Let’s be honest, nowadays your RIA website is fundamental to your livelihood. Your financial advisor marketing plan should include a rich, alluring website. Making a positive first impression is more essential now than it has ever been. Ask yourself this. Is your current website effectively engaging your target audience? You want the best RIA website, and if you answered no to this question, you may want to rethink your content strategy. To help you out with that, here is a list of some of the top performing content that every RIA or financial advisor website should contain. Of course, contracting out your marketing efforts, including your financial advisor website design is a great option for those financial advisors who are too busy working with their clients and simply don’t have the time.
Keep It Simple
Just because your website is the most important connection between you and your client base does not mean you should try and fill the site with too much of a good thing. In fact, doing so may prove detrimental. Why? Because minimalism is undoubtedly the most popular aesthetic trend in regards to today’s web design. Fortunately, this makes your job relatively straightforward.
First of all, establish that your goal is to make it easy for your visitors to navigate and locate the information they need. This will require careful review of each of your primary navigation pages to ensure that all distractions are eliminated, carefully-selected font colors are narrativized (i.e., they tell a story), white space is incorporated strategically, and there is a consistent look and feel from page to page. To achieve this latter goal, it is important to consider where you want your visitors to go and how to put them on the right path.
Fee Schedules: Maintain Transparency In Regards To Pricing And Services Offered
Being upfront with your current clientele will greatly help to boost rapport with prospective clients. To this extent, maintaining a transparent and comprehensive fee schedule lets your prospective clients know that you are trustworthy and also gives them an idea of whether they can afford your services in the first place. So before you omit the pricing from your fee schedules, consider the fact that many potential investors will pass you by on the mere assumption that your services are too expensive. Don’t rely on a pricing pitch, because you may never get the opportunity—let your website speak for itself.
Comprehensive Bio
Keeping in mind that the majority of your content should pertain to your clients’ needs, your “About” page should tell visitors everything they need to know about your company. Are your services right for the prospective client or should they seek out a different type of financial advisor altogether?
More often than not, when a prospective client visits your website, the question in their mind is “Should I work with this organization?” It’s important to craft a bio that sells your brand while simultaneously building trust. Many experts suggest being conscious about the amount of personal and professional details you are sharing, taking particular care to maintain a balance between the two. If writing is not your forte, consider hiring a digital marketing agency, such as Paladin Digital Marketing to help you.
Calendar Link
One of the most overlooked forms of content on most RIA websites is also one of the most crucial: the calendar. Giving your clients a means of booking time with you is something that can only work in your favor in the long run. Anyone who’s lost a prospect as a result of a back-and-forth email thread knows that the best way to obtain a commitment is to put the power in the prospect’s hands.
Be Sure To Have A BrokerCheck or SEC Review Link
BrokerCheck is a valuable (and free) tool that lets prospective clients research the background and overall experience of brokers, and broker-dealers. Investors love it because it gives them everything they need to make an informed choice about a prospective broker or brokerage firm. Specifically, it will tell them whether the firm is registered, what they are able to sell, and whether or not they are able to offer investment advice. They can also see the broker’s employment history, licensing information, and any arbitrations or complaints. In most cases, RIA’s will not have a FINRA report, but rather are registered with the SEC. Providing a link to the SEC database for Investment Advisers will be a helpful tool for investors wanting to get more information about you and your RIA.
Always Adhere To SEO Best Practices
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a crucial tool for any modern business. Essentially, it tells a search engine how “popular” a particular web page is, which the engine then uses to determine the page’s ranking in search results. As with anything, there are beneficial and detrimental methods of implementing SEO. These are commonly known as “SEO best practices” and pertain to things like metadata, keyword use, and original content.
If the depths of SEO seem too intimidating or time consuming, know that there are a few digital marketing firms with a formidable grasp on best practices who are ready and willing to lend a hand such as Paladin Digital Marketing. With over 10 years of experience, let the experts at Paladin Digital Marketing help you with your firm’s SEO to better market yourself online.
Investor Risk Management
If there’s one thing potential investors are definitely wondering it’s how your firm will manage their risk. To this point, be sure to include some language or even a dedicated page that speaks to these concerns while still being SEC compliant. In this regard, it is important to be upfront and transparent with your investment strategy so prospects know exactly what they are getting into. Minimizing the levels of uncertainty in a fundamentally uncertain field will ensure clients will continue to use and recommend your services.
