Your company website is your first impression – make sure it’s a good one!
A well thought out and executed website can get your foot in the door with a potential client, and if you’re not careful it can also cause that door to slam shut!
A good website will entice your visitor and draw them in, so they want to learn more about your company and what it has to offer. A bad website can repel them in seconds.
What does your website say about you?
Whether you’re building a new website or revamping an existing one, keep these three things in mind:
- Think of the user – keep your web visitor’s experience top of mind
- Ensure your site features relevant content and easy, intuitive navigation
- Engage visitors with clear, uncluttered pages
If you DON’T want your website to succeed and you DO want to drive away visitors and potential clients, then be sure to follow these top 6 Surefire Ways to Ruin Your Website:
#1: HIRE A DEVELOPER UNFAMILIAR WITH ASSET MANAGEMENT AND THE FINANCIAL INDUSTRY
They won’t understand how you fit into the marketplace, nor will they know who your clients and target audience are and how to reach them. They won’t be able to create the more sophisticated material you need for your site, such as market commentary, educational pieces, and white papers. You may spend endless hours rewriting content to satisfy compliance.
#2: FAIL TO LEARN AND DEFINE YOUR MESSAGES
Who you are and why you are superior to your competitors is the foundation of your marketing. Without a clearly defined message all of your marketing materials, including your website, are useless.
#3: EXPECT PROSPECTS & CLIENTS TO FIND YOUR WEBSITE
Building the site is first step to creating a vibrant website. The next step, and equally important, is taking efforts to drive clients and prospects to your site. Once they land on your site, make sure you’re providing a variety of useful and interesting material for viewers so they will return. Otherwise, you have built a piece of art that simply spins in the internet heavens.
#4: LEAVE OUTDATED AND IRRELEVANT MATERIAL ON THE SITE
Without new and helpful content, your site is a swamp of stale information. You need to refresh the site on the services of your firm, insights into the industry, items of general interest to customers and clients, and the impact changes in society or regulations may have on your clients.
#5: CLUTTER YOUR HOME PAGE
Keep it basic. Your home page can’t hold all of your competitive advantages, a list of all of services, client testimonials, media, past successes, the firms’ top management, and more! Research shows most people can only absorb three thoughts at a time. What are your top three? Cluttered sites are quickly abandoned.
#6: EMPLOY NON-SENSICAL NAVIGATION
There must be a strict discipline on laying out the organization of a site. As a viewer clicks down into a tab of information it must flow from one item into the next related item. Otherwise, viewers are here, there, and out.
If you’re looking to create a new website, or revamp an existing one, we can help! Give us a call at 703-299-8390 or sign up for a complimentary web audit!