Web Design Best Practices for IFAs
The importance of your Online Presence
Well designed financial websites are crucial to a digital marketing campaign for an IFA and should not be overlooked. A quality online presence for your financial services company could set you apart from your competition.
Your website should communicate the areas in which you focus on and demonstrate your credibility and knowledge in the industry.
When potential clients look for a financial product or service, they often start their search online which means your website is likely to be the first thing they see.
Understand your audience
Take time to understand who your prospective clients are, what information are they searching for.
The more you understand your customer, the quicker your business will grow. New ventures often struggle to define their target market and set their sights too broadly.
The content on financial websites should communicate your company's key services and include convincing content that addresses the questions that potential clients are looking to answer.
If you can show that you understand their concerns and have the depth of knowledge to offer a solution, they are likely to contact you to discuss their requirements.
Keep it simple yet engaging
Think about the language you use in your copy, keep it simple and easy to understand. Use images and make your content engaging. Speak to your audience in a language they are comfortable with to keep them engaged and want to continue reading about your company.
Use sub headings in your content
When writing content (or editing yours) we always break content up with sub headings; it makes your website easier to scan.
We even use sub headings in your testimonials page(s). If a prospect is looking for pensions advice and sees a testimonial “Great Advice on my Occupational Pension scheme” then they will may be drawn to that; it won't hurt on Google either.
It is important that financial websites are content driven and so we recommend frequently publishing content that is engaging, informative and demonstrates your knowledge and authority in the financial industry.
Maintaining a company blog with interesting content can also help your audience connect with you.
Visualisation
Engage users with video and rich images. Videos and images are more engaging than content alone and content with visuals can lead to an increase website traffic.
We offer free images with our websites from Deposit photos and Shutterstock, we would recommend you pay a little extra and either from Istock (who are more expensive) or get in a professional photographer.
It is worth using rich imagery for your financial website to help communicate your message and connect with your potential clients.
When choosing images; think about what is important to your potential clients, such as family, work and home and the aspirations of your potential clients. And use infographics to display data rich content to make it more appealing and easier to read.
Use clear navigation
Navigation on a website is achieved by a collection of links that form the Website Navigation Menu. This navigation menu is usually the collection of links you see placed vertically on the left or horizontally near the top of the web page and sometimes on the footer of the web page.
Having organized and easy-to-follow navigation for a website is very beneficial and important for the overall user experience; especially as the demographic of financial websites tend to be older.
Mobile responsive design
Mobile internet usage has grown rapidly, with the increasing trend of more people using mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets as well as desktop computers.
Responsive design is now a given; we would always recommend financial service companies adopt responsive design as part their web design; all our websites are now mobile responsive
Responsive Web Design is a collection of techniques that allow a website adapt to the size of screen it’s being viewed on. Someone opening your site on a small smartphone will be shown the same site as the person opening it on their laptop but the site will have reformatted to give the user an experience better suited to their device.
Responsive web design ensures consistent viewing and design across a wide range of devices and screen sizes.
We specialise in designing financial websites for Independent Financial Advisers (IFAs) that meet your requirements. Get in touch with us to find out how we can help.
Test your website
When launching a website, there are always kinks that need to be worked out. It's important to take the time to test your site and elicit feedback before it goes live. Don't worry that's our job, we're here to offer an all-in-one online solution to independent financial advisers (IFAs).
We do this for you and check for broken links using specialist software Screaming Frog SEO Spider Tool & Crawler Software and just working through the site.
Extra pairs of eyes never go amiss, the more input we have from our financial advisers the better.
Showcase your IFA Company
It's important to showcase your services and stick to your branding.
As an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA), you market your financial services and the way you work. You often advise on meeting financial goals and protecting wealth, our job is take care of promoting you with an online web presence so you can focus on growing your business.
We specialise in IFA web design and understand the importance of both demonstrating that you're a trustworthy firm and effective marketing.
Having an engaging and attractive IFA website design is invaluable in demonstrating your worth.
An IFA website that stands out or has a quiet professional brochure feel can work well for you. But the competition is tough, we can help you to both compete and stand out, it's something we've had to do ourselves with our own company.
A site designed for your IFA firm
It's invaluable having a web designer who is experienced in putting together engaging content on your behalf. One who knows the importance of balance and engagement. Clear, straight forward financial advice and attractive images to capture clients's attention with ease. That way you can expand on your services once they make contact.
Being trustworthy is essential to clients seeking financial advice, which is why we will always advise where you to use staff photos and testimonials. It helps your clients to connect with you and gain confidence in your firm.
Prospective clients expect a professional well designed website and one that incorporates your branding and captures their attention.