If you’re about to rebuild your financial adviser website is it better to “go big” or “go small”? Many people swear by one or the other, yet the matter is rarely clear-cut. Indeed, the answer in your particular case will likely be tied up with other important questions which need answering, such as:
- What is my budget for my new financial adviser website?
- Who will I be targeting with my content?
- Will I be building a bespoke website, a “template” site or something in-between?
Here at CreativeAdviser, we specialise in bespoke website design for financial advisers. Here, we will be offering some thoughts on how to navigate the question of whether to go big or small with your website design refresh. We hope you find this content helpful and invite you to check out our recent work, and to get in touch regarding your own project if you’re interested in a free consultation.
The advantages of a small financial website
Some of the main benefits of a smaller website design project are the costs and timescales involved. If your new financial website is going to consist mainly of a “scrolling-style” homepage, for instance, then this will usually come at a much lower cost compared to a project with 25+ web pages.
The project duration is also likely to be shorter – perhaps as little as a month, depending on whether you pursue a “bespoke” option or a more “template” approach. Going down this road, therefore, can be much more sensible for a startup IFA or financial adviser, and for smaller firms which are looking to get up and running fairly quickly on a more limited budget.
Another advantage of a one-page website is that they are nice to look at on mobiles, since all of the information is readily available to the user on the homepage. All they need to do is scroll down to find the information they need, and they are less dependant on a navigation bar to find content.
Arguably, moreover, it is better for a financial adviser to have a small, bespoke website than a larger “template-based” design. The latter, after all, is likely to look less prestigious and unique than the former. As such, a financial adviser with a tighter budget is likely to impress prospective clients more easily when they visit their website.
In our experience, the size of a financial website isn’t necessarily what matters to a prospect when it comes to making a good first impression. The quality of the design, however, matters immensely.
Finally, another strong reason to consider a smaller website design is that it can usually be built upon later. For instance, suppose you are a one-man IFA looking to generate interest to your website from local prospective clients. By getting a small, bespoke WordPress website up and running with a nice logo and brand, you can then build additional landing pages and blogs for the website after it is launched. This can help you build your website’s local SEO profile by targeting different local search phrases and user intent with relevant content.
The advantages of a larger financial website
Perhaps the main benefit of a larger financial website is that it allows you to pack a lot more content onto the website. If you’re limited to one page, for instance, then you will find it difficult to go into considerable depth about your company, your values and your services.
A small financial website, in short, is more of a “shop window” for a financial adviser’s clients. A larger website can behave more like an online brochure, allowing prospects to consume more content about your business at their own pace.
A larger website, as such, is better able to be equipped as a “content marketing machine” from the get-go. You could have a page dedicated to downloadable guides, white papers and brochures, for instance. A one-page financial website, however, might be limited to squashing one or two download links onto a section of its homepage.
A larger financial website can also accommodate a wider range of audiences. Suppose you are a financial services firm with two audiences – a B2C audience and a B2B audience. Limiting yourself to just one page is likely to suffocate the communication you want to provide to these two groups. By opting for a larger website design (e.g. one with a dedicated section or set of pages for each audience) you are more likely to meet their needs effectively.
One other advantage to consider with regards to a larger site concerns SEO. Whilst it is not true that a larger website will naturally perform better in the search engines compared to a smaller one, it is true that the larger site will probably get off to a better start (assuming it is designed correctly). This, naturally, is because of the larger number of pages on the website which allows it to target a wider range of user intent from the beginning.
Please note, however, that a larger website will still need regular, high-quality content to be published on its blog (or other content area) to build its SEO profile over time. A static, multi-page financial website, all things being equal, will eventually fall behind in the search engines compared to a smaller website which is regularly pushing out great content and thought leadership.
So, which is the better financial website?
As you can see, there is no universal answer to that question. It largely depends on your goals, needs and audience for the project – which will vary from case to case. This makes it all the more important that you discuss your project requirement clearly with your prospective agencies beforehand so that they have a clear idea of what might be the best way forwards.
Here at CreativeAdviser, we can offer both routes as a bespoke option. Get in touch today to arrange a free consultation with one of our team if you’d like to discuss your own project with us.
