Category: Financial Advisor

How to Market to High-Net-Worth Individuals

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High-net-worth individuals require a different marketing approach than the rest of the world’s consumers.

According to the PwC Strategy & Global Wealth Management Survey 2016, high-net-worth individuals possess generous amounts of digital literacy. They use multiple devices frequently with 98 percent accessing the internet and/or apps on a daily basis.

Financial services not marketing to this demographic are missing out on a key group. Note, however, that marketing to high-net-worth individuals must be done right to be effective.

Highlighting Exclusivity and Top-Tier Service

High-net-worth individuals are used to having exclusive access and perks. These individuals expect products and services that are not available to the mainstream population. Your marketing needs to reflect that. Whatever you are offering, your strategy needs to promote this messaging.

Consider marketing your VIP perks, top-tier service not available to the mainstream, members-only benefits and anything else that requires a certain level of gatekeeping to access. This not only gives aspects of your business highly prized exclusivity, but it helps your high-net-worth individuals feel like their privacy is paramount.

The AltaStreet Client VAULT, for example, assures efficiency and confidentiality, giving your clients secure access to documents and personalized collaboration.

Personalization in Marketing

High-net-worth individuals expect individual attention and care. Providing this is easier said than done in marketing. When you are working with people one-on-one, you can tailor your activities and strategies to the individual. With an online or digital approach, this is harder to accomplish.

This is where data-driven marketing comes in. Focused campaigns should be monitored and analyzed to make sure that strategies are working well. If, on analysis, they are not effective, you can – and should – adjust them.

Generic campaigns like mass emails will not work with the high-net-worth segment of your market. Instead, your approach should be highly personal, without losing sight of what your clients want and need.

AltaStreet’s content filtering is one way to deliver highly personalized content. It allows marketers to pick and choose what each client or client group sees.

AltaStreet’s Features for Financial Marketing

Our Client PORTAL, Client VAULT, and content filtering are just three of the ways we can help tailor financial marketing to high-net-worth individuals. We are happy to build custom programming to suit any marketing needs.

Reach out to us today to learn more about our offerings. Schedule a consult with our team and we’ll get started right away.

 

Designing a Financial or Corporate Website for the Millennial Generation

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Millennials are people born between 1977 and 1995. (It’s really important to note that you can be born within three years on either side of the beginning or ending of a generation and have all the characteristics of the generation before or after.) Each generation has a mood or tone, and a value system, and it’s worth thinking about these to serve these groups more effectively.

Why do we need to be thinking about Millennials right now?

Most Millennials are in their 20s and 30s. Some are at the age where they are in senior positions in business. They’ve worked, have life experience, and are now in a position to make decisions, financial and otherwise, that affect the world.

The youngest Millennials have made the transition from young adult to adult. They are making decisions that will affect their financial futures.

Since each generation has different experiences and expectations, it’s worth knowing how all these people tick. If you know what they want, you’ll be able to give it to them better.

What Millennials Want and How Your Financial Website Can Deliver it to Them

Describing a generation is a massive generalization, but this is a generalization that is useful. Not everyone of this generation will fit the same description, but it’s a useful guide when it comes to things to consider for this age group.

Generally-speaking, then, Millennials are unlike previous generations. The world changes with each generation and if you’re aware of this you can adapt.

Here’s what makes Millennials tick.

 -Millennials value flexibility more than previous generations.

They have grown up during the the birth of the information age. They understand that a Wi-Fi connection means that they can work and do business from anywhere; and they demand that right.

They take part in recreation, shopping, socializing, and working, but you can add “on-the-go” to all of those words. If they can’t do it with technology, they may not bother.

More users will expect to be able to interact with your business online at any time as devices evolve, internet coverage grows, and connections become faster.

Mobile use has been growing steadily since 2009. Globally, more people searched through Google on mobile devices than on desktop computers back in October 2016.

Your Millennial audience is looking for services like yours via their mobile devices. You need to make sure that a) they find you, and that b) your site looks good on any mobile device.

Unfortunately, your potential customer is not likey to be forgiving about your website design, especially if he or she is a Millennial. They will just expect it to work. Fast. Now. On whatever device they are using.

– Millennials want it now, whatever it is.

They don’t care how long you spent coding. They just want it to work.

According to CNN, you’ve got 2.4 seconds for your page to load before people start clicking away. By 2.5 seconds, Millennials are wondering if there’s something wrong with the website or their device.

If someone has found you and the site loads within 2 seconds, you then need to make sure that it is attractive and usable on the mobile device in question.

The cues that a visitor gets from this interaction with your business can inform their impression of your firm, especially if it is the first contact they have with your business.

– Millennials are less interested in meeting people in person than other generations.

When communicating with Millennials, they will be less likely to want to “come into the office.” Expect text messages, instant messaging, or emails, and voice or video calls.

