In today’s digital age, building a strong online presence is essential for financial advisors who want to grow their businesses and reach a wider audience. However, for those starting from scratch, the process of website development can be overwhelming and confusing. From picking a domain name to designing a layout to marketing your website… Each step comes with its own challenges. Our step-by-step guide helps financial advisors build a professional, user-friendly, and engaging website that showcases their expertise, builds credibility, and attracts and retains clients. Here’s how to establish a powerful online presence that reflects your brand and values.
Planning your website
Before you start the process of web design and development, it’s important to plan and define your website’s goals and objectives.
Defining your target audience
Your target audience refers to the specific group of people you want to reach with your website. It’s essential to have a clear understanding of who your target audience is as well as their needs and their preferences. Paint a picture of this person: are they 30 years old and a working professional? Or are they in their 60s, planning for retirement? Having a better understanding of your target audience will help you design a website that is tailored to their interests and can effectively communicate your value proposition.
Identifying your brand identity
Think of your brand identity as your brand personality. Your brand voice should convey your values to your target audience. Your brand identity should include elements like your logo, color scheme, tone of voice, and messaging. Identifying your brand identity is crucial for creating a cohesive and consistent experience for your website visitors.
Setting website goals and objectives
What do you want to achieve with your website? Before you build your website, define your goals, whether it’s generating leads, increasing website traffic, or building your brand. Setting specific goals and objectives will help you measure your website’s success and make informed decisions on future improvements.
Conducting market research
Before designing your website, it’s important to conduct market research to understand your competition and identify gaps in the market. This will help you create a website that stands out and effectively communicates your unique value proposition to potential clients.
Choosing a domain name and hosting service
What is web development? Well, the process of designing your own website starts with creating a domain name and picking a hosting service.
Choosing a domain name
Think of your domain name as your website’s address on the internet. It should be memorable, easy to spell, and relevant to your business. To choose a domain name, consider using keywords related to your industry, keeping it short and simple, and avoiding numbers and hyphens.
We recommend Hover when buying and registering your domain. In a sea of upsells and gimmicks, Hover does domain registration right. Plus, they are simple to use and have unparalleled customer support.
Comparing hosting services
There are various hosting services available, ranging from shared hosting to dedicated hosting. When comparing hosting services, consider factors such as uptime, speed, security, scalability, and customer support.
Selecting a hosting service
Once you’ve compared hosting services, it’s time to select the one that best fits your business needs. Think about your website’s traffic volume, storage and bandwidth requirements, and budget. It’s also important to choose a hosting service that offers reliable customer support, as technical issues can arise at any time.
Designing your website
Website development is a critical part of building your business. Let’s learn more about how to create a website.
Choosing a website builder or platform
First things first: choose a website builder or platform that fits your needs and budget. Consider factors such as ease of use, customization options, and integrations with other tools. WordPress is a great option for those looking for more creative control, while Squarespace and Wix are popular options for website builders. A builder designed specifically for financial advisors is FMG Suite. The platform offers compliance and marketing features.
Selecting a website theme or template
Select a website theme or template that reflects your brand identity and appeals to your target audience. Look for themes that are visually appealing, easy to navigate, and optimized for mobile devices.
Customizing your website design
Customizing your website design will make it unique – and help you stand out from your competition. Add your logo and brand colors, choose high-quality images, and create a consistent layout. A professional and cohesive design will help establish your brand identity and build trust with your audience.
Creating high-quality content
One important element? Creating high-quality content that is relevant and valuable to your target audience. Use SEO best practices to optimize your content for search engines. In addition, consider including a video or other multimedia to engage your audience. Your content should showcase your expertise and provide helpful information for your clients and prospects.
Optimizing your website for search engines
Conducting keyword research
Optimizing your financial advisor website for search engines is crucial to ensure that your website ranks well in search engine results pages (SERPs) and attracts potential clients. That starts with keyword research. Keyword research will help you identify the terms and phrases that your target audience is searching for.
On-page optimization
Once you have identified your keywords, look into on-page optimization. This involves incorporating them into your website’s content, meta tags, URLs, and images. This helps search engines understand what your website is about and improves its relevance for specific search queries.
Off-page optimization
Off-page optimization focuses on building high-quality backlinks from other websites to your site. This signals to search engines that your website is authoritative and valuable to users and can improve your website’s ranking in SERPs.
Integrating social media
Choosing social media platforms
Which social media platform should you pick? There are so many – and it’s not cost-effective to attempt each and every one. Consider the demographics of your target audience and the nature of your services when selecting the platforms to use.
Creating and optimizing social media profiles
Once you have chosen your social platforms, you will need to create and optimize your social media profiles. Your social platforms should include a great description and a link to your homepage. In addition, you should strive to provide accurate and up-to-date information, use professional profile pictures and header images, and include relevant keywords.
Sharing content on social media
Sharing content on social media is also crucial for driving engagement and growing your following. The key? When sharing content, make sure to focus on providing value to your audience. That means sharing relevant and informative content, including articles, infographics, and videos, that all relate to your financial services.
Adding additional website features
Adding a blog
When it comes to building your financial advisor business, adding a blog to your website is an absolute must. A blog can help establish your authority in the industry and provide educational content to your audience. For many financial advisors, it serves as a way to draw in clients new to your business.
Adding lead generation forms
Your financial advisor website needs to have a lead generation form. These forms can help you collect important information from potential clients and build your email list. You can use these forms to offer free resources or consultations, for example.
Adding video content
Video content is another great addition to consider for your website. Videos can help showcase your services and expertise, and can be a more engaging way to connect with your audience. You can create videos that explain financial concepts, introduce your team, or provide client testimonials. Posting videos consistently on LinkedIn can lead to massive growth in your potential clients.
Adding a contact page
It’s important to have a clear and easy-to-use contact page on your website. This page should include all necessary contact information, such as phone number and email address, and may also include a contact form. You can use this page to encourage visitors to get in touch with you and start a conversation about your services.
Launching your website
Testing your website
The first step when launching your website is testing. It’s essential to test your website’s functionality, responsiveness, and user experience across different browsers and devices. Tools like EasyQA and BrowserStack can help you perform comprehensive website QA testing to identify any potential issues before launching your website.
Ensuring website security
Do you know how secure your website is? Ensuring that your website is secure can prevent hacking and data breaches – and save you future pain. Simple ways to improve website security include using strong passwords, enabling SSL, using security plugins, and keeping your website software up-to-date.
Going live
Once you have tested your website and secured it, it’s time to go live. Going live involves transferring your website files to a web server and making them publicly available. Before going live, it’s important to have a checklist that covers everything from DNS propagation to error handling. Website launch checklists like those provided by InTechnic and LinkedIn can help ensure that you’ve covered all your bases before launching your website.
Maintaining and updating your website
Monitoring website analytics
Analytics tools help you understand how people are interacting with your website. You can learn about the number of visitors, page views, and where they are coming from. Hotjar and SimilarWeb are excellent tools to track your website’s analytics. These tools provide valuable insights into your website’s performance and user behavior.
Updating content and design
You can’t just make a website and let it sit there. Updating your website’s content regularly is crucial to keep visitors engaged and improve search engine rankings. Build a content plan to keep your blog updated. In addition, make sure to update your website’s design every couple of years. There’s nothing less attractive to potential clients than an old website.
Conclusion
Building a website for your financial advisory business is crucial for establishing a strong online presence and attracting potential clients. Each step plays a crucial role in creating a successful online presence, from planning out the design to picking the right hosting service to adding lead generation forms. With the right tools and strategies, financial advisors can elevate their online presence and stay competitive in the digital landscape.