ADVISOR MARKETING

Susan Theder

You ’ ll also want to follow these tips to make your pages the best they can be .

S A FINANCIAL ADVISOR , YOU KNOW YOUR WEBSITE IS critical to your online presence . It ’ s the foundation of your marketing , serving as the home base where prospects and clients find you .

That means the site needs to be as effective as possible , using the best design and marketing ideas to turn prospects into clients and create the best user experience .

To help you along the road to success , I ’ ve put together a quick list of the top five pages every site needs to have to be effective , as well as a few ways to improve their performance .

1 . Home Page

Your home page gives people their first impression of you . Its job is to greet and inform visitors while guiding them to take action . The details you choose determine whether a visitor explores or clicks the “ back ” button . That makes the home page the most important page on your site .

Great home pages contain several elements , but there ’ s a rule you can use to see if they are working : the “ five-second rule .” Here , you navigate to your home page and without scrolling or clicking give yourself five seconds to take in everything . Then see if you can answer these questions :

• Who do you serve ?

• What problems do you solve ?

• What ’ s your visitor ’ s next step ? If your home page can ’ t answer these questions within five seconds , you will want to make a few edits .

For one thing , the home page needs to clearly lay out your value proposition . Your visitors should know within seconds who you help and what problems you solve . Not only will this ensure that the site immediately resonates with your ideal client , but also allows visitors to self-qualify , saving time for you and your team .

The home page also needs an effective design . It should be easy to look at , and the navigation should be straightforward . The copy should be clear and concise . The images and colors should align with your brand to make the page striking and memorable . Ideally , you need six headers on your navigation at most .

You also need a “ call to action ” on your home page , something that reminds a reader to contact you , and you should include these calls to action multiple times throughout your page . You should personalize them as well : Invite your visitors to schedule an icebreaker call , for instance , or ask them to tell you what brings them joy ( these are two strategies we ’ ve seen actual firms use ). The important thing is to go beyond generic requests for them to “ learn more ” or “ contact us .”

2 . The ‘ About Us ’ Page

Once visitors decide you might be the right fit for them , they enter the “ consideration ” phase . That ’ s when they begin looking through the rest of your site to figure out their next course of action . For most prospects , the “ About ” or “ Our Team ” page proves vital to their decisions . It ’ s the place they go to meet you virtually . Make sure your personality , and that of your team , comes through . Generally , the page should include a number of items :

Your story . This is not your résumé . It ’ s a real story , one you want to write in first person . Here you explain why and how you got into the business . Why you love what you do . You should weave in personal facts as well as professional ones . Let visitors get to know you and form a first impression that makes them feel they would enjoy meeting you . Also , use your target keywords ( the ones the prospects used in the search engines to

20 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | MARCH 2023 WWW . FA-MAG . COM