Your website’s user experience (UX) can make or break the quantity and quality of potential clients you attract.
In fact, if your website visitors do not have a positive experience while using your website, they are more likely to leave in search of a better option.
User experience (UX) refers to a visitor’s overall experience on your site. Specifically, it refers to how they interact with your navigation, content, and design.
The better the UX, the better the chances that your website visitors will engage with your content. As a result, your website will be more likely to convert visitors into clients.
User Experience (UX): 4 Key Pillars to Convert Website Visitors Into Clients
There are four key user experience (UX) pillars financial advisors need to understand in order to optimize their website and convert more visitors into clients:
- User Interface
- Design
- Building Trust and Credibility
- Relevancy
We’re going to break down each of the pillars and share some actionable tactics for financial advisors to implement on their websites.
1.) User Interface (UI)
User interface (UI) relates to how a website visitor navigates the interactive elements on a website, such as buttons, links, and menus.
There are several components in relation to UI that can have a strong impact on your overall user experience.
Simplify Your Navigation
When it comes to the topline navigation of your website, the simpler, the better.
The more pages and drop-down items your menu contains, the more likely your website visitors will get confused or frustrated.
Minimizing the overall number of pages and drop-downs in the menu is very important to encourage your site visitors to take action.
Ellis Retirement Services makes it easy for visitors to navigate the website by offering four pages in the topline navigation. The page titles also clearly define the type of content people will access once they click.
Establish Clear Call-To-Actions (CTAs)
To create a positive user interface, make your web page’s call-to-actions (CTAs) as straightforward as possible.
For instance, labeling your main CTA button as “Get Started” is vague.
What exactly does “get started” mean to a total stranger visiting your site? What are you asking them to “get started” with?
Instead, consider more descriptive titles. For example:
- Schedule a Consultation
- Speak With an Advisor
- Get a Free Financial Analysis
Be specific about what you are asking users to do next or what you may be providing them with.
It’s also important to have different CTAs for different site areas depending on the actions you’d like your visitors to take.
In addition to a descriptive call-to-action button in the topline navigation menu, Define Financial also has a bold secondary CTA in the hero section.
Keep Content Short and Clear
Your content should be clear and simple throughout the site, especially on the home page. People want their questions to be answered quickly, so your website’s content should be easy to read and digest.
Most visitors tend to scroll and scan versus read, so if the content on your site is dense and long, there is a good chance that you will lose your visitors early in their website visit.
You don’t have to share every last detail about your services and process on your homepage. Share the big picture and save the details for internal pages, blog posts, videos, or a one-on-one conversation with your prospective client.
Consider implementing high-level content/messaging such as titles, subtitles, bullets, panel headings, short statements, and CTAs whenever possible to quickly and clearly get your point across.
Some of the content on your site will be slightly longer, such as the company biography. However, the vast majority of the content on your key pages should utilize high-level messaging.
Don’t Forget About Mobile
People are busy and often search for financial advisors using their phones and/or tablets during their limited free time. In fact, 60.67% of all web traffic was on a phone as of February 2023 (Oberlo).
The mobile version of your website should be easy to navigate, and all the important content must be readable on smaller devices.
If you’re embarking on a website redesign project to improve UX, pay close attention to the images, paragraph sizes and styles, and topline navigation since they’ll be most impacted in the mobile view.
Open Road Wealth Management’s mobile view stacks the page content to make it easy for visitors to read and access the information.
2.) Website Design
Many people are quick to judge a book by its cover. A high-quality design is key to making a great first impression when someone lands on your site.
Most people immediately judge things that they see as good, bad, or neutral. It’s very important that most people are impressed with the design of your site. This can go a long way in increasing website conversions.
High-quality, up-to-date design will help highlight your credibility and capture people’s attention. In other words, design is a key part of UX.
Use Strong Visual Elements
Images and colors are great first attention-grabbers on a website. Take the time to consider the brand personality you want to portray, such as professional or personal, and match your design to it.
Many financial concepts can be difficult to put into words. The effective use of images, icons, and graphics to create visual interest can break up the written content on your site and illustrate difficult-to-learn concepts.
Engaged visitors are more likely to continue scrolling and exploring your resources.
Rather than just using photography, Beyond Your Hammock incorporates visual designs, animations, and infographics to capture people’s attention.
Design a Clear Visitor Path
Use enticing designs and consistent calls to action throughout your site to establish a clear path for the visitor journey. Guide visitors down a specific path to learn more about you, what you do, and how you can help.
You can ultimately lead users to a conversion-focused page that outlines your process and provides a form fill or online calendar scheduler for the next steps.
With services for two types of clients, Palabe Wealth uses a simple visual section on the home page to guide visitors down the right path.
3.) Trust and Credibility
As people search for a financial advisor, they have a huge decision to make – who they are going to trust with their money. Make it very clear that they can trust you.
Trust and credibility can be built by showing that you understand what your clients are going through and have the knowledge and expertise to help them overcome their problems.
Building Trust with Your Content
People don’t want to feel like they are part of an obvious sales pitch. Rather, they’re looking for advisors who understand what they’re going through. It’s important that people feel comfortable enough to reach out to you after navigating your website.
All of your written content and visual designs should establish a professional and credible identity. Write content that shares how you understand the problems and questions your potential clients are facing.
Morling Financial Advisors addresses the common questions of their three ideal client types to show that they understand what’s on their mind and have the experience to help.
Establishing Credibility on Your Website
In addition to sharing your empathy and understanding, use your website to establish your expertise and credibility. Social proof is a great way to show your proven success working with others who are similar to your prospective clients.
Include statistics, such as assets under management or years in the industry, logos of media you’ve been featured in, names of strategic partners or custodians, and certificates or awards that you have won.
These all prove that you have the experience to help your clients effectively.
To build credibility, Wealthkeel shares statistics about the team’s time in business, assets under management, and the number of clients helped.
4.) Content Relevancy
Many advisors have a niche that they target, and you must understand your niche’s goals, questions, and concerns as they navigate your website.
Making your content relevant to your ideal client is a key component of user experience.
Your Visitor’s Knowledge of You
Visitors will come to your website with different levels of understanding about your business. Do most of your visitors come from referrals, or do they find you online or through an advertisement?
If someone was referred by a current client, they’ll know more about you and your services compared with someone who just found you by searching online.
Align the content you share with people’s knowledge of you and your business so that your site visitors can easily gather the information they need to make an informed decision.
Your Visitor’s Financial Knowledge
It’s also important to align your content with your visitor’s knowledge. If your ideal clients are not financially savvy, don’t write content that delves too deep into financial lingo.
Similarly, you can consider what priorities your site visitors have. Do they want to understand your process and services fully, or would they prefer to establish a personal connection by seeing more about you and your values?
Understanding how much knowledge visitors have and what information they are looking for on your site is key to a positive user experience.
In Summary
User experience plays a critical role in your website’s ability to convert site visitors into potential clients. UX is not a one-size-fits-all solution, but understanding the key pillars can greatly help you improve people’s experience on your website.
TinyFrog Technologies is a San Diego web design agency specializing in WordPress web design & development and secured hosting & maintenance. With extensive experience in designing and building custom websites for financial advisors, TinyFrog offers a conversion-based approach to create a unique and personalized website that speaks to your niche.