Chances are you intuitively understand that your website is important. It’s the doorway to your brand — the first thing a client or prospective client sees. Consider the following stats:
● 88% of consumers use online resources to research product information prior to making a purchase
● 75% of consumers judge a business’s credibility based on its website design
● 38% of users will stop engaging with an unattractive website, and 88% are unlikely to return to a website after a bad experience
So yes, a good website matters. Here are a few tips for developing and managing a successful website.
How to Develop Your Site
The great thing about your web presence is that it doesn’t have to be static. Most firms undertake a website refresh every three to five years, ensuring their web presence reflects the company's current priorities.
Whether you’re designing a website for the first time or starting a revamp, there are a few key questions to ask yourself:
● Does your messaging reflect your team’s current goals and services?
● Have you received any feedback from clients on user experience?
● Is the website accomplishing what you want it to? (e.g., driving sales, increasing engagement, growing brand awareness)
When it comes time to start redesigning the website, think about the sites you encounter in your daily life. What type of designs appeal to you? What doesn’t work? Use your own experience as a consumer to inform your choices.
In addition, remember to come up with specific goals for what you want your website to accomplish. This will inform the design and content choices you make and will also enable you to track your website’s performance in the years to come.
Best Practices for Web Design
We’ll keep this short and to the point — which is exactly how your website should be.
Today’s web users don’t want to wade through lots of copy. They want direct, active language, and they want to be able to discover your brand immediately. Research shows that the average human attention span is 8.25 seconds, which less than the goldfish's 9-second attention span. If you haven’t engaged them by then, you’ve already lost.
You can stay ahead by:
● Sharing your firm’s value proposition — concisely and clearly
● Displaying your contact information and social channels prominently
● Writing a clear call to action on every page
● Including bios and headshots to create a personal touch
● Capturing client information with the option for a “contact us” page
The Importance of SEO
Now that you have a website, you need to make sure people can actually find it. That’s where SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, comes in.
SEO is the process of driving web traffic from search results. If someone is searching online for a nearby pizza shop, there’s no shortage of options. SEO is the way to ensure that when a person Googles “pizza shop,” your business is one of the first hits.
How to Maximize SEO
Google and other search engines value websites that convey expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Websites need to be able to prove to Google that users find their site useful, in turn, Google rewards those websites with better placement in the search results.
There are a number of ways financial professionals can improve their SEO. Here are a few techniques:
● Update your website regularly with contact information, new services, and new team members. Google monitors how often websites are updated and prefers regular updates over static websites.
● Increase the number of links coming to your website. This is one of the major ways Google determines which websites are most useful. If a website receives numerous hits from other sites or searches, then it is clearly providing value. One way to increase links to your site is by linking to your site (or a blog page if you have one) on social. In addition, consider asking third parties like your local Chamber of Commerce to link to your page.
● Analyze your webpage. Determine how many visitors you’re getting, where they’re coming from, and how long they stay engaged on the page. By doing so, you gain an understanding of how your website is performing and whether it’s meeting the goals you’ve set for it. If it’s not, make adjustments as needed.
As you can see, developing and maximizing a webpage isn’t a simple process. Like any project, building a successful website takes time. But by following some of these recommendations, you can ensure your firm finds success online.
Speaking of developing websites … we recently refreshed our website! Did we follow our own advice? Click through the site and see for yourself!