When investors visit financial advisor websites, they are typically seeking information that helps them determine if they should contact the advisor for more information or schedule an initial interview. In general, there are three types of information that investors are seeking:
- About the firm
- About a professional who works for the firm
- About a financial topic
What they see on the website helps them make an all-important decision. Do they give up their anonymity and submit their contact information, or do they exit the site and never come back?
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It’s reasonable to assume investors will be visiting multiple financial advisor websites. They will contact the ones that match their expectations.
Transparency is also an important feature of financial advisor websites. Withholding information does not work when investors have had bad experiences with previous financial advisors, and they know what to look for. This is even more applicable when comparing financial advisors to each other.
In our blog, we’ll discuss information that investors are looking for when seeking information on your financial advisor website.
Professional Financial Advisor Website
Do you have a professional-looking advisor website that delivers the information that investors are seeking? Your site should include: Names, logos, graphics, content, free offers, and CTAs (Calls to Action).
What We Do
Does the website provide detailed descriptions of the services that your advisory firm provides? For example, various types of planning services, investment management, tax planning, and risk minimization strategies.
This content helps investors determine if your firm provides the specific services that they are seeking.
Who We Serve
Does the website describe the types of clients that your firm serves? Investors are seeking financial advisory firms that work with clients like themselves.
For example, one type of client could be a physician just starting a private practice. Another type of client could be a doctor a few years from retirement. These medical professionals have substantially different financial needs which should be delineated on your site.
Experienced investors with more significant asset amounts or complex financial planning needs prefer financial advisors who work with clients like themselves. They believe specialized knowledge will benefit them.
Financial Advisor Website Graphics
Do the graphics on your financial advisor website display the types of clients that you typically work with? For example, you may prefer to work with business owners selling their companies and retiring. Therefore, the graphics should be of business owners in their 50s, 60s, and 70s. Don’t forget to include spouses.
Advisor Qualifications
A high percentage of investors will visit the Our Team page to review the backgrounds of the professionals who work at your firm. This happens more often when they have been approached by a particular advisor, and want to learn more.
The most important qualifications you should include on your site are
- Years of experience
- College degrees
- Certifications (CFP®, CPA®, CFA®, CIMA®)
- Association memberships with continuing education requirements
- Work history
You may choose to profile affiliated professionals that you work with to provide a more holistic solution to clients: a CPA, estate planning attorney, or trust officer. This arrangement minimizes the risk of duplicate fees and conflicting advice.
Fees and Pricing Structure
One important form of transparency is your willingness to describe how you are compensated. Very few advisors are comfortable disclosing fee schedules, but they should be willing to explain how they are compensated. For example, you have a sliding asset-based fee schedule. Planning services may be covered by an asset-based fee, a separate fixed, or an hourly fee.
Potential Conflicts of Interest
Want to build trust on your financial advisor website? Be willing to disclose any potential conflicts of interest. For example, you make more money recommending proprietary investment products to your clients.
Ideally, there are offsetting benefits that reduce the magnitude of the conflict. The more your services are based on open architecture, the better.
Independence, Ownership & Affiliations
You should be willing to describe your firm's independence on your website. This would include firm ownership and possible affiliations with Registered Investment Advisors, custodians, TAMPs, and other third parties. Full transparency consists of any relationship that impacts the financial advice you provide clients.
Client Testimonials and Success Stories
Feedback from current clients can build trust and credibility. However, the feedback must be genuine and in compliance with all regulatory requirements for RIAs. Case studies may be used in lieu of testimonials, reviews, and ratings. The key is to provide scenarios that website visitors can relate to.
Financial Fiduciaries
Another strategy to consider is to create a website page that explains your fiduciary status. The goal is to provide a code of ethics that builds initial trust. Most investors are unaware of the financial service industry’s ethical standards for financial advisors.
So, it pays to describe the industry’s highest ethical standard and who it applies to. You may also want to explain why commission-compensated sales reps are not financial fiduciaries and the suitability standard that applies to them.
Investment Research & Management
Provide a clear explanation that describes how you conduct investment research and make investment decisions: Asset allocation, security selection, buy/sells, and risk management. Active or passive management can also be an important topic, including the types of investments you will recommend (stocks, bonds, ETFs, mutual funds). Perhaps you have outsourced investment management to a third party. This should be disclosed, including any additional fees that investors would be subject to.
Educational Resources / Free Offers
Your financial advisor website won’t be complete without a Resource Center that educates investors on financial topics. This is where you can document your expertise in the form of blog articles, whitepapers, pillar pages, eBooks, webinars, podcasts, videos, and other resources that demonstrate your expertise and provide valuable information to website visitors. Some of the more insightful content may be gated - that is, visitors must register to gain access.
Encourage Contact
You should employ several tactics to convince website visitors to contact you. CTAs should be deployed throughout your financial advisor website, along with chat features, email, a telephone number, and a Contact Us function. Free offers on the site may also encourage registration to access the content.
Summary
In summary, investors are looking for evidence of expertise, transparency, and a personalized approach when they visit your financial advisor website. Authenticity in content and images is crucial in establishing trust and credibility, which are pivotal in an investor's decision to initiate contact.
About Paladin
Paladin is a team of digital marketing professionals with more than 100 years of collective financial industry experience marketing our clients' services to individuals, institutions, and financial advisors. Paladin is a boutique agency that was founded in 2003 to provide game-changing digital marketing services to a limited number of firms and professionals in the financial service industry. Our services range from designing and developing custom websites to providing SEO, SEM, and Fractional CMO services. Want more information about our digital marketing services? Email your request to Paladin’s CMO: Jack@PaladinDigitalMarketing.com.
