Choosing the wrong partner to develop your website is an expensive mistake.

You’ll:

• Waste money
• Need to pay someone to fix the problems
• Lose potential clients and thousands in fees while reducing the value of your business all because your website isn’t turning visitors into prospects.

That means you’re under tremendous pressure to choose the right partner. But that’s easier said than done because you’re a financial expert, not a website designer.

Unfortunately, that lack of knowledge and experience (and focusing on risk, not reward) means advisers/planners often use price to choose who will develop their new site.

That’s a mistake because price is a poor indicator of quality and value. Two examples demonstrate why:

Firm A: Paid too little

This firm paid around £5,000 last year for their redeveloped website.

Unfortunately, despite the investment, there are still significant problems. For example, the homepage has:

• No photos or videos of clients – if they were the hero of the website (which they should be), visitors would see the transformational journey the firm takes clients on
• Almost no client-focused social proof, such as reviews or testimonial videos – which means there’s no evidence to show visitors they’ve found the expert they need
• The first three paragraphs start with “we”, “our”, and again, “we” – this focus on the firm alienates visitors who’ve come to the site for a solution, not a sales pitch.

Firm 2: Paid too much

The second firm paid far more than the first, and I do mean significantly more.

Yet, they still have problems with their site. Many of the issues are similar to those of the first firm:

• The site focuses too much on services and not enough on the wants and needs of the visitor
• The client’s stories aren’t showcased in testimonial videos
• There’s no other meaningful social proof.

Those two examples (and I could give many more) show why focusing on price is a poor way to choose a website partner.

There are parallels to your world; some of the highest-charging firms deliver the worst outcomes, while those charging the lowest amount tend to provide a limited, and therefore less valuable, service.

Questions to help you select the right marketing agency

So, if you’re not buying on price, how do you choose who to trust with your website?

These 18 questions will help you make the right choice and ensure you select a partner with the skills, experience, and expertise you need.

A quick note: We could have produced an even longer list of questions, but we’ve assumed basic competence in user experience (UX), mobile optimisation, and responsive design.

1. “Have you built websites for businesses like ours before?”

If the answer is “no,” ask yourself whether you want to be the business they experiment on and whether you have the time to educate them on the sector.

Alternatively (and, of course, we’re biased here), choose an agency with sector-specific experience. You have plenty to choose from, including docVinci, Tax Briefs, Goldmine Media, Faith Liversidge, and Karman Digital.

2. “Do you recommend we discuss products and services on our new site?”

This is simple. If they recommend discussing pensions, savings, and investments on your new website, run a mile. It’s dull, tired and cliched. Instead, you should focus on who you help, not what you offer.

It’s far better to work with a partner who understands the power of empathy to position you as the expert to solve people’s problems and achieve their aspirations.

3. “Should we put the FCA logo on our website?”

This is a bit of a trick question, but it’s a great litmus test to show whether the person you’re talking to understands the sector.

Many non-specialist agencies will recommend adding the FCA’s logo to your new website. I can see why they do. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to.

So, if an agency recommends using the FCA logo, it’s a dead giveaway that they aren’t sector specialists, and you’ll have to train them.

4. “How important is it that our website’s homepage includes pictures of our team and clients?”

The answer you’re looking for is an emphatic “very” or something similar.

Research shows the value of displaying heroes (your clients) and guides (you and your team) on the website, especially on the homepage. Without both, it will be far less effective, costing you potential clients.

5. “How will you ensure my website is compliant?”

Compliance isn’t a barrier to developing a great website, but you do have to keep them happy. So you’re looking for an agency that gives you confidence that they understand the FCA’s financial promotion rules. And who has experience liaising directly with networks and compliance providers so you’re not stuck in the middle.

6. “Should our website have a team page?”

Team pages on adviser/planner websites are almost always the second or third most visited. Prospective clients expect and want to see them, so if a potential website partner suggests they aren’t necessary, that’s a red flag.

7. “Should we disclose our fees on the website?”

This is a complicated question because there are pros and cons to doing it.

If the agency can talk you through them and help you decide, you’ve found someone who probably understands the sector. If they leap straight to a definitive answer or can’t provide a logical response, it’s time to move on.

8. “How will you get to know my firm and understand our work?”

Great financial planning relies on an effective discovery process.

The same is true with website design.

However, we’ve spoken to advisers/planners who’ve worked with agencies who spent less than an hour on the discovery phase of the process, barely asking any questions.

If someone says it’ll take an hour, don’t be grateful for the time saved; be nervous about how good your new site will be.

9. “What social proof do we have on the website?”

The correct answer is client-focused social proof, such as reviews (Google and VouchedFor), testimonial videos, and your most recent survey results. You might also want to include adviser-focused social proof such as awards, accreditations, and press mentions.

