~ 11 min read
Financial web design has been a strong focus for ID Studio, in part due to our close proximity to London's financial heart. We have a lot of experience designing custom-made websites for a multitude of divisions within the financial industry. Being based in Central London, ID Studio understands the importance and contribution of the financial services industry, accounting for over 20% of the UK GDP.
Due to the diverse nature of the finance industry, we have found there are numerous reasons why a website is crucial to business development. We have listed below some of the most common website objectives, some industries will integrate all three platforms.
Marketing platform – To act as an online brochure for your financial services business, allowing visitors to find out more about your business and the services you offer. Depending upon your requirements, the site can be in the form of a parallax design, or from an extensive site map encompassing hundreds of pages.
Ecommerce platform – A good ecommerce website example for the financial industry would be insurance, where site visitors are allowed to purchase your services online through a secure platform (you would hope, more about this in the next section). Allowing visitors to purchase your services online can have many benefits, such as increased sales, especially with renewals as well as helping to reduce costs by minimising staff usage.
Document portal – The website can act as an information and document portal, allowing visitors to download documents relevant to their needs and policies.
Due to the nature of the financial industry, it is paramount that visitors feel secure whilst accessing your site. In addition, depending upon the financial industry you operate in, there may be laws and regulations that need to be adhered to with regard to online security. Some of the areas you may need to consider include:
Online chat – There are countless positives associated with having live chat functionality integrated into your website, and this is especially relevant for the finance industry. Due to the nature of this sector, site visitors are more likely to have questions and want assurances. With the option of live chat, this can be done before potential customers leave your site. Live chat also allows your potential customers to ask about your services without the concern of a ‘pushy’ salesperson making them feel uncomfortable. Live chat is an excellent addition to any website, however, if you are going to offer this service make sure you have the resources to run it properly.
Online applications – Not a necessary feature for all finance-related businesses, however, if your budget allows, this can be a great feature not only helping to generate sales, but to gain customer information. UX and UI are critical components whilst designing a successful online application, allowing users to change their information with ease is vital. This logic can be applied to insurance companies, customers may want to alter their excess to see what cost difference this makes to their premiums.
Online calculators – This functionality can be great for the banking industry, allowing your visitors to calculate their repayment costs for a mortgage or a loan. Elements that are crucial to the project’s success include simplicity to use, multiple field options, good support and as always, excellent UI and UE. Some of the advantages a price calculator can provide the financial industry include:
Reviews, ratings and testimonials – Building confidence in your business and the services you offer is key to converting site visitors into customers. By displaying positive customer reviews, you will boost trust and confidence in your brand. There are numerous tools to help you achieve this.
Our Team – By providing a team page you can help humanise your business, making site visitors feel more at ease. The team page doesn’t have to be boring, make it interesting by adding entertaining facts or caricatures. It also provides you with an opportunity to showcase talent, for example, Joe Bloggs is great at forensic accounting with over ten years of experience working for the world’s largest mining company…
CTA (Call to action) – Being in the financial industry, your website is likely to require call-to-action triggers. One of the main reasons many websites do not generate sales is due to poorly constructed call to actions. There are numerous tactics to create irresistible CTA:
Helpful tools – Provide online calculators (this is covered above), maps, search function etc.
Home page image carousel – Images are a great way to help emphasise a point, it also helps to reduce text and the need for people to read additional information. The financial industry is awash with the use of images, search on google for ‘health insurance’, ‘accountants London’ – they all use large emotive images often scrolling on the home page.
Video – The inclusion of video marketing will not be necessary for everyone, however, there are many ways that video marketing can help improve the effectiveness of your website. We have listed some reasons below tailored for the financial industry.
Infographics – The financial industry tends to be associated as a serious, boring industry and this can sometimes be reflected in their websites. By using appropriate infographics, you can make your website become visually more compelling and gain attention. In addition, infographics can help your audience better understand the financial services you are offering without the need for reading an abundance of information. Make sure that the infographic uses an eye-catching design, that promotes your brand and is easy to understand.
Charts – Charts need to work in the same way as infographics, allowing for the easy digestion of information that would otherwise be tiresome to read whilst highlighting your key USPs.
Site search – Quite often, finance-related websites can contain a lot of information, such as forms, documents, terms and conditions, policies etc. By adding search functionality, you can help improve usability and ultimately website conversions. Some of the related benefits include:
Newsletter signup – There are a number of excellent newsletter platforms that are relatively inexpensive to use. Newsletters if used properly, can be a brilliant medium to communicate with existing and potential customers, promoting your business whilst encouraging sales.
FAQS page – If your site visitor can’t find the answer to the question they are looking for, they are likely to leave to a competitor’s site. Usability is the key, and this is especially important for the financial industry. Quite often you will be providing a service such as insurance, financial transactions, consultancy and people want to know immediately if it is right for them. By adding a FAQ page, you can help put their mind at rest. Other benefits include:
Social media promotion – Even if your business does not embrace social media, being in the financial industry it may well embrace you! Customers may comment on a service your business offers, and unfortunately, people only usually comment when they are not impressed. So even if your website does not use social media, it is a good idea to respond to these mentions before they damage your brand. Social media can also be used to further your reach, promote financial services or your brand. The challenge with the finance industry is trying to make this content ‘fun’, that is where you need to be inventive!
Blog area – Blogs can be an excellent medium to promote your business and to gain search engine rankings. Financial industries can use blogs to their advantage on their websites by:
It is all well having a great-looking website, however, if no one can find it and you are ranked behind your rivals it will serve you little purpose in gaining new customers. SEO is often overlooked and left to the later stages, whether you have an existing website or building a new one, below are some key points that you need to contemplate.
If you already have a website, then you need to consider the implications of search engine migration. It is important that you have a full list of your current URLs. If you are going to use Screaming Frog or a similar platform to scan your website, remember they will only reveal pages that have links to them internally! To ensure you do not lose SEO juice, make a list of all pages that are going to be removed and redirect any changed links. In addition, make a list of any crawl errors so they are not continued with the new site. If you are currently undertaking any PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, make sure any new links are also updated in your campaigns.
There are numerous reports highlighting the dangers of site migration and the subsequent loss of search engine rankings. We believe and know from experience if you migrate efficiently and follow all necessary precautions there should be no issues.
Example migrations can include any of the following:
Below are some tips to make sure you achieve the best SEO migration possible for your finance-related website.
Internet Dreams Studio is proud to announce that we have recently been commissioned to design the new website for Buzzacott, a world-renowned leading financial business based in London. Buzzacott is a leading accountancy firm, in the UK top 25 providing expertise in a multitude of financial services.
JJCFinTech – Offers connectivity between market participants, investors, asset managers, dealers, vendors and other FinTech firms.
Project Objects – Is a leading provider of Extended Enterprise Project & Portfolio Management (XPPM) software.
Arlingclose – An independent treasury advisory company providing unbiased financial advice and capital financing expertise for the public, private and third sectors.
Invenio Corporate Finance – Is an independent, advisory boutique with a fresh and tailored approach to corporate transaction advisory.
Hamilton Ventures – An independent merchant banking boutique.
Opus Corporate Finance - Opus is a corporate finance advisory business providing independent, strategic and creative advice primarily to businesses in the UK and European mid-market.
Equiduct – A London based electronic trading platform.
If you are looking for a financial services web design agency with a proven track record, contact ID Studio to find out how we can help transform your online presence and give you a competitive advantage over your rivals.
