Prospective clients are turning away from financial planning businesses that don’t have a compelling, interactive website, according to Claudio Pannunzio, principal of US-based i-Impact Group.
Pannunzio said the proliferation of smart phones and tablets had resulted in an increasing number of consumers using the internet to search for a suitable financial adviser, making it critical for advice businesses to have professional and functional websites.
“Websites have become virtual store fronts, online business cards and ultimately a core element of the overall branding effort,” he said.
But before advisers start to build or rebuild a website, Pannunzio said they must consider 10 key factors.
Firstly, the website must have a key objective or objectives. For example, a business-generation tool, a reference for existing clients or a medium to attract new staff to the company.
It must demonstrate that it understands its audience’s key issues and clearly articulate how the business can help provide a solution to these problems. A website must have a clear and concise message that positions and differentiates the business, as well as telling a story rather than merely listing products and services. It should be easy to navigate, must engage the user and should be compatible with all different devices, allowing mobility. The site should have a mobile version that features a limited number of pages and condensed content.
To encourage visitors to stay on the site for longer, it should include a short video on the homepage. A recent study found that the average time a visitor spends on a website is 48 seconds, however, that jumps to 5.50 minutes when a site features a relevant video.
“There’s scientific evidence that one minute of video equals 1.8 million words. Consequently, with a single video frame an adviser can deliver the same amount of information contained in three pages of text,” Pannunzio said.
Websites should have a call-to-action feature designed to induce someone to take action. If an adviser’s goal is to establish a connection with as many visitors as possible, it must give them a reason to make contact with, and continue to remember, the business. It may offer the opportunity to register their email address to receive regular online newsletters, or download a complimentary e-book.
Lastly, businesses must ensure that visitors can quickly access information by clicking a link once and certainly no more than three times. If users have to click on a link more than three times, as is the case with poorly designed and maintained websites, they’ll will grow frustrated and leave the site, Pannunzio said.
