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In an industry that is as saturated as the financial services one, it’s important you optimize your website and create one that will drive traffic and turn leads into quality clients. It is a work in process, however, and not something that can be achieved overnight. If you aren’t getting the results that you want, then find out what might be holding you back.
Twenty Over Ten client, The Wise Investor Group, has a strong homepage that has been optimized to fit on not only a desktop but laptop, tablet and mobile device. With today’s fast-paced financial industry, you need to ensure that your visitors can access your website at any time because you never know when they will be on the go but still looking to reach out to a potential financial advisor.
Twenty Over Ten client, Sequoia Financial has succinct navigation with only 5 main sections making it easy for prospective clients to navigate. Their sections include a “Meet Our Founder” section, “Our Clients”, “What To Expect,” “Resources” and then a “Get In Touch” section. You really can’t get any more straightforward than that, as you can find out what you need to know about the founder, the type of clients that they work with, what you should be expecting, useful resources and then how to get in touch with them. If you are already a client, the “Client Center” is conveniently located in the top right corner.
Twenty Over Ten client, TCM Wealth Advisors has incorporated a timed popup on their website that shows up after being on the site about 30 seconds. Once someone has been on the site for a certain period of time, they may be more likely to further look into the services offered by the company. Many popup services give you the choice to set a timer to pick when a popup will appear on your website so you can determine which site visitors see it based on how much time they have stayed on your website.
Twenty Over Ten client, Severin Investments has an easy to find contact page that includes a short form field, email address, phone and fax number, physical address and a Google map. It is easy to find in the toolbar and makes mention of a FREE consultation if you reach out to them.
Twenty Over Ten client SixPoint Financial Partners not only has beautiful hero images and other photos interspersed throughout their website, but the headshots are professionally done so that prospects can see the team that they will be working with before they even start. Putting a face to a name gives that personal touch and leaves visitors feelings more at ease and ready to work with the team.
Twenty Over Ten client The Wise Investor Group has a strong blog section with relevant topics meant to inspire and educate their visitors. It is updated frequently, which is great as establishing a strong schedule is key. Also, it’s easy for readers to find topics that they want to read about as they are broken in the categories, such as, “Community Involvement,” “Market Insights,” “Recognition,” “Seminars,” and “Team Updates.” Having topics in there, such as community and team updates is a great way to personalize your firm by showing that you all go beyond just financial services.
8 Reasons your Advisor Website Isn’t Working For You
If you aren’t getting the kind of leads that you expect to see, then check out these reasons so that you can fix up your site and turn it into a lead-generation machine.REASON #1: IT IS NOT MOBILE-FRIENDLY
Did you know that 84% of affluent Americans own a smartphone? Out of that number, 89% use it for internet access, 88% for email, and 75% for social networking. With all of that being said, if your website isn’t mobile-friendly, then you are missing out on a very big chunk of communication. Optimizing your website and content for mobile is a must, as people will leave your site for competitors if your site loads too slowly on their phone, the pictures aren’t clear, or the navigation is difficult.
Twenty Over Ten client, The Wise Investor Group, has a strong homepage that has been optimized to fit on not only a desktop but laptop, tablet and mobile device. With today’s fast-paced financial industry, you need to ensure that your visitors can access your website at any time because you never know when they will be on the go but still looking to reach out to a potential financial advisor.
REASON #2: YOUR WEBSITE HAS POOR NAVIGATION
You need to show people where you want them to go. Make sure that you are being clear and concise with your website so that people can quickly find what they need. You only have 7 seconds to grab the attention of your visitors, so you need to ensure that your website is easy to follow. What are some reasons that your website may be difficult to follow?YOUR WEBSITE MAY HAVE TOO MANY OPTIONS
It’s always important to have options and choices, but there is such a thing as too many. We recommend keeping your main navigation to only 5 items, because if you have too many, your users may become distracted and focus too much on things that don’t matter as much. If you have fewer menu items on your site, then your visitors will know what is really important and really pinpoint what they want rather than being distracted by too many distractions.
Twenty Over Ten client, Sequoia Financial has succinct navigation with only 5 main sections making it easy for prospective clients to navigate. Their sections include a “Meet Our Founder” section, “Our Clients”, “What To Expect,” “Resources” and then a “Get In Touch” section. You really can’t get any more straightforward than that, as you can find out what you need to know about the founder, the type of clients that they work with, what you should be expecting, useful resources and then how to get in touch with them. If you are already a client, the “Client Center” is conveniently located in the top right corner.
