Today’s customers are always on the go. They expect to be able to retrieve their financial information from anywhere. Simply maintaining an online presence is not enough as users avoid clunky, outdated pages that don’t work on phones and tablets.

Building a killer mobile layout backed by the right content is the key to online success in the financial services sector. Your pages can only pique interest when they scale to your users’ devices.

By implementing responsive features into your financial services website design, you’ll capture an audience and turn your online presence into a business generator.

Why does my financial services firm need a website?

An online presence serves multiple important purposes. A financial services website is an inexpensive way to generate leads that reach more people than radio, television, and print media. It is also the star of your marketing campaigns. Visitors arrive at your site from social media, advertisements, print material, emails, and search engines.

With the ability to reach billions of people, companies with new or redesigned websites see their number of quality leads rise by as much as 760% each year. Your online presence acts as your always-available virtual sales rep when built with the right content and focus.

A good website leads to conversions too. The ROI for a user-friendly redesign is five percent, higher than most sales techniques. People visit your pages when they are most interested in your services. You want to make sure you capture that interest. 

The importance of being mobile-responsive

Websites work because 75% of visitors view them as a source of credibility. Slow load times, poorly written content, clutter, and pages that don’t scale harm your hard-fought reputation.

Failing to make your website accessible to the 91% of visitors using phones and tablets actually places you out of reach of potential leads as well. Google now includes mobile-responsiveness as a factor in search engine optimization (SEO) rankings. Nearly 93% of online experiences start with a search engine, but less than 25% of visitors reach the second page of results. 

What is a mobile-responsive website?

The practice of building websites that work on a variety of devices such as phones and tablets is mobile-responsive design. Layout and content automatically adapt to the screen they are on.

To remain visually appealing, a responsive page avoids clutter, uses images and text blocks that align properly on multiple devices, and conveys information concisely.  Keep in mind that you have a limited amount of space to work with.

The best way to get a handle on responsive design is to look at examples. The following websites are prime examples of mobile-responsive websites:

• Harvest Capital
• Moula
• Harvest Financial

Try browsing beyond the homepage on each site using a phone, tablet, and laptop or desktop to get a feel for how each is built. These websites avoid horizontally aligned text blocks, make strong use of images, and separate key concepts into conceptual blocks. A smart website builder tool integrates these concepts automatically and can help you create a terrific layout that captures your brand perfectly.

Which web pages do I need?

A good layout supports useful content. Users need to know who you are and why they need your services. Use multiple pages to convey this.

Your website should include:

• A Homepage
• An About page
• A Blog
• A Products and Services page
• A Contact page

The Homepage acts as your introduction. This is the first page that almost all your visitors land on. Convey your mission and target your ideal audience. Promote other pages in 300 to 500-words accompanied by a captivating image.

The About page is the most visited after your Homepage. This is where visitors learn about your business, accomplishments, and story. Show existing and potential customers the personal side of you, your employees, and your services. Make people care about your brand in just over 500 words.

As a financial services company, you are an industry expert and can provide useful information through your blog. Adding 500 to 3000-word SEO-optimized articles generates traffic and pushes your products without directly selling them. Enlist professional writers to help you break down industry trends and highlight how you solve them.

Consider adding a Products and Services page so you can go in-depth on each of your offerings. Link to them from your blog. If you have many services, try going in-depth on each service on its own page. Each page should range from 500 to 750 words.

Once your visitors understand who you are and have a feel for your brand, products, services, and knowledge, have them fill out a contact form. The call to action on your blog articles needs to point here with a prominent link on each page. This is the form that turns visitors into leads.

Polished and concise pages work best. You are creating an experience, after all.

Crafting visible content

The content you create needs to sell, but this doesn’t mean explicitly selling. People respond poorly to tropes and advertisements online. Instead, you need well-planned, frequently updated content that makes people care.

You are selling a service. Build your experience around high-traffic keywords to target what matters most to your visitors. SEO tools let you find the best search terms for your audience and buzzwords to include on your different pages and articles.

Just like with your design, craft your content for a variety of devices. Use bullet lists, short paragraphs, and headers. Make sure that your margins grow as visitors move from phones to tablets and desktops. 

The world is not a stagnant place. Search engines and your customers know this. Make sure to refresh your pages every six months or so to continue to rank high on Google and Bing. Add a new blog article weekly to maximize your SEO ranking and update old articles with new content. Connect old blog articles to new content by linking to them.

Building websites for financial services made easy

Creating a website takes skill. Everything should ideally combine to create a digital marketing funnel. With the number of paths you’ll need to lead to your Contact page, the process of building those paths can be overwhelming.

A website builder for financial services helps you easily create an engaging user experience. Constant Contact includes compelling templates for every page, professional help, SEO tools with guidance to keep your page visible, and even help with email marketing. Our intelligent platform is always improving.

From page design to customer handling, these services aim to help you hone your online persona quickly and effectively. Manage the process and people surrounding your website without giving away control of your identity.

Financial services website design that works

The principles of solid financial services website design require you to be mindful of mobile users. With most traffic coming through tablets and phones, being scalable is a requirement. The right website and content can result in a noticeable return on investment.

Craft the webpages you need to create an effective sales funnel with the help of Constant Contact. View our guide for more information.

The post Keep Up With Your Customers Through Responsive Financial Services Website Design appeared first on Constant Contact.