When designing your financial website, putting your business address at the bottom of the site and expecting people to turn up at your business is not going to get as many people contacting you as including a range of contact details, including telephone, email, a contact form, social media, and instant messaging.

Whichever communication media your target audience is using, offer these too.

– They value knowledge and experiences

Doesn’t everyone? Well, yes, but what this means for Millennials is that they are less likely to be impressed by qualifications, certifications, or awards, as opposed to experience or testimonials.

This means that your website provides you with a good opportunity for sharing your knowledge on relevant subjects. Guest blogging and other techniques can also help you establish yourself and your business as a trusted thought leader.

– They Love to Learn – Their Own Way

Millennials are more likely than other generations to seek a self-service solution to a problem.

A Millennial’s first stop may well be a website, where they will use information to diagnose their problem and find a solution they can employ themselves. When they need professional help, they are also likely to use the web to find the best-reviewed businesses or companies recommended by their peers.

What does this mean for your financial website? You want to consider not being so quick to offer a consultation or a package of solutions to a particular problem. Yes, you can offer these things, but also provide helpful advice that will inform your visitors and help them to diagnose and solve their own problems.

You can achieve this through an FAQ or knowledge base. Helpful blog posts on key questions asked by your customers will also provide value for people looking for those answers.

These posts can also build your brand, develop trust, and help establish you as a thought leader.

– A Millennial’s work-life balance has tipped towards life

The Millennial generation works to live. Friends and family and lifestyle are at the forefront. Hobbies and pastimes have great importance and value.

This is not to say that Millennials don’t work. They do. But their businesses become more a part of their lives and their identity than for other generations, who may separate work and play.

Millennials prefer to use businesses and brands that align with their values and say something about the kind of people they are.

Consider the values of your target demographic and psychographic. Make sure that they know where your business intersects with their ideals. You might be providing stability, flexibility, simplicity, or transparency. Make sure that your branding reflects your core values and that you tell the world so that your kind of people will join you.

The more information you have about your customers, the better you can serve them. We design high-quality, high-performing financial websites and we know how to serve Millennials. We also understand the value of maintaining a website that makes your potential customers feel as though you were expecting them.

Whether your website represents the first contact with a potential customer or it is sealing the deal after you’ve met, make sure that it’s working it’s best.

We know finance, we know website design, and we know Millennials. Get in touch with us today and we’ll make it easy for you to attract new clients and to serve your existing clients better.

Contact Dan Stark at www.altastreet.com to set up a call to find out if we figure out if we can have the impact we both want on your business.

 

How to Make a Better First Impression with Your Financial Website

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How do you normally aim to make a good first impression? A firm handshake? A winning smile? Steady but non-threatening eye-contact?

What about people who first discover you online? What first impression does your financial website give your potential clients?

If you’re thinking that once your website has their attention, you’ll close the deal in person or during a call, you could be losing a lot of business.

Neglecting your website can mean turning off many potential clients. And those that get in touch will be cooler and harder to win over than if your website had been performing optimally.

Why Making a Good First Impression is Important

– People use your site’s appearance to make decisions.

n the digital age, with so many people checking out your website to research your reputation and ability, it’s essential to make a good impression with your website.

– We are human

While good business and financial decisions are based on facts, statistics, and mathematical probabilities, we are still human. First impressions affect our decisions, whether we know it or not.

We want to do business with some people, because we get a good feeling about them. When all other factors are equal between two firms, we’re likely to go with the firm that made the best impression on us.

– A good impression can put you ahead of the competition

There’s a lot of competition in the financial services industry. Don’t let your business suffer because you are relying on your track record, testimonials, and reputation. These will help you get more business, but you’ve got to work on that first impression too.

– Improving the quality of your site is good for everyone

The work you put into creating a great first impression will improve the quality and usability of your website for all your visitors, whether they are existing clients or not.

How to Make a Great First Impression Online

According to Business Insider, you have only 7 seconds to make a first impression in person. According to the Nielson Norman Group, your financial website has 10 seconds to get your point across.

How do you do well in the face of these statistics? By focusing on the objectives of your financial services business, and by working on high-quality design to communicate clearly and quickly with your client base.

Here are some things to consider.

– Don’t try to please everyone

Making a good impression on your customers involves understanding who your customers are. What one demographic or psychographic will find welcoming might be off-putting to other groups.

Be specific with your marketing and branding. Think carefully about your ideal customer and design your website for them. This is not excluding other types of people who may also use your services.

Target the main people you are trying to attract and let them be your standard bearers for the rest of the world.

– Tell people what to expect

There are many ways for your financial website to communicate what your business does and who it’s for. Your imagery and colors and design will speak volumes. A few words on your homepage, such as a tagline or company slogan, or your mission statement, can be helpful.

