According to research from Google, it takes just 0.05 seconds for users to form an opinion about your website that determines whether they’ll stay or leave.
How can you create an eye-catching websites website that convinces a prospect to stay on your website and connect with you by email to start the journey toward becoming a client?
For many years, advisors were able to get away with very basic websites that merely provided contact information. But today, investment advisor websites provide an unparalleled opportunity to present your unique value and help your financial services practice stand out from the crowd.
Follow our suggestions to create an eye-catching homepage that attracts prospective clients and encourages them to connect with you and join your financial advisor firm.
Important Information to Include on Your Advisor Site Homepage
A common flaw among many investment advisor websites is that they don’t feature the most important information toward the top. Here are the features your advisor homepage should have:
If a new visitor to a website has to search for this information, they may give up and head to another advisor’s website. A visitor should quickly be able to determine exactly whose website they’re on and whether it’s someone that can help them.
How to Include Logo & Firm Name:
Your logo is one of the first things someone should see when they visit your site. If it’s hidden, move it front and center, or shift the text around so it’s clearer and easier to see. All too often, advisor websites feature only a graphic symbol at the top with no mention of the firm’s name anywhere on the home page. Make sure your logo has your firm name clearly alongside the graphic symbol.
Some advisors choose to use their own name as their firm name, particularly if it is a solo venture. If they use their own name or a company name: always make sure that your logo includes your firm name and ensure that both logo and company name are prominently visible.
Incorporating Your Firm’s Unique Value & Audience
Over 60% of investors think all advisors make the same promises, making it hard to tell the difference between them (Pershing). How can you stand out? A great advisor or RIA website features a clear, unique value proposition. Financial advisors must develop their UVP to help differentiate them in the marketplace. If you aren’t sure how to create one, this blog about creating a unique value proposition is a great resource.
Display your unique value proposition prominently on your homepage, and use it throughout the site to reemphasize how you serve your clients.
Additionally, your homepage should mention what types of investors you serve, as well as your location. Again, you want to make it as clear as possible to a prospect what your firm has to offer and whether you are a good fit for their needs and goals.
Adding in Contact Information
64 percent of website visitors want to see a company’s contact information on its homepage (SAG IPL). Post your contact information in an unobtrusive spot (potentially at the very top or top right), including your phone number and email address. If you only work with clients locally, you may want to include your address.
It is also standard to include your contact information in your website footer. Placing it in both places ensures that site visitors can quickly find a way to contact you without having to search through your site.
Eye-catching Imagery
One of the best ways you can help your website stand out is to include eye-catching imagery. Specifically, we encourage you to include personal, professional photographs of your office, community, team, or yourself as the lead advisor. This adds a personal touch to your website and allows a visitor to feel connected before they meet you.
For example, this stunning website for Blade Financial Services features a large, professional photo of their principal advisor. It’s welcoming and engaging and helps the website visitor to immediately know who they might be working with.
Another great example is Peak Wealth Management’s website. It uses a high-quality video at the top of the homepage showing their advisors meeting and working with clients and each other.
Social Proof
A great way to add more visual elements that engage a prospect is to include social proof in the form of testimonials, logos of media outlets that have featured your firm, and any awards or accolades you have received.
Testimonials are, of course, a complicated topic for investment advisors, as some broker-dealers do not allow for testimonials. However, following the new SEC advertising rule, you may be able to leverage testimonials in new ways. Please contact your compliance team for more information.
Links to Resources & Events
If you are hosting any upcoming events or have any educational resources on your site (including those from the FMG’s content library), it’s a great idea to include links to those pages or resources right on your homepage.
This will let a visitor know that you provide these educational tools and help guide them to other parts of the site.
Lead Generation Forms
The best advisor websites are more than digital business cards; they are an essential component of your marketing machine. The best websites attract new site visitors and convert the traffic to new leads.
You can capture leads more easily if you have forms on your homepage and throughout your website. There are two basic categories of forms: Consultation/Appointment forms and Content forms.
A consultation or appointment form requests a name, phone number, and email address and lets the site visitor schedule time with you. Ask a financial question, and generally make their first contact with your firm.
The other category of form helps you capture contact information in exchange for sharing a piece of your educational content. This could include:
Content forms engage a prospect who may not yet be ready to contact and communicate with you right away. Or is still in the exploration mode and wants to passively learn more about you or your offerings. Educational content is incredibly valuable for capturing leads if you place it on your homepage. FMG customers can use ebooks from our library that address topics like the Secure Act and Retirement Basics to turn website visitors into leads.
Create a Gorgeous, Traffic-Driving Website
