For most financial planners, your personal website is the cornerstone of your online brand. Every day we deal with financial advisors who are hesitant to rebrand, revamp or refresh their website for various reasons. Often the hesitancy comes from a history that includes:
- Paying too much for their website in the first place
- Not being able to reach their clients with their website
- Not having an understanding of the role their website plays in their online strategy
- Having had several revamps that never quite felt right
My advice is: don’t simply do it because someone is telling you to (unless it’s all of your clients…). Look at your website critically and ask yourself the following questions:
- Will my ideal client identify with me and my value proposition?
- Does my website communicate clearly (headlines, copy, images)?
- Are my pictures relevant?
- Does it feel cluttered?
- Does it feel too word-heavy?
- Does my website look old, or does it look fresh?
If you’re satisfied with these questions – then extend them to some clients or friends who will give you honest feedback. An online communication strategy is complex and unique to every sender, message and receiver. Arming yourself with as much relevant feedback as you can is as important as filtering through that feedback in the final strategy development.
If you then feel ready to rebrand – speak to someone who knows online communication, knows your industry and can show you some examples of what you can expect your website to look like. Our experience is that often financial planners become despondent when the website they were expecting is badly designed, the wording is clumsy or too busy and the images are simply non-engaging.
Our three online branding points for financial planners:
- Your website needs to be designed to reinforce you, not replace you.
- Your online brand needs to empower you, not ensnare you.
- Your online brand should lead to calls to your phone, not clicks to your posts.
I hope that helps!
#onlinebranding #personalwebsites #financialplanning