One of the top reasons a visitor leaves a page within the first few seconds is that the page did not deliver what was expected. Your page is not going to be right for everyone who visits it, but don’t lose visitors because your message is unclear.

– Don’t overwhelm your visitors

A typical reaction to hearing that you must make an impression with your financial website is to list all of the great reasons for working with your firm. To avoid losing visitors, some firms create explanations of all their services, with links, and squeeze this onto the homepage.

Depending on the design, your business, and your target clients, this could lead very quickly to overwhelm, which is a prime reason for people clicking away.

You’re likely to create a better impression by keeping things simple. Designers talk about the importance of negative space, which is the space that surrounds an object in an image. Your financial website design should give people room to think and breathe.

– Be authentic

Today’s consumers are savvier than ever. Millennials, in particular, care about the culture, ethics, and values of the companies that they do business with. Don’t try to play them.

Trust is particularly important to the financial services industry. Your financial website doesn’t only need to be genuine. It needs to sound genuine from the very start. Achieving this might mean hiring professionals to help you communicate with your target customers.

Creative imagery and natural text can help you get your message across. It may be counter-intuitive, but sometimes it takes a professional to create writing that sounds natural, so outsource accordingly.

Display your Authority

People are looking for a financial services firm that they can trust. You can communicate this quickly online by linking to testimonials and displaying your social proof.

Social proof is often explained by describing two restaurants. One has a tumbleweed blowing across the tables. The other has a queue going around the block. Which appears to be the better restaurant?

Popularity isn’t the only measure of a company’s quality, but it’s a hint. If you have people queuing around the block to get hold of your financial services and if people are coming back again and again, let the world know.

A widget that tells visitors how many people have ‘liked’ your page and offers them the opportunity to do the same can be an effective strategy for communicating and improving social proof for financial websites.

Once someone has received their first impression of your business, it’s very hard to change their minds. Don’t leave the first impression of your business to an outdated or unfocused website. With an audit or overhaul of your business’s presence online, you can stop fighting this uphill battle.

At AltaStreet, we have design professionals that understand the financial industry inside out. We will help you communicate your unique message to your clients to make a lasting first impression.

To learn more and find out why over 1K clients have worked with AltaStreet, you can contact Dan Stark.

 

You Have a Financial Website. Now Make it Good.

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Looking to improve your website? That’s a great idea.

It’s no secret that in today’s world, on of the first places customers evaluate you is on your website.

Knowing the value of making a solid first impression, it’s worth investing time and money in your “online storefront.” If potential clients don’t like what they see when they reach your page, they will simply click away.

Improving What You Have

Unless you are a brand new company, chances are you already have a website in place. Whether or not it’s doing the job you need it to is another story.

There are several key functions that a website should perform to be effective, both from a user experience perspective, and from a marketing one.

To find out how well your website is achieving your marketing goals, you can test it by visiting the site grader.com. Type in your website address and email, and your site will be analyzed instantly. Once you’ve received your report, you will get an overall score, as well as an individual score across a range of parameters. These parameters greatly affect your search engine result placements (SERPs), and therefore the effectiveness of your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts.

If your site is only scoring “OK” or “Poorly” on any of these parameters, particularly performance and SEO, you need to take action. That may mean improving your hosting package so that page load times decrease, leading to a better experience for your users. It could also mean condensing the code.

There are lots of different techniques for improving every aspect of your business website. If your IT person or web developer says that raising your site’s scores is not possible, that’s a good indication that your business needs to provide extra training for your IT staff or that it’s time to find a new web development company.

Content

While the Grader report focuses very much on performance, mobile-friendliness (how your site looks and operates on a mobile device), and SEO, it doesn’t take your content into consideration.

You’ll notice that keywords found on your site have ZERO IMPACT on your SEO score. Times have changed and keyword stuffing your pages does not improve your organic search rank (unpaid placement) in Google.

What is important in the first instance is having your page titles, meta tags, and descriptions on point. And the way to drive a lot of traffic to your site – and encourage those important backlinks from authority sites – is to have great written and graphical content.

So, what does great content look like?

Well, first and foremost it should speak directly to your customers. Instead of using sentences that start with “We…” for example, “We are great at growing our customers’ pension funds,” try flipping this to put your potential customers in the spotlight. So, how about:

“You know you need a sizable pension to retire by 65, but you’re not there yet. If you want no nonsense, objective, financial advice, you can contact us for a free consultation.”

By focusing your web copy on your customers and speaking directly to them, you are more likely to engage them convincingly enough for them to reach out. That should be the primary function and marketing goal of any business website.

Social Media

Do you have company profiles across all of the major social networks, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, Pinterest, SnapChat, and YouTube? Don’t worry if you are not on every social network, as long as you are on the main social networks used by your potential customers.

Are your linking to your social network profiles from your website “above the fold?” This is an old newspaper term, but in a modern context it simply means the area of a website that is visible on a user’s device, without them having to scroll.

