Just about every financial advisor, in particular independent RIAs, has two characteristics in common. First, 100% of advisors, who own their brands, also have their own websites.
Second, and this is the big one, almost all of these advisors are seeking productive, cost-effective ways to produce new clients for their firms. We say almost because it has been our experience that about 10% of financial advisors have built lifestyle businesses and are not seeking new clients.
What do the other 90% of independent financial advisors have in common? They
have websites that give their firms access to the Internet. So, they can use digital marketing to build online visibility, produce traffic for their websites, and convert more website visitors into qualified leads.
Since most financial advisors have had websites for decades you might think they have developed productive sales funnels that rely on digital marketing principles to produce results. Unfortunately, that is only true for about 18% of financial advisors and they tend to be larger firms with bigger marketing budgets. For the other 82% of financial advisors, they say they have websites because they would be conspicuous if they did not have them. But, they have few or no expectations that their websites will generate a steady flow of qualified leads for their firms.
What is missing for these firms? Our 18 years of digital marketing experience shows most financial advisor websites suffer from low traffic or low website conversion rates. This article will address the financial advisors’ website conversion rates.
In it, we will describe the top ten reasons some financial advisor websites generate more qualified leads than other financial advisor websites. This is not conjectured on our part.
Our commentary is based on best practices that have produced more than 150,000 leads for financial advisors and the professionals who work for them.
Setting the Stage
First, let’s set the stage with a description of investors who are using the Internet to “find”, “research”, and “contact” financial advisors. That’s right, it is a three-step process and the most important step is research. This means it does not matter how they find financial advisors, who many of them will contact is solely based on their research:
- 82% will visit financial advisor websites
- 64% will Google search financial advisor names
- On average, they will visit eight financial advisor websites
- They will contact four of the financial advisors for interviews
- What they see on the Internet determines who they contact
Create a Strong First Impression
A strong first impression might be simpler than you think. Step one is to make sure visitors know they have come to the right financial advisor websites. For example, they are seeking firms that provide planning and investment services. They may have a preference for a local advisor. Make sure this information is prominently displayed above the fold on your home page.
Intuitive Navigation
Survey after survey shows investors will not search for information on financial advisor websites. They have to be able to find the information they are seeking in a matter of seconds. This puts a lot of importance on intuitive navigation that leads investors to the information they are seeking in a few seconds or less.
Deliver the Right Information the Right Way
Let’s use the credentials of the professionals at the firm to convey this message. The right information is the education, experience, and certifications of the professionals who work there. This is one of the few ways that investors can use to determine the quality of financial firms that do not have audited, GIPS-compliant track records. The right way means financial advisors should not convey information with terms that are not easily understood by visitors to their websites.
Convey Firm Principles
Every financial advisor claims to be a trustworthy source of financial advice. When everyone makes the same claim it ceases to be an important feature of the firm. Many fee-only RIAs attempt to convey this message by describing their adherence to a fiduciary standard - the highest in the financial service industry.
Differentiating Characteristics
An important page on any financial advisor website may be titled: “Why Select Us”. This is the page that lists the characteristics that differentiate one financial advisor firm from another. Even if the firm is relatively small, it may still be an independent boutique that is a financial fiduciary and is compensated with fees like other professionals people depend on for specialized advice and services.
The Quid Pro Quos
It is very important that financial advisor websites provide visitors with multiple reasons and ways to initiate contact. There is always the Contact Us function for investors who want to schedule interviews with financial advisors. A second strategy is a free offer (eBook, webinar) that delivers the information that investors are seeking. This is the quid pro quo. Financial advisors exchange the free offer for the investors’ contact information.
Practice Reasonable Disclosure
There is a pretty widespread amount of disclosure that is practiced on financial advisor websites. You may think investors will not know the difference. That would be wrong. When they visit multiple financial advisor websites they start to look for certain information.
For example, some financial advisors disclose their fee schedules if they believe this information will produce a competitive advantage. Other advisors describe how they are compensated (asset-based fee, subscription fee), but not their fee schedules. And, some advisors ignore the topic altogether.
Optimization for Google
Every financial advisor website should be optimized for Google’s requirements. That is hard to do with template-based websites. Also, loading times are a real hot button for Google. Google would like its users to experience 2.8 seconds or less. The longer Google users wait for information to appear, the lower the financial advisors’ websites will rank in the Google search engine.
Competitive Advantage
At the end of the day, a financial advisor website has to be competitive with the other websites that are being visited by investors. It is important to remember, a typical investor will visit eight websites, but will only initiate contact with four of them. Plus, what they see on websites can create a predisposition to select a particular financial advisor. This is the advantage that advisors should be seeking when their websites are designed and developed for them.