YOUR LOGO DOESN’T LINK BACK TO YOUR HOMEPAGE
The logo in your header should also be a link back to your homepage, as this is such an important part of your firm’s overall brand. When you think of a company, many times the logo is the first thing that will come to mind, so make sure it links back to your homepage if a visitor is to click on it.YOU HAVE TOO MANY LONG DROP-DOWN MENUS
Studies show that we move our eyes much faster than we move the mouse. Even though it may seem slower, typing in what you are searching for is actually faster than navigating through a longer drop-down menu, as that may not even have what you are actually trying to find. Having these drop-down menus actually encourages visitors to skip the top-level information rather than focusing on the most important information.YOU USE TOO MANY LONG NAMES
Like most things, it’s best to be short and sweet. People are busy, and they aren’t going to spend too much time looking through long names. It is also a lot easier to remember a short and simple name rather than something long and complex.YOU DON’T KEEP ORDER IN MIND
Generally speaking, users are most likely to remember and pay attention to the items at the beginning and end of the list, and this goes the same for your advisor website and navigation. This means that the pages you think will be most important to visitors should appear at the front and end of your navigation. If you put the most important information in the middle, then users are more likely to scan over them and miss some pertinent stuff, so don’t sandwich your content!REASON #3: EXCESSIVE USE OF POP-UPS
Pop-ups are a useful tool and are extremely relevant in the industry, however, if you aren’t utilizing them properly, then they can be a detriment to your website. So, what are some things that you need to be aware of when it comes to your pop-ups?THE TIMING IS OFF
If the timing is off, then it can be annoying to the visitors of your website. So, how can you determine the best time to use your pop-ups? Check out your firm’s Google Analytics and see where people are spending the most amount of time and how long they are on each section. You can base your timing factor on this and best utilize when to incorporate your pop-ups. Other metrics that are helpful to look at to determine your pop-up timing are bounce rates and the average time on page. It’s becoming more important to better understand how your visitors are engaging with different pages and content on your site, so use your Google Analytics data to your advantage and capture more leads.YOU DON’T USE YOUR SPACE EFFICIENTLY
You don’t have that much space on your pop-up, so make sure your message a strong one, short and to the point. Make sure your message is action-oriented, clear and shows the “human” side of your brand. What is the incentive of this pop-up? When you creating it, make sure that visitors can easily understand what you are trying to portray. Additionally, make sure that you do give your visitors the chance to “opt-out.” It just might not be the right time for them to connect, and that’s totally fine!THE DESIGN ISN’T VERY GOOD
Design matters and consistency is key when it comes to pop-ups for your website. The colors in your pop-up need to be consistent with your overall brand and blend with the look and feel of the webpage. It will appear spammy if this doesn’t happen.
Twenty Over Ten client, TCM Wealth Advisors has incorporated a timed popup on their website that shows up after being on the site about 30 seconds. Once someone has been on the site for a certain period of time, they may be more likely to further look into the services offered by the company. Many popup services give you the choice to set a timer to pick when a popup will appear on your website so you can determine which site visitors see it based on how much time they have stayed on your website.
REASON #4: THERE IS NO CONTACT INFORMATION
If there is no contact information or it is not easily found, then how can guests get in touch to find out more about your firm? You obviously don’t want there to be any confusion when it comes to your contact page, so make sure you keep this page simple and easy to find. Obviously, the main goal of your website is to generate leads, so you don’t want your prospects to have a difficult time getting in touch with you. Because of this, it is a good idea to provide your visitors with more than one way to reach you, which can include a short contact form, an email address or a phone number at a minimum. Additionally, if you are trying to kickstart your SEO a bit more, including a google map and your mail address. Your contact page not only gives your visitors an outlet to reach out and provide critical information, but it can also improve your site’s overall SEO when utilized correctly.
Twenty Over Ten client, Severin Investments has an easy to find contact page that includes a short form field, email address, phone and fax number, physical address and a Google map. It is easy to find in the toolbar and makes mention of a FREE consultation if you reach out to them.