Why is the area “above the fold” so important? Statistics show that as many as 75% of new visitors to a website never scroll down to view all the content on the loading page. You have to grab their attention at the top!

Social proof is vital

“Social proof” includes things like public reviews, forum discussions mentioning your company and staff, referrals on social media, “likes,” and followers.

It demonstrates that you are trustworthy and allows your site visitor to form a more detailed impression of your company. For example, will a new customer clicking over to your Facebook page see that you and the team received thousands of “likes” for raising money for a childhood cancer charity? Or, will they be hit with a stream of negative reviews aimed at your customer services department? The power of social proof cannot be underestimated.

Think of social media as an extension of your financial website. Think carefully about the brand and image which you wish to portray. If you get stuck, speak to a web design expert who can carry your branding to your social media pages.

Be sure to moderate any comments on your profile pages, and keep the pages regularly updated so that there is always fresh content for users to consume.

Blog

Not all financial institutions have a blog on their website yet. The lack of enthusiasm for blogging often comes down to a lack of time or resources. This is an opportunity for your company. Blogging is one of the best ways to showcase your brand and ethos to a wider audience. If the content is of a high quality and you are actively promoting your content across social media, some of your content may go viral.

Of course, there needs to be a hook in the blog title that encourages the user to read it – just like you chose to read this one after reading the title.

Check out CoSchedule’s headline analyzer tool to make sure you are always creating catchy titles that resonate with your audience. Spend time writing compelling content – or outsourcing it to a writing agency – so you always have well-conceived and well-written content to share with your growing network.

To give your financial website an overhaul and put some distance between you and your competition, fast, get in touch with a financial website professional.

As you can see, having a great financial website isn’t rocket science, but it does require some time, effort, and resources to get it right. Once the results start rolling in, in the form of new leads, customers, and sales, you’ll be glad you put in the time.

Learn how we have helped over 1,000 Companies in the Financial Space thrive. Contact Dan Stark at AltaStreet today.

 

Using Jungian Archetypes To Market Your Financial Website

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The use of Jungian archetypes has become a great hack everywhere from film scripts to dating sites. Websites and brand management are no exception. Once the basic concept is clear, you’ll see why it makes a lot of sense for financial websites.

How Jungian Archetypes Work

Archetypes refer to characters that can be found in stories across cultures. Their names may vary, but they are so recognizable that we accept them as universal. Essentially, the Jungian archetypes are little different from any other set of characters, whether they are from Greek Mythology, the Zodiac, or ‘The Seven’ from Game of Thrones. However, Jungian archetypes are useful because they are widely written about in a marketing context, providing a fixed point of reference.

These characters’ main asset is that they are intrinsic to global culture. This makes them familiar in a way that is extremely powerful and, according to neuroscience, helps us to remember information associated with them. This happens via common emotional patterns and the stories they trigger in the viewer’s unconscious, as well as the stories that brand managers construct for them.

Market Context

So how does this benefit a financial website? Previous models of financial branding are not as solid as they once were. The more paternal, traditional brands such as the wise and dependable institution have been integral to offline financial branding for many years. However, negative personal experiences and the banking crisis have soured the credibility of this approach, leaving many consumers wary of this branding. But market context is just one part of the picture. Equally important are customer demographics and brand.

Customer Demographics

A major driver of branding is positioning a product or service to appeal to the kind of customer the financial institution is hoping to attract. Banks and financial services companies have aimed at gathering the widest customer base possible, which poses problems for Jungian archetypes.

With online services and niche markets expanding, targeted branding using Jungian archetypes makes sense for financial websites focusing on a particular demographic for their customer base.

Brand Management

Site development and content management all rely on tone to vector the information they provide. Finding the right brand for financial services can be a challenge – it needs to be both serious and engaging. By taking on an archetypal character, or even a combination of two or three of them, the information can be framed in such a way that it becomes more of a narrative with specific traits; a pre-packaged brand ‘identity.’

This way, it’s easier to find a narrative hook and strong adjectives that will enliven the writing, without blundering into hyperbole, because the archetypal character keeps the writing coherent to the brand, even when it’s pushing the envelope.

It’s in the use of images that archetype branding really takes off. Images for financial websites tend to be the same blue-gray pictures of white men looking down at documents, women and children jumping, or something that vaguely suggests digital via overlaid strings of soft focus binary code.

By digging into archetype branding, however, a completely different palate and symbolic language become available. This greater visual range can be employed without detracting from the brand message or identity. Archetype branding is much more visually exciting than traditional design.

The 12 archetypes:

The Innocent, also known as the orphan

Idealistic, pure, straight dealing, optimistic, kind and simple. Not many financial companies run with this archetype, but The Co-operative Bank is one example.

The Hero

Strong, fierce, relentless, disciplined, like Paypal.

