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You’ve decided it’s time for a website refresh, whether it’s because you’re not happy with how many qualified leads are landing in your inbox, or maybe your website just doesn’t feel like you.
While there’s no hard and fast rule, websites generally start to become outdated after anywhere between two and five years.
However, it can certainly be sooner if things shift within your firm — say your team grows, your services change, or you decide to niche down with your marketing.
At its core, your website should do three things:
- Portray your firm in the best light, as it operates today;
- Speak to and resonate with your ideal clients; and
- Make it as easy as possible for qualified visitors to take action (convert).
If it’s not doing all three, it’s time to head back to the drawing board. But don’t worry, a few simple tweaks are often all you need to breathe new life into an outdated website.
First, Focus on Your Content
A visually appealing web site is a must, but your website’s content is really key in helping visitors find you through search, whether it’s Google or an AI engine (like ChatGPT).
It’s the words on your website that help visitors identify themselves as potential clients and, ultimately, feel compelled to reach out.
Your content also shapes the visual effects of your website. Long, dense paragraph text is cumbersome for site visitors, turning them away before they even have a chance to learn more about you. However, content that’s visually diverse (headers, bullet points, phrases, and short, digestible paragraphs) compels site visitors to keep reading, without feeling weighed down by heavy text.
Understand the Goals of Your Website
You’re the financial expert, but sometimes that familiarity with your services and firm is actually a disadvantage when it comes to connecting with prospects — especially in an industry laden with confusing jargon.
You know perfectly well what “adjusting your asset allocation to consider your risk tolerance as your time horizon towards retirement shortens” means. But do your visitors? Even if they can decipher the meaning, does it really serve to create a connection?
Your prospects are coming to you already overwhelmed and confused by their wealth picture. They should feel seen and understood as soon as they land on your website, not more confused by what you do and how you do it.
Before updating your site’s copy, have current clients or friends take a look and provide helpful feedback. Ask questions like:
- Do they understand what you do and who you serve?
- Is there too much jargon?
- Is the site too visually dense or content heavy?
- Is any of the content resonating with them on a personal or emotional level?
Their answers, along with your own analysis of the current copy, should provide a blueprint for how to move forward more effectively.
Don’t Forget the Importance of Guiding Site Visitors
Something we’ve seen advisors struggle with is so simple, yet one of the most critical factors for increasing leads: You have to hold your prospects’ hands during their website visit.
We call this persuasive architecture, which is an approach that persuades visitors where to start, what page(s) to explore next, and how to take action as efficiently as possible.
Too often, advisors assume that if someone’s interested, they’ll find a way to reach out. But the more steps you require a prospect to take to get in touch with your team, the more likely you are to lose them along the way. This friction, however, is easy to reduce.
Simplify and streamline your calls-to-action across your website so visitors know exactly what the next steps are and how they can accomplish them. Rather than saying “get started,” try something like “schedule a 15-minute intro call” to reduce uncertainty.
If you find that your calls to action aren’t converting, play with the wording, design, and placement on your website. You can also make simple changes to the order of sections on your page to establish a clearer path for visitors to learn about your services and experience before encouraging conversion. Remember, your site is never set in stone; test a few different options to see what resonates best with your visitors.
Make Your Website an Information & Connection Hub
Once you have the opportunity to give your website’s content a solid refresh, focus next on the tools you can use to transform your web-site from an online business card to an information hub for your prospects and clients.
How do you do this? By introducing interactive features that make it easier for your prospects and clients to take action and connect with your firm. While you’ll want to be strategic (and cost-conscious) about which tools to incorporate on your website, here are a few options to consider:
Chatbot: Powered by AI, chatbots offer 24/7 support for visitors, offering answers to some of the most common questions your firm receives, such as the services you offer, your fee structure, and how they can schedule a meeting.
Calendar scheduling tool: Remember that friction I mentioned earlier? Calendar scheduling tools are one of the most effective ways to increase discovery calls for your firm, since they greatly reduce the amount of effort or steps required for someone to book with your team.
Video introduction: People connect with people, and nothing helps a prospect get to know you better than an introductory video right on your website’s homepage. Use this as an opportunity to share more of your personality and briefly introduce how your expertise can help your clients.
Educational resources: Support your marketing efforts, increase your visibility in searches, and deepen your connection with prospects by providing additional content that speaks directly to their pain points. There are many ways to do this, but blogs, email newsletters, video libraries, and podcasts are all popular choices for advisors.
Lead magnet: If you’re able to develop a particularly information-rich piece of content (an e-book, checklist, video series, or other downloadable content), consider converting it into a lead magnet so prospects have to provide their contact information in exchange for access to the content. You can then use that contact information to send out a welcome series, provide a quick introduction, and/or add them to your mailing list.
Try, Test, and Stay True to You
Compliance challenges aside, you have the freedom with your website to make changes, go live, monitor its impact, and continue tweaking its content, design, and functionality as needed. If you feel like your website is a little outdated or isn’t serving as the lead machine you want it to, it might just be time for a refresh.
Before diving in, take some time to get feedback from trusted friends, consider your goals, and always keep your prospects’ pain points top of mind.
Mikel Bruce is the CEO of TinyFrog Technologies, a San Diego web design agency specializing in WordPress web design & development and secured hosting & maintenance. TinyFrog provides a conversion-based approach to web design, with a focus on creating websites that are relevant to the people exploring and navigating it. TinyFrog has built over 1,500 websites over the last 22 years, and has extensive experience designing and building websites for financial advisors.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
