When it comes to lead generation for financial advisors, website design is a critical factor. After all, you have to do a lot of things right to be competitive on the Internet. An unfriendly click and you are gone, most likely forever.
Paladin’s experience shows that many advisors are in a unique position regarding website design. They must balance multiple needs to be successful:
- Deliver information
- Build trust
- Develop credibility
- Compete with other websites
- Convert site visitors into leads
There is a delicate balance that has a major impact on the productivity of financial advisor websites.
In this blog article, we'll take a look at the answers to the top 5 design questions that impact financial advisor leads.
- How important is financial advisor marketing online?
- Why is navigation on advisor websites so important?
- What is the right information that must be delivered on advisor websites?
- Why are Calls To Action important features of advisor websites?
- What is the impact of free offers on financial advisor websites?
How important are financial planner brands on their websites?
More successful financial advisory firms understand the impact of branding when investors visit their websites.
Less successful firms may put reduced importance on the marketing of their brands. The hidden cost for this type of advisor is investors visiting and exiting their websites in a matter of seconds. They have traffic, but they do not convert the traffic into leads. A telling indicator in Google Analytics is high bounce rates on home pages and the interior pages of websites.
Financial professionals need websites designed to generate leads that attract new clients and grow their businesses. This means the role of the brand is to create the first impression that increases the amount of time that visitors stay on their websites.
Instead of ten seconds, visitors spend several minutes learning more about the firm and the professionals working there.
Time on Site should be one of the website characteristics that advisors track. There is a correlation between longer visits and higher conversion rates (visitors to leads).
Why is navigation on advisor websites so important?
It's no secret that a lead generation website is an important key to success in the digital marketing age. This makes navigation especially important on any advisor's website. After all, navigating websites is the first step that potential prospects take in getting to know you and your business.
This is the top of the sales funnel and is of critical importance.
If your website navigation is confusing or difficult to use, there is a good chance prospective clients will be turned off, exit the site, and never come back. That's why ensuring your website navigation is intuitive and easy to use is essential. Otherwise, you could be missing out on valuable business opportunities.
Intuitive information means all the key information investors seek is accessible in dropdowns with one click. Anything more is not as user-friendly.
What is the right information that must be delivered by financial advisor websites?
Investors operate at three levels when they use the Internet to find, research, and contact financial advisors.
They have already found you if they are on your website. It is your website’s role to convince them to give up their anonymity and submit their contact information. This is the research phase. The outcome occurs if they initiate contact.
On level one, the question that begs to be answered is did the investor come to the right website. Branding, sub-texting, and the elevator pitch should answer that question in a matter of seconds. For example, financial planners:
- Provide wealth planning and investment services
- Work with pre-retirees and retirees
- Have seven professionals who average 12 years of experience
On level two, does the website deliver all of the information that investors are seeking so it is easy for them to compare different advisors to each other?
On level three, is the website competitive with the other sites that are being visited by the investor? Websites can create competitive advantages for advisors.
The top six pages, after the home page, that are visited by investors include the following:
- About Us (Background of the firm)
- Our Team (Credentials of professionals)
- Who We Serve (Primary types of clients)
- What We Do (Descriptions of key services)
- Why Us (Differentiating characteristics)
- Resource Center (Financial information and tools)
Why are Calls To Action important features of advisor websites?
In today’s digital age, it is more important than ever for advisory firms to have a strong online presence. A well-designed website is essential for building trust with potential clients and generating leads.
One of the most important features of a website is frequent Calls To Action (CTA) that tell visitors what you want them to do next. For example, the CTA is a button or link that encourages visitors to: Schedule an interview, download an eBook, schedule a consultation, or view a white paper.
Every page on a financial advisor’s website should have a CTA and free offer (see below) that could also be linked.
What is the impact of free offers on your website?
According to Google the more free offers on an advisor's website the more leads the website will produce. Another recent study explored this question and found that free offers can have a significant impact on investors’ website behavior. The study also found visitor engagement increased significantly when free offers resided on the websites of financial advisors.
So, if advisors want to boost engagement on their websites, they should consider adding free offers: eBooks, webinars, checklists, or consultations.
Another recent study examined the impact of free offers on financial advisor website visits by investors. Results indicated that advisor websites with free offers had significantly higher conversion rates compared to advisor websites without free offers.
All advisors should consider incorporating multiple free offers into their Internet marketing strategies.