The Everyman

Real, honest, hardworking, fair. GoCompare.com, though not strictly a financial company, is one. Amalgamated Bank and Visa are also examples of this archetype.

The Caregiver

Kind, generous, comforting; someone who serves. Several insurance companies aim for this archetype, including Legal and General, Guardian Life, and Prudential.

The Jester

Spontaneous, fun, playful, and sometimes inappropriate. Virgin Money is a good example of this brand.

The Explorer

Freedom, self-improvement, discovery, daring, self-sufficiency. This seems like a space that’s waiting for a big player to fill it. Discover.com and Libertybank.net are giving it a go, and accounting software FreeAgent.com provides a masterclass.

The Outlaw / Revolutionary

Mould-breaking, tear down and rebuild. E*trade and Virgin.

The Magician

Change-makers who cause us to shift our perspective, grandiose. Magicians are also logical, insightful, and analytical. Oracle.com is a classic example of the magician archetype – as are a lot of cloud-based services and quant-driven investment firms, such as Robeco.com.

The Lover

Orientated towards the senses, deep connections and lasting relationships. This is more Dove soap and Hagen Daas than financial services.

The Creator

Creative, driven, open-minded, determined. Usually associated with brands such as Lego and Apple, the creator archetype is rare in risk averse financial institutions. However, ally.com, Hellobank, and eLife online banking are all going there, and Commerce Bank online has arrived.

The Ruler

Authoritative, in control, responsible; always seeking improvement. Moody’s investment service.

The Sage

Knowledgeable, objective, research orientated. Wisely even has an owl logo. Other Sage companies include Credit Insights and Personal Capital.

Financial websites are getting a lot livelier. If you want to stand out, consider looking at where your brand might go via archetypes.

Imagine how much more interesting and exciting your website could become. And use these archetypes to help attract the ideal customers looking for your product or service and style.

Learn How AltaStreet has helped well over 1,000 Firms thrive in the Financial Space. Contact Managing Partner, Dan Stark to set up a Discovery Call or email: dan@altastreet.com

 

 

How to Avoid Your Financial Website Being Penalized by Google

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If you are running a financial website, you can learn a thing or two from Google. At Google, they are always trying to serve their customers as best they can, and they know how to do it. If you follow the spirit of Google’s content guidelines, you’ll be pleasing your visitors too.

Keep up with Google. You’ll slip down the rankings if your content and site design do meet their ever-changing content requirements. When you do something that is against Google’s guidelines, you are penalized. Their aim isn’t to punish you, so much as it is to elevate content that its users will like, and push the rest down the rankings.

When Google updates, it does so for good reasons. These changes, however, can force poor quality content off the map. An example is 2012s Penguin update, described as a webspam algorithm, which affected 1 in 10 search results.

Since 2012, the Penguin update it has been gone through several iterations. It works in real time, which means that new businesses can no longer get away with poor quality content or site design for a few months until they get round to improving their offering. Google will spot and deal with these sites immediately.

And Penguin is just one of many algorithms that Google uses to maintain the quality of its search results. Since Google can wipe out a business with the flick of a switch, you’d better be aware of what they’re doing and when.

If you’ve been working hard on your site, but it’s still not ranking well, you may have been penalized for something without realizing it. If you search for your brand name and your site ranks poorly, or your page one positions have slipped to page two or three for no apparent reason, you’ve most likely been penalized.

Google doesn’t always announce the changes it makes. There are common reasons for being penalized, however, so we recommend that you look at these first.

Duplicate Content

Whether it’s found within your domain, or across the net, duplicate content gets Google’s heckles up.

Some people deliberately create duplicate content for non-malicious reasons. For example, you might have a page of content and a duplicate page that is simply-formatted for printing.

In this kind of situation, you need to indicate your preferred URL to Google. This is called canonicalization. One way to do that is by using Search Console.

Google prefers it if you do not try to prevent its spiders looking at pages (such as by using a robots.txt file). It is far happier when you use canonicalization to tell it which pages as duplicates and which page you prefer.

You can also avoid being penalized for duplicate content by:

  • being consistent about the format you use for linking to pages internally;
  • using 301 redirects if you’ve restructured your site;
  • minimizing boilerplate repetition, such as by avoiding lengthy copyright text at the bottom of every page and replacing it with something shorter that links to your main copyright information page;
  • avoid placeholders if you’re in the process of (re)designing your site;
  • consolidating or differentiating pages with similar content.

Some people create duplicate content across various domains to deliberately boost their keyword use and move up the rankings. Google doesn’t want its users to see an entire page of links that all deliver the same content though.

Google does not suffer this kind of deception. It will penalize these domains without a second thought.

Buying Links

Having more sites link to yours used to be taken as evidence of the usefulness and quality of your site. These days, however, one link from a high-quality website is worth much more than many links from low-quality websites.

