It’s perhaps an uncomfortable truth that, on its own, your website will never, ever, generate a single new enquiry.
In fact, your website only works:
- When it’s promoted as part of a wider marketing strategy, or
- As an effective step on a prospect’s journey to your door, and
- If it has the right calls to action.
Let’s look at all three in more detail.
No one will visit your website if you don’t promote it
If you launch a new website, then sit back and wait for the enquiries to roll in, I’m afraid you’re going to be disappointed.
Why?
Because it needs promoting.
The ‘Mona Lisa’ can teach us something here. It’s an odd reference, I know, but hear me out as I explain.
The world’s most famous painting sits in the Louvre where it’s visited by more than 10 million people each year. But let’s say for a moment that it’s moved to a different gallery, where it’s put on display, but it’s not promoted. It’s still the world’s most famous painting, but no one will visit it. Not a soul.
Why?
Because it’s not being promoted.
The same is true of your website. It might be the greatest website in the world, stacked full of social proof with beautiful design, but if you don’t promote it, no one is going to visit it.
I’ll spare you a longer rant about why “build it and they will come” is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard, as I did that a few weeks ago!
Understanding the “Enquiry Equation”
Your website is a vital pit stop on the journey prospects take to your door.
From conversations I have with advisers/planners, I’m not sure that everyone understands that journey or why their website is such an important part of it.
That’s why we’ve developed something called the “Enquiry Equation”.
Let’s look at a couple of examples of the Enquiry Equation in action.
Example #1: Peter wants to retire and, on a night out, asks his friends who they take advice from. He’s given your name by his best friend, whose opinion he respects. Next day he searches for you online, looks at your Google reviews, and then visits your website before calling your office to set up a meeting.
For Peter the Enquiry Equation is:
Recommendation + Google search + Reviews + Website visit + Phone call = Enquiry
Example #2: Sally has been driving past your office every day for the past five years. She’s been meaning to get in touch because she’s confused about her pensions, but she’s never found the time. Last night, she saw something on the news that worried her and, as she drove into work the next morning, she sees your office again. As soon as she arrives at her desk, she searches for your business online, visits your website and, because it’s still early, fills out an online enquiry form.
In Sally’s case the Enquiry Equation is:
Brand awareness + Google search + Website visit + Online form = Enquiry
As you can see, your website is part of a longer journey.
It’s the most important step though, because it’s where prospective clients finally decide whether or not to contact you. It’s where they decide whether you’re the guide who will solve their financial problem or help them achieve their aspirations.
That means you must get it right, which includes the calls to action.
Calls to action: getting the basics right
Calls to action are there to turn suspects (website visitors) into prospects.
To be effective:
- They need to be easy to find and take. There’s no point hiding them away, so display them prominently
- You need to offer multiple options, remembering that a suspect’s needs are more important than how you want them to communicate with you
- You need to offer a range of calls to action, which are appropriate for your target audience and the level of commitment they are currently prepared to make.
7 calls to action to include on your website
#1: Your telephone number
It’s a pretty obvious place to start, but it’s vital you prominently display your telephone number on your website. Include it in:
- The website header, top right-hand corner is ideal
- The footer
- On the contact page (to state the obvious!).
Ideally, it should be a local landline and not a mobile or geographically unspecific number, both of which might make a suspect nervous.
#2: Email addresses
Not everyone will want to make an initial enquiry on the telephone.
- Some people might be looking at your website out of normal business hours
- Others could be nervous about picking up the phone, especially if they’ve not worked with an adviser/planner before
- A few might be sending the same enquiry to a handful of advisers/planners and prefer the efficiency that email offers.
Therefore, you should include a generic email address next to wherever you display your telephone number. That email address should be something that’s welcoming.
We use hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk but there are plenty of other options.
Finally, a suspect might prefer to make direct contact with an adviser/planner they’ve been recommended to. So, consider including personal email addresses on individual team member pages.
#3: Contact form
You should include a contact form for the same reasons as a generic email address.
The form should ask only the essential questions, such as:
- Name
- Telephone number
- Email address
- A free type box where they can provide further information
- A drop-down where they can select the area they need advice on.
The form should be placed on your homepage, the contact page, and other popular pages.
Finally, it’s important to ensure that the form is received by someone who can respond quickly.
#4: Newsletter sign-up form
Some suspects aren’t ready to make contact just yet, but do want to stay in touch and hear more from you. Receiving a regular monthly newsletter is the ideal way for them to do that.
The form should be placed:
- On the homepage
- Next to, or near, contact forms
- On your website’s main blog page
- On individual blog pages.
The form should ask for their name and email address, then be linked to an address book in your mailing system to ensure they automatically receive newsletters from now on.
#5: Lead magnet
A lead magnet is designed to do two things:
- Add value to the person who interacts with it
- Build a database of suspects you can market to.
The two most popular types of lead magnet are guides and scorecards and could be accessed on your website:
- By clicking a button in the main header
- On a pop-up which appears after someone has been on your site for a pre-set time (pop-ups that appear as soon as some hits your website are annoying and don’t convert as well).
#6: Book a meeting
Driven by an increase in the number of virtual meetings, more and more advisers/planners are using online booking systems, such as Calendly, to arrange meetings. Recently, we’re getting more requests from advisers/planners to include links to their online calendar as a call to action on their website.
So far, we’ve only had anecdotal feedback from a couple of advisers who say that prospects are using it to book meetings. Unfortunately, though, they are often being booked by people who aren’t the right type of prospect and, therefore, the time spent on calls is wasted.
We need your help here.
If you allow prospects to book meetings straight into your diary, please tell us how it’s going.
#7: Live chat / Enquiry bot
We’ve all had poor experiences with live chat and enquiry bots on websites. They can, however, work well if set up and monitored properly.
When it comes to live chat it should be monitored live (that’s kind of the idea!), with quick responses and human-to-human interactions.
An enquiry bot is essentially a guided form, which collects information and helps to filter prospects.
In our experience, both work best when:
- The website is getting significant visitor numbers
- The pop-up appears after a pre-defined number of seconds (rather than the visitor having to trigger it).
Award-winning websites
Our award-winning websites* (and the wider marketing strategies we develop) give the firms we work with eye-catching shop windows that convert visitors into enquirers.
If you feel that now’s the time to review your website, or replace it entirely, we’re here to help.
Drop us a line to hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300.
*The Red Circle Financial Planning site won the Best Website category in the 2020 Professional Adviser Awards. In 2021, the Smith & Wardle website won the same category.
