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Most of your websites are horrendous. If you are making any of these six mistakes, fix them right now.
- Stupid emotional statements
The other day I saw an advisor’s website with something like, “We get you connected with your money.”
Not trying to trigger anyone here, but I do not know a single person who is not connected to their own money. This is the same psychobabble nonsense marketing as the people who try to get you to take your dog to the psychiatrist and get him on Prozac.
I am not too hard-nosed here. Society has become too soft and emotional. Meshugana statements like this mean nothing and your website is better off without them.
Delete!
- Useless adjectives
Voltaire said, "The adjective is the enemy of the noun." According to William Zinsser, “Most adjectives are … unnecessary.” They were right.
“We handle your complete financial picture.”
Complete – really? You’re going to call up my bank and get that overdraft refunded. No? I thought you said you handle everything!
“Comprehensive financial planning”
You know, I didn’t think financial planning was, by its own definition, comprehensive. I thought that you were going to just pick a choose a few random milestones like buying a house or electing to take Social Security.
“We help you achieve your life goals.”
I wasn’t interested in financial planning for my life goals, I was more interested in the goals that aren’t part of my life. Can you help with those?
- Drop downs on the main menu
Let me ask you something.
When you go pick out an avocado at the supermarket, how many of them do you handle and examine?
One, maybe two.
And if you can’t find what you are looking for, then you move on to the tomatoes, right?
Give people too many choices and they select nothing. No more drop downs on your website menu, okay? Nobody has the energy to page over the drop-down item and click it. Nobody is sifting through the list!
Get a one-page website with a menu on the top with these categories: About Me, Fees, and Services. Two sentences explanation on each page, done.
Period.
I just saved you the $6,000 that some website company is trying to make you pay for a new website.
- FAQ page
Get this off your website. If the question was that important, you should have addressed it front and center on the home page.
If it’s of minor importance, you can discuss it when you meet.
The objective of a website isn’t to provide every single detail. Nobody will remember anyways, and people make decisions emotionally, not based on facts. The only one reading the FAQs is the detail-oriented nitpickers like the engineers (and advisors hate those clients).
- Embedded Google maps on contact page
This sends the wrong message to a prospect. The first meeting shouldn’t be in person. You should qualify them over Zoom and then decide if it makes sense to meet.
It’s too pressuring. It’s like how casinos hand out free drinks. If they want to meet with you, they can take it on themselves to look up the directions themselves.
Third, it’s an eyesore. I’d rather see a picture of you cutting your toenails.
- Lack of explanation of “fee-only” and “fiduciary”
Not like the SEC hasn’t done all it can to destroy the power of the fiduciary standard, but for those of you who are fiduciaries, the truth remains. Being a fiduciary is the highest standard of care available in financial advice.
Most of you throw out the term “fiduciary” with complete ignorance to the reader’s level of understanding of the fiduciary standard. It means nothing to them as a result.
To strengthen your competitive advantage, talk more about the differences between fee-only and fee-based, between fiduciary and Reg BI, how your fee is calculated and debited (with specific examples in contrast to a broker or insurance agent), and what your fiduciary obligation means in the day to day. Yet most fiduciaries don’t even include your fees on your site.
To make the point about being a fiduciary, go to the length of clarifying why and how it benefits the clients so that there is no possible way that anyone could fail to grasp its meaning.
Sara’s upshot
As much as I’m sick of these horrendous advisor websites, I’m also sick of advisors working with marketing consultants who write garbage like this.
I write no-nonsense blogs, website copy and other financial advisor marketing collateral for anyone who is tired of the gibberish. If you want to work with me on a project, contact me.
I have an e-book and a membership where you can learn some creative, non-sleazy social media tactics.
I’m a consultant who helps people infuse creativity in their marketing. If you’re interested, please contact me.
If you are a flat fee advisor, advice-only planner, or just a believer in transparency, join our next Transparent Advisor Movement meetup.
Thanks for hanging tough with me, I’ll see you next month.
A message from Advisor Perspectives and VettaFi: To learn more about this and other topics, check out our podcasts.
Read more articles by Sara Grillo
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