If you’re buying links, the standard of sites linking to you is likely to be very poor. Not only does this not help your rankings, but it will actually go against you.

Too Many Reciprocal Links

As with buying links, Google takes too much reciprocity is a sign that you are attempting to manipulate the rankings rather than provide a quality experience for your visitors.

The response? Penalization.

Not Enough Outbound Links

Google expects high-quality websites to understand that they do not exist in isolation and that there are other sites that its users may find useful. Almost every business has complimentary products, services, and information. Google rewards businesses that have a wider view of their customers’ needs.

Broken Internal Links – If you have broken links on your website, it means that your visitors are falling into potholes and bumping into each other in dead ends. Since Google wants the best possible experience for its users, it penalizes websites that don’t look after their infrastructure.

Broken External Links – Linking to quality sites is looked on favorably by Google. If the details of those pages change, however, that leaves you with broken external links, frustrated visitors, and a potential penalty from Google.

Keyword Stuffing – Since the Penguin update in 2012, keyword stuffing and other attempts to manipulate search results have been going rapidly out of fashion.

The best approach to SEO is to be aware of the keywords your target audience will be searching for and to use them naturally in genuinely useful content.

Overusing Meta Keywords – This is similar to keyword stuffing, but, in this case, you’ve been stuffing the meta tags rather than the main content. Essentially, your meta keywords are intended to help search engines and their users understand the content of your site.

Overdoing it with meta keywords is the equivalent of those envelopes where advertising messages are printed all over the envelope. You don’t even need to open the envelope to know that you’ve received some time-wasting spam. Do this to Google and they will blacklist your site and move on.

Spun Content – spun content is reworded content. The only originality you can expect in these articles is creative use of a thesaurus. Spun articles can push the boundaries of grammar, as writers strive to rewrite existing content for the sole purpose of evading anti-plagiarism software.

There are many articles written about how much content you need for your website and how often you should post. Too few articles talk about how quality wins over quantity.

A site that offers original, useful, expert advice will serve its visitors better than websites that pay cheap writers to spin content.

Google agrees.

Poor Mobile Websites – Google loves mobile. As is typical of Google, this is because Google’s users like mobile.

Mobile internet searches surpassed desktop searches in 2014. The percentage of web pages visited via mobile devices is on the increase all around the world.

With access to mountains of data and a direct line to the desires of its users, Google knows that mobile is critical. If you are not meeting the needs of mobile users, you can expect your site to slip down the rankings in favor of sites that feature mobile versions or responsive design.

One of the more recent additions to Google’s idea of what makes a good mobile site concerns pop-ups. Pop-ups can be effective for lead generation, capturing many email addresses. They are also very intrusive, however, and can impede a visitor’s experience, particularly via mobile.

Thanks to the ‘Intrusive Interstitial’ Update, pop-ups that cover an entire page are considered a barrier to the content being sought. Sites that use them face penalization by Google.

In addition to getting your site moving up the rankings, you need to maintain best practices to avoid going the other way. The landscape of the internet is always evolving. While some factors for delivering quality, useful websites are common sense, others take some expertise to understand, unravel, and repair.

Having financial expertise and the ability to deliver it to your visitors is essential to your success, but that’s not enough to ensure that you do well in the rankings.

To make sure that your financial website is offering the best possible experience to your visitors and avoiding unnecessary penalization by Google, get in touch with a financial web design professional with years of experience in financial services and web design.

Get in touch with Dan Stark to learn how AltaStreet helps Financial Advisors with their SEO.

Email: dan@altastreet.com

www.altastreet.com

AltaStreet Financial Websites and Marketing Chosen by the Nation’s Largest Independent Broker/Dealer* and Leader in the Retail Financial Advice Market

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LPL Financial, the nation’s largest independent broker/dealer* and leader in the retail financial advice market, has selected AltaStreet Financial Websites and Marketing for inclusion in LPL Financial’s Vendor Affinity Program.

The Vendor Affinity Program was designed to help its more than 14,000 advisors reduce the complexity and costs of running their businesses. The program consists of a centralized repository of vendors that have agreed to provide their products and services to LPL advisors at discounted prices. AltaStreet offers LPL advisors creation of custom websites across a range of budgets.

AltaStreet is a leading provider of advisor-centric technology solutions including custom website design, custom back end development and automation technology for financial services companies.

“At AltaStreet, we approach work with our clients through a lens of true discovery in an effort to uncover stumbling blocks and obstacles our clients face when using the Internet to market their business, generate leads, acquire clients and add revenue to the bottom line,” said Dan Stark, director of Business Development at AltaStreet. “The technology solutions we offer can significantly cut costs and boost revenues and ultimately help clients thrive in the digital world.”

“We recognize that technology is a major contributor to creating increased efficiency and driving greater productivity in our clients’ businesses,” said Victor Fetter, LPL Financial managing director and chief information officer. “Being able to connect LPL clients with leading technology solution providers adds a new dimension to the level of service and support we can provide to clients to help them manage and grow their businesses.”

