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 a 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 a homepage that attracts prospective clients and encourages them to connect with you and join your financial advisor firm.
Prefer to learn more about website optimization via an on-demand webinar? Watch here!
Top Information to Include on an Advisor Website Homepage
A common flaw among many investment advisor websites is that they don’t feature the most important information toward the top. This includes:
- Business logo
- Firm name
- Firm’s unique value
- The niche audience/location they serve
- Contact information
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.
Incorporating 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, the same rule applies: always make sure that your logo includes your firm name and ensure that both logo and company name are prominently visible above the fold on the home page.
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.
Incorporating 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), include 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.
Modern Elements of an Advisor Website
Once you’ve addressed the top items you need on your investment advisor website, it’s time to turn your eye to design.
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 connect with you even before they meet you in person.
For example, this stunning website for Blade Financial Services features a large, professional photo of their principal advisor. It’s welcoming, 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, you may be able to include quotes from clients on your site, so 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 Suite 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 a digital business card; 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. If you have an FMG Suite website and the Attract™ or Elevate™ package, you can easily add these forms to your advisor website homepage.
The other category of form helps you capture contact information in exchange for sharing a piece of your educational content. This could include:
- Ebook
- Investment quiz
- Planning evaluation
- Event registration
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 what you or your offerings. Educational content is incredibly valuable for capturing leads if you place it on your homepage, offer as a popup upon page exit, and feature prominently throughout your site. FMG Suite customers can use ebooks from our library that address topics like the Secure Act and Retirement Basics to turn website visitors into leads.
Modern advisor websites provide a unique opportunity to help connect you with prospects and clients through persuasive copy, great imagery, and educational content available throughout the site. Getting started with a website that helps you achieve your business goals is easy when you start with an easily customizable template that you can update as you see fit. Learn more about FMG Suite websites here and schedule a demo today.