Once you have it, your social proof should be prominently displayed throughout the site, not tucked away on a single page, as many non-specialist agencies recommend.

Remember, only 1-2% of people will visit a testimonials page.

10. “How will you help us collect this social proof?”

Building social proof takes time and effort. We recommend it’s collected by the same people building your website, or the project will soon become disjointed.

Again, you should ask your agency how much experience they have collecting Google and VouchedFor reviews, running client surveys and filming testimonial videos.

11. “Will you write the site’s words, copy, and content?”

If the agency or partner expects you to write the copy for the site, that’s the largest of red flags.

Firstly, you’re a financial expert, not a skilled digital copywriter. Secondly, do you really have the 30-40 hours it will take? Finally, compare your hourly rate to that of a copywriter.

In our experience, when the adviser or planner writes the copy for their website (to try to save money or because it isn’t a service offered by the agency), it always leads to delays and a less effective site.

12. “Do you have different people doing the design, development, copy, and proofreading?”

In your business, at any given time, there might be an adviser/planner, an administrator, a paraplanner and an investment manager working on behalf of the client. That’s four people. If one person tries to do all those things, will the outcome be better or worse?

The same applies to websites.

A stand-out site requires innovative design, slick development, engaging copy, and scrupulous proofreading. One person can’t do all four. Freelancers and smaller agencies will tell you they can, but they can’t.

13. “If a team member is poorly or leaves, what contingency plans do you have?”

Any number of reasons can delay a website project, and unexpected events will occasionally occur, but does the agency have plans to cope?

14. “What platform do you develop the site in?”

If the agency develops your site using their in-house platform, you’re tying yourself to them, which is dangerous if the relationship ever breaks down. Equally, if they use a less popular system, you might find it harder to move away from them in the future.

Finally, if they use templates or a “drag and drop” option (often called “no-code sites”), the site’s design won’t be bespoke to you, and there will likely be other functionality constraints.

Ideally, they’ll develop the site in a widely used content management system (CMS), like WordPress, that can produce sites as different as chalk and cheese, easy to update, and portable if you decide to leave the agency.

15. “Who are your marketing influences?”

This is an excellent question to gauge their enthusiasm for marketing. Ideally, you want their faces to light up as they reel off a list of the people influencing them.

They get bonus points if they name-check people like Rory Sutherland, Joanna Wiebe, Marcus Sheridan, and Donald Miller.

16. “Where will my website be hosted, and how much will it cost me?”

Every website needs to be hosted. Unfortunately, many agencies see hosting as a cash cow, charging exorbitant amounts for what should be a straightforward service.

So, before you sign the contract, check how much you’ll be charged each year for hosting and what that fee covers.

17. “Will you challenge us?”

You’re not an order-taker in your business; if a client or prospect asks you to do something that’s not in their best interests, you’ll push back. You should expect (and welcome) precisely the same honesty from your website partner.

18. “How much will it cost?”

We’ve deliberately placed this last on the list to demonstrate why the other questions and answers are far better indicators that you’ll end up with an effective website.

Buy on price, damage your business

In 1979, Daniel Kahneman published his work on Prospect Theory, which examined why people make certain buying decisions. In it, he suggested that people are more likely to be dissatisfied with a loss than they are satisfied with a gain.

His work helps to explain why many advisers and planners focus too much on the cost of a website rather than the opportunities and gains that come from having an effective site.

And remember, the lifetime value of just a single new client to you is massive. You’ll receive initial and ongoing fees, and they’ll add to your business’s value. These returns dwarf the cost (probably just a few grand) of building an effective website.

Don’t take my word for it; here’s what Ian Else of 4 Financial Planning had to say: “The value of an effective website can be summed up by the words of a new client when they first got in touch: “I contacted you because of the simplicity and transparency of your website. I ended up fatigued looking at all the others.” That person became a client. I’ve calculated that, on average, a client is worth £37,800 to me, so that single client has given an 800% ROI compared to the cost of my website.”

And finally…

If you’re wondering where our prices stand compared to the two firms we mentioned at the beginning of this article, we’re much, much closer to what Firm A paid.

I’m not saying it won’t hurt, but the evidence is we’re worth it.

Here’s what Ian Howe of Druthers Financial Planning says: “Clients were referring me to other people, but they were turned off by our existing website. I spoke with several agencies, including at least one significantly cheaper, but I went to Yardstick because they specialise in the financial planning space. The website is now live and I don’t doubt that the ROI will be strong. It was a pleasure to pay each invoice!”

And Helena Wardle of Smith & Wardle: “Where we thought the website would pay for itself in a few months it has done that in month one.”

Hear our answers to the 18 questions

If 2025 is the year you launch your new website, and you’d like to hear our answers to the 18 questions, let’s chat.

Email hi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300, and Abi Robinson will be in touch to set up an initial meeting.