AltaStreet was founded in 1998 by CEO Robert Sheinbein, a former financial advisor who created technology automation to serve his own office. As an advisor managing a family’s multi-billion dollar portfolio, Sheinbein could see the tremendous value the automation provided. With a unique perspective to be able to deliver technology solutions that solve advisors’ unique needs, he parlayed his experience into building complex back-end systems for a variety of companies and began AltaStreet. His financial services industry experience separates AltaStreet from other businesses in the website design and development space, as the company blends Sheinbein’s perspective with that of experts in business, marketing, sales, branding, websites and technology to create a premier company providing custom website design, custom website development, and web marketing services to the financial services industry.

AltaStreet is an industry leader in the custom website design space, specializing in design, development, SEO, branding and logo design. The company’s programming skills can support a range of needs, including social networking tools, shopping carts and payment gateways, with the proprietary tools for supporting compliance needs.

About AltaStreet:

AltaStreet Financial Websites and Marketing was founded in 1998. AltaStreet is a leading provider in custom website design, custom development and automation technology for financial services companies. They often function as an outsourced CMO for the companies they help. AltaStreet’s solutions provide a very high return on investment for their clients. In the space they operate in, where their clients need credibility, image matters. What does your website say about you?

For more information about AltaStreet, please visit  http://www.altastreet.com

About LPL Financial:

LPL Financial, a wholly owned subsidiary of LPL Financial Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:LPLA), is a leader in the retail financial advice market and served approximately $486 billion in advisory and brokerage assets, as of May 31, 2016. LPL is one of the fastest growing RIA custodians and is the nations largest independent broker-dealer (*based on total revenues, Financial Planning magazine June 1996-2016). The Company provides proprietary technology, comprehensive clearing and compliance services, practice management programs and training, and independent research to more than 14,000 independent financial advisors and over 700 banks and credit unions, enabling them to help their clients turn life’s aspirations into financial realities. Advisors associated with LPL also serviced an estimated 45,000 retirement plans with an estimated $121 billion in retirement plan assets, as of March 31, 2016. LPL also supports approximately 4,200 financial advisors licensed and affiliated with insurance companies with customized clearing, advisory platforms, and technology solutions. LPL Financial and its affiliates have more than 3,400 employees with primary offices in Boston, Charlotte, and San Diego.

For more information, please visit http://www.lpl.com

Securities and Advisory Services offered through LPL Financial. A registered investment advisor, Member FINRA/SIPC.

What Steps A Financial Advisor Can Take When Considering To Start Own Business?

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Every business can reach its level of potential only if that business is led by a number of important strategies and techniques and talking about initiating a business of a financial advisory, it may sound a small business, but if you exactly know how to extract the actual potential then this business can do wonders for you.

Business can be opened anywhere start by renting out a home office or a small commercial place so that you can offer your services and suggestions to your clients. In this era, where people are more seeking out for financial advisors, more and more people are trying to play their fortune in the field of investments, so a financial advisor websites is a must thing that one must keep in mind!

Though, if you are already experienced in the field of financial advisors then putting up this business will be very helpful for you as well as for your business. It may sound very tempting, but before you make up your mind about this business, there are certain things which you must be fully aware of.

So, let’s get going with some of the tips which will help you to start your own business.

  • Costing:

Starting a business initially requires a lot of costs, which may include renting of a place, buying furniture, advertising, etc. You need to pretty sure of extra expenses which you feel might affect your budget so work accordingly so that it’s not your business who suffers at the end.

  • Licensing & Training:

Getting a genuine license is very important as it helps to build up your trust with your new clients earning a professional degree or two bits of help in enhancing g your way to tackle your clients in a much-sorted manner. It not only adds credibility to your business but also helps to enhance the reputation for your business.

  • Appropriate Business Model and Services Offered:

After you know where you can actually target your audiences the next thing that one must be focussed about is the type of services they offer to their clients. At times, some financial advisors work on commissions so as to earn more while on the other hand, there are many advisors available who work strictly on fees.

  • Liabilities:

Stepping into any business brings a whole amount of liabilities with them and this is what you are supposed to accept not fear of. So, go through all the rules and regulations before you step in!

Bottom Line!

Everyone wants to start their own financial advisors business, but for that, a financial advisor website is must things which will help your clients know about you! So, work well and embrace your techniques of handling customers.

10 Things a Financial Advisor Can Do to Beat Its Competitor in 2019

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To be a victorious financial advisor, one needs to take care of many things apart from money, as website holds the most important and significant role while promoting a business at a global level. The main reason why financial advisor website design is an important aspect is that it helps your existing as well as new clients to understand your way of working and dealing with your clients which eventually helps you to decline the rate of customer churn.

