Does this sound familiar?
— You’ve got money to lend, but the right leads are simply not coming in,
— You end up looking through applications for individuals who don’t qualify, and
— Users are bouncing off your site before they’ve even hit the application page.
While you may be an expert on business lending, there are discrepancies with your online presence. If your website isn’t branded for your ideal client, your social media is inconsistent, and your Google My Business account isn’t set up correctly, your leads will turn into dead ends.
Here are some critical tips to help grow your financial business through your website.
Build a website for your niche client, not the generalized audience
When funneling your ideal client to the Apply Now page, you need to speak their language through design aesthetics—colors, typography, hierarchy, and content.
Here are some examples of how the design could change.
- Your ideal client is in their 70s and needs to put together a trust.
- Your ideal client is a young parent, terminally ill, and needs to put together a trust.
- Your ideal client is in their 40s and doesn’t know if they need a trust?
The way you design each of these sites will vary in regards to imagery, fonts and font sizes, colors schemes, and even the number of pages to include on the website.
With this in mind, developing a unique and targeted website can be a challenge when graphic design and creative arts are not your forte.
As an expert in investing, it’s often well worth the investment to trust in website designers to take over the research and development of your website.
Not only will this free up your time (or the time of your assistant), but it removes the aggravation of running into Critical Errors, plug-ins that don’t integrate with your software, and the ominous White Screen of Death.
Website developers have plenty of experience navigating the intricacies of optimizing your website for search engine results and ensuring your brand is consistent and targeted throughout your site.
(( Working with someone with almost a decade’s experience in financial branding doesn’t hurt either.))
Optimize your website for your mobile clients
Ensuring your website is correctly supported across mobile devices and tablets will maximize your reach to more commercial clients.
If your client is over 70, make sure your text is large enough that they don’t have to struggle to zoom in. And make certain buttons and links are large enough to click.
Remove redundant content (including pictures) that will lead to endless scrolling. You don’t want to eliminate essential information, but by turning off that stock photo and replacing it with a call to action, your potentials clients have an easier time getting to the next steps.
Consider changing your search terms
The more you niche down, the more likely you are to receive those viable leads. Consider the examples above: the 70-year-old, the ill parent, and the financially curious individual.
Google Analytics and AdWords make it easy to identify the most popular keywords for financial firms such as yourself.
You can examine “bounce rate” metrics—the percentage of visitors that view only one page before leaving your website. Utilizing these online tools can make sure you target that specific person.
SEO firms will run all the data and perform relevant research to present you with the list of top keywords to use.
If you think your target keyword is “terminally ill trust plan” and the search rate is only 20 people a month, but “cancer patient trust planning” receives 200 searches a month, it might be time to reconsider how you are writing your website copy and marketing your site through SEO.
Incorporate social media into your marketing plan
Engage with customers using the appropriate social media platforms; otherwise, your efforts will have been in vain.
- If your client is business savvy, go for LinkedIn.
- If you generate more leads through family and friend referrals, stick to Facebook.
When used correctly, these platforms generate free word-of-mouth marketing and will keep you top of mind with your existing connections.
Even if social isn’t necessarily your area of expertise, double-check that all your contact information (email, phone, and website URL) are provided on your business pages.
If you are seeking assistance with creating a perfect website to represent your business, contact us at Harford Designs.
