • Setting on you label format
  • Finding a design tool
  • Adding the right information
  • Designing the visual elements 
  • Choosing the right placement 

Why to make your own business labels

Customised labels allow you to grow your small business brand, increasing your recognition and reputation. It’s a great way to make your business look unique and professional. 

You may need to design labels if you create your business products. But even if that’s not the case, adding a personalised touch to your products and sales packaging lets you stand out from other businesses. 

As a result, people may turn to your products because it’s clear you’ve put time and effort into their appearance

How to make labels for business 

If you’re wondering how to make labels for your business, it’s easier than you might think. Let’s go over the key steps. 

Doing your research 

Before designing your product labels, do some research to see what works and learn design tips and trends

Then, find some businesses within your market to see what labels they use. Looking at examples can help you find ideas for tags while learning how to make yours unique.  

As you learn more about business labels and their trends, develop a realistic budget for yourself. Though you can factor the cost into your product prices, spending too much on labels could deter customers and hurt your business. 

Settling on a label format

What do you need to label for your business? Determine your label format (or a few) based on the products you sell

For example, if you sell freshly squeezed juices, you could label the glass bottles. Or you might design sticker labels for your shop’s bags. 

Finding a design tool

There are plenty of tools that can help you design labels and simplify the process. 

You might want a general design tool if you’d like to print labels yourself. Otherwise, you could use a label-making company to create and order your labels on one platform.  

Here are a few options to consider: 

  • Canva a free design tool great for beginners with plenty of colour, font, and visual options. You can upload this design to a printing platform or print them yourself. 
  • Adobe Illustrator – a professional graphic design tool with extensive features that let you design practically anything, including labels. Great for more experienced designers
  • Vistaprint  – A label making platform that lets you create custom designs from a variety of formats. It’s also convenient because you can order them straight through the platform. 
  • Avery – Another label making platform with pre-designed, customer, and branded options
  • Visme – A free label making tool that’s great for beginners but offers fewer design options. 

Adding the essential information 

The main purpose of a label is to provide information to the customer. So, your label should include the necessary information you want your customer to know. 

A label for a product might include: 

  • Business name
  • Product name
  • Essential product details
  • Slogan  
  • Contact information or address
  • Price
  • Expiration date (if applicable)
  • Ingredients (If applicable)
  • Safety or regulation labels (if applicable)
  • Barcode 
  • A QR code to your website or social media

If you want to make more generic business labels, make sure you include:

  • Business name and logo
  • Address 
  • Contact information 

Designing the visual elements

The visual elements of your label help it stand out and blend with your brand identity. Here are a few aspects of your design to think about: 

  • Colours – the colours you choose for your label design should match your branding and fit well with each other. 
  • Fonts – unique and exciting fonts can be eye-catching, but make sure they’re still readable for the customers. You might also mix a few fonts to separate different blocks of text, but ensure they blend.  
  • Materials – the label could be made from paper, plastic, or less common material. Also, consider the transparency and feel of the material. How do you want customers to experience it? 
  • Illustrations – you might want to include your business logo. On top of this, you could add a colourful design or border. 
  • Whitespace – a busy label with too much information could confuse potential customers. Try adding white space to break up the design and emphasise essential information. 

Choosing the right placement

When a label is well-positioned on a product, it can draw people’s attention, which helps sell items and promote your business. 

Label placement may seem straightforward, but ensure that your labels are forward-facing and front-and-centre

If you put labels on yourself, try to do it in a straight and clean way, avoiding bubbles or wrinkles. The better it looks, the more effective it can be for your business. 

How to label your business with strong branding

Now that you know how to make labels for business, you can create distinct tags that catch your audience’s attention. Just remember to: 

  • Research ideas beforehand 
  • Find the best design tool for your needs
  • Consider the formatting you need
  • Include the important information 
  • Add visual elements that make it unique 
  • Place your labels where it’ll count

These labels help you create a professional business brand that people notice. Want to learn more about business branding? Next, check out our article on what colour means in branding.  

Track your earnings and more with Countingup

As your custom product labels draw in customers, make sure you stay on top of your earnings and overall finances. 

Countingup is the business current account and accounting software in one app. It automates time-consuming bookkeeping admin for thousands of self-employed people across the UK. 
Start your three-month free trial today.

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