When you are wise and gentle with your viewers, you automatically turn your viewers into clients, which helps you to enlarge your business circle. Talking only about the business, at a certain point it becomes important for you to integrate some of the new techniques so as stay updated and ahead of your competitors.

The competition does exist in every industry and sharp-witted companies do negate their competition by following some of the best yet simple things to make their business a tough cookie for its competitors.

So, let’s begin!

  • Set Your Goals

Before you start with your business it is always a must thing for you to set your goal, because if you haven’t set your goal, yet it will be tough for you to reach to the level that you always wanted to.

  • Explore Your Targeted Audiences

One must always have the sense to understand the type of audiences they want to target to. Go through the demographics and statics and understand well where you can have more of revenue and work accordingly.

  • Understand the Requirements of Your Client

Understanding the requirements of the clients helps you to give them what they want and what they are actually expecting from your business. So always try to understand what your client wants from you!

  • Enhance Your Skills as a Techno-Advisor

Try to increase your knowledge in the field of technology as well as it will only help cope up with your competitors.

  • Make Technology Part of Your Skills

Technology plays a very important role in surging up the revenues for your business. Start to integrate new tools into your website to give your users a better website experience. Through which you can share much of the relevant information about your business with users.

  • Work Well With Pricing

Before you start to put the prices for your services, it is advised that one must do ample of research with its competitors, because this will only enlighten you up with the best value of the money. The prices that you set must be economical so that people can use the services of your business without any hesitation.

  • Work With Innovation

Never back off when it comes to taking risks, use good and innovative services and tools with your services so that you can provide an additional feature to your clients.

  • Give Your Business a Room to Grow

A business only emerges as best when you don’t suffocate it with discipline and rules, but by giving it ample of room to grow. By taking suggestions from others only help your business to grow.

  • Get Hold of Your Customer Services

People love it when they get additional services and you can add your customer services as an add-on. It will not only help you to retain and engage your clients but will also help to build their trust in you.

  • Work With Simplicity

Your main aim should be to gain the trust of your clients as a financial advisor so that they can invest in your strategies without any hesitation. At times the professional indulge their clients into some complex charts and statics which will only create confusion. So it’s always a better option to stay simple with your thoughts and strategies.

5 Creative Website Design Ideas for Financial Advisors

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Each and every website has one of the most robust tool which is used for marketing purposes as it has great potential to trigger and get new customers, which also helps you to retain and get your existing customers engaged well with you. With the help of such financial advisor websites, all the advisors get the opportunity to change their creative outlook into reality and we guess that this is what they like to do, to bring something new and fresh to the plates of their clients.

So, let’s give you a little sneak peek of something which we have got most inquiries about, which is how to build a user-friendly yet an outstanding financial advisor website.

But before we start, there is one thing that one must keep in mind while they develop a good website is that every financial advisor websites must be informative so that it creates an impact on its viewers hence helping in lead generation.

Money Flow – Advisor

This website is one of the most responsive websites which is built to let the viewers know about the company’s different services. Each and every column is well defined so that the viewer gets to understand well about different services like that of retirement plans, wealth management, etc.

The construction of the website is very eye catchy, which lets the viewers stay back on the page.

Vistica Wealth Advisor

This California based website is also one of the most user-friendly websites which help to showcase its different services that they provide.  The boldness of the words and the icons helps the viewers get to the appropriate place and seek appropriate information as well.

They have a page called “who we serve” is also one of the catchiest ideas, which further informs in some of the most creative ways

  • Individuals and families
  • Institutions
  • Retirement plans sponsors

The other page well defines the client’s experience with the company!

Nelson Financial Services –Website

A website which contains appropriates icons helps the viewers to understand which way they are supposed to proceed and also helps them to understand the type of services that the website provides them with. This type of website not only helps in lead generation, but also plays an important role to engage the new as well as existing clients.

The page of “Meet our Team” helps you understand them well and by clicking on it you easily get the details.

Streamline Financial Advisor

Getting into the top numbers of financial advisors websites, need to have many reasons and this is one other reason why we have selected Streamline Financial Advisor. The website which provides its viewers with an informative video right on the home page is just like a cherry on the cake as it helps the viewers to understand your services well.

The second catchy thing this website has is the crisp and clear contact information.

A website which has a lot of plus points holds great opportunity to be viewed by many people.

JP Maxwell Financial Advisor Website

This website showcases its goals and how they will achieve it though there are much of informative content available for the viewers emphasizing on the different services. The color selection of the website is an add-on.

Bottom line!

Don’t waste your time in finding the best ideas to create financial advisor websites, but try to look it as if you are the viewer as this will help you to understand where your website is lacking on!

The motive of AltaStreet is to help all of its clients to create a well-established web presence bundled up with professionalism, trust, and credibility. This website helps to build much user-friendly financial advisor websites.