REASON #5: YOU USE GENERIC STOCK PHOTOS
Generic stock photos don’t do anything for personalizing your website. When somebody lands on your site, they want to see the faces of the people that they will be working with. It “humanizes” the brand and puts a face with the name, so automatically your leads will feel more comfortable when they see a professional and friendly headshot on your website. Headshots aside, large paragraphs of text is not the easiest to digest, so using strong images to draw in your audience and also subtly guiding them to other parts of the page you may want them to go is a great use of imagery. Also, people only remember 10% of information that they hear after 3 days, however, if a relevant image is paired with that same information, people retained 65% of the information three days later. This shows how important it is so incorporate strong photos on your website that will really make an impact, rather than just using some generic stock photos.
Twenty Over Ten client SixPoint Financial Partners not only has beautiful hero images and other photos interspersed throughout their website, but the headshots are professionally done so that prospects can see the team that they will be working with before they even start. Putting a face to a name gives that personal touch and leaves visitors feelings more at ease and ready to work with the team.
REASON #6: IT USES VIDEOS THAT AUTO-PLAY
Videos are a great form of marketing, however, it’s not a great idea to force your multimedia content on visitors. Let them decide when they want to play your video on their own time. Here are just a few reasons why you should not be using auto-play videos on your site.- It slows down your pages due to the large use of bandwidth.
- The movement of the video makes it harder for visitors to process the information on the site.
- Watching the video becomes the main call-to-action, rather than the actual CTA.
- People are less likely to explore the website if they have to watch a video when landing on the page.
REASON #7: THERE IS NO PERSONALIZATION
You don’t want a generic financial advisor website that’s full of stock photos and jargon. Instead, your copy should pertain to your niche and also share more of your personal side, so that your leads know who they will be working with when they start with your firm. Before working with someone for hopefully the long-term, especially when that person will be handling your finances, you want to get to know them on a more meaningful level. Try to incorporate this on your website by including:- Strong imagery such as headshots and hero images
- Ensure that you are incorporating informative content, such as bios for each team member, along with their photos. Showcase “family events” or volunteer opportunities that your firm’s members engaged in.
- Include social media icons that can quickly and easily lead visitors to these platforms to see another side of your firm.
YOU WILL BE ESTABLISHED AS A THOUGHT-LEADER IN THE INDUSTRY
As we have mentioned before, the financial industry is saturated, so it’s pertinent that you stand out from the competition. If you create a really strong blog section, then you can really stand out. Also, if you create helpful content, you will make other companies and advisors more likely to link back to your material, and your information even further, therefore boosting your rankings.IT’S A COST-EFFECTIVE AND SIMPLE WAY TO MARKET
Content can be created for a very small price, yet it can be used to not only provide information to clients and leads but also to introduce new products, services, an upcoming event, or anything that you want to discuss that his happening at your firm or in the industry. Inbound marketing is the way of the future, and 55% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority. You can drive leads by creating strong content with great headlines, keywords and pertinent information that will help your firm show up in search engines.IT HELPS YOUR SEO RANKINGS
When creating a blog, be sure that you are utilizing several things that search engines will pick up on when they are crawling your website. Some things to keep in mind when writing your blogs to boost your SEO rankings are to:- Optimize your blogs consistently.
- Make use of strong keywords
- Make sure you are linking properly (both internally and externally)
- Use appropriate header tags
YOU CAN SHARE YOUR CONTENT ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS
Social media is a great way to connect with other advisors and like-minded professionals, so sharing your content on your platforms is just another way to “network” and get the content out there in order to drive more traffic back to your website.YOU CAN GROW YOUR EMAIL LISTS
You know how important a strong call-to-action button is and guess what? You can even place them in your blog section! It can entice visitors to take that important next step, by simply including something like: “Want to receive great content with additional industry tips? Sign up for our newsletter.” Once they have signed up to receive more emails, then you can send them links, newsletters and upcoming information, so this is a great way to grow your email lists and start a relationship with your prospects. Blogging helps you to boost SEO, increases your credibility and keeps visitors coming back for more, which is just what your advisor site needs.
Twenty Over Ten client The Wise Investor Group has a strong blog section with relevant topics meant to inspire and educate their visitors. It is updated frequently, which is great as establishing a strong schedule is key. Also, it’s easy for readers to find topics that they want to read about as they are broken in the categories, such as, “Community Involvement,” “Market Insights,” “Recognition,” “Seminars,” and “Team Updates.” Having topics in there, such as community and team updates is a great way to personalize your firm by showing that you all go beyond just financial services.