A one-second delay may seem negligible, but it is increasingly becoming the difference between retaining and losing visitors to financial adviser websites.
In particular, research conducted in the US has found that the longer it takes for a tablet or smartphone application to load a web page, the more visitors are prone to abandon it.
Claudio Pannunzio, president and founder of US-based i-Impact Group, will present his social media findings to the American Financial Planning Association’s annual conference later this month.
He will stress that directing traffic to an adviser’s website is only half the battle; retaining that traffic is an entirely different story.
“It’s a global issue that applies to Australian financial advisers as it does to those in the USA,” says Pannunzio.
“A website may feature great design and easy navigation, but if visitors don’t stick around to learn more about the adviser, his or her practice, products and services, it may well be a case of ‘website abandonment’.”
Financial planners often don’t know why visitors leave their site but Pannunzio believes his research in this area has identified the main causes.
According to a study conducted by research house Aberdeen Group, a one-second delay in page load time to a tablet or smartphone application equates to 11 per cent fewer page views, a 16 per cent decrease in customer satisfaction and a 7 per cent loss in conversions.
Financial advice practitioners would be well advised to routinely check their sites to ensure that loading time is up to par.
Knowing exactly the audience being addressed is also crucial to keeping visitors interested.
“Advisers must have an in-depth understanding of their target audience and the issues and problems they’re experiencing and within appropriate compliance and disclosure guidelines articulate the solutions they can provide,” says Pannunzio.
“When a visitor finds a solution to their problems on the adviser’s website, the odds that they will leave the site drop dramatically.”
Message inconsistency is another underlying issue for website abandonment and Pannunzio’s advice is that the message should be clear, concise and in a language that everyone can understand.
“Avoid extensive copy and dense paragraphs,” he says. “Be focused and use bulleted paragraphs to quickly engage visitors’ attention. Ultimately, content should be easy to follow and, remember, to talk to your audience instead of at them.”
Finally, Pannunzio suggests enlisting help from a few friends who know little or nothing about online marketing and technology.
“Observe how they navigate your site, what sparks their interest and what doesn’t and take note of their process and comments,” he says.
Colin, I could not agree with you more. Traditionally, planners perceive their Websites either as a viable promoting tool or a necessary evil. The most frequent complaint we hear from US planners is that keeping a site current is time consuming. Though that is true, we constantly remind them that investors are increasingly relaying on Websites as a means to get a first impression of a planner’s expertise and capabilities.
Websites have steadily become a planner’s online business card. They are an essential component of your branding effort. Your practice possesses specific characteristics and differentiators that make it unique and sets it apart form your competitor. Consequently, these traits must be clearly articulated by astutely creating an effective combination of words and images that clearly convey the significance of the role that you and your expertise play in the lives of your clients.
I’ll be delighted to talk to you or (with the editor permission) contribute an article on this topic. Feel free to reply or contact me, if you have any specific questions (www.i-impactgroup.com). Claudio Pannunzio
Hi, before they (visitors) abandon your website, your first step is to get visitors. Most planner websites are obsolete in terms of general structure and more importantly, they lack the rich informative content that is required to rank well in search engines. With over 70,000 Australian searches each month that include ‘financial planner’, you need to make sure that your website get’s it’s fair share of visitors.