It’s no secret that the internet has changed how people find and purchase financial services. The days of visiting your bank branch could soon be a distant memory, with most banking now done via an app or phone call. However, this is really only the tip of the iceberg.
FinTech makes it easy for anyone to access a range of financial services, from everyday banking to complex investing. With an average annual growth rate of 25%, the FinTech sector is booming. By 2022, the value of the industry is expected to hit $310bn globally. Moving financial services online clearly has its advantages.
Building the online environments that make these transactions possible requires a new way of thinking and a fresh approach. Yet, with all of this change, sometimes you might forget how important it is to make a good impression on potential new customers.
If you want to increase your leads or sales on your financial services website, you can boost traffic or turn more of your website visitors into customers. The latter is called conversion rate optimisation, and these are six ways you can achieve it.
Make sure that visitors can easily navigate every corner of your website, no matter where they first land. For example, use breadcrumbs or tabs at all times and make them visible and accessible. This helps customers to make sense of where they are in the purchase journey.
You might have to provide a lot of information to website visitors, but you might lose their attention if this content is hidden in a labyrinth of content and pages.
Establish a clear website hierarchy that helps users understand what they can do next. For example, if you have a blog, make sure it is easily accessible and provides additional context where necessary. Keeping potential customers interested with related content is a simple step to help boost engagement.
Don’t be afraid to share information about yourself and your company. This is one of the easiest ways to build trust. When you are transparent and open with website visitors, they know exactly where they stand. No one wants to hand over sensitive information to a nameless, faceless corporation.
People need to feel reassured when making a transaction, whether giving personal information or buying products online. If you don’t establish an open relationship as soon as the customer lands on your site, you’ll have an uphill struggle earning their trust.
Start by writing website content that speaks directly to them. And then make sure you follow the best practice guidelines for building trust. This includes simple steps like using SSL protection, adding reviews to your website and making sure contact information is readily available.
Content marketing is one of the best ways to connect with customers and deliver value. When they seek information about your products or services, they might not be ready to convert, but you can increase your chances of a future conversion by offering helpful resources.
Provide educational material to your website visitors. This could be videos, eBooks or infographics. This content aims not to sell directly but rather to offer helpful information that helps them make informed decisions about their money.
When crafting this content, pitch it at the right level. Avoid using jargon, but don’t speak down to your audience. By explaining things in simple terms, you can increase the chance of a future conversion by establishing an emotional connection with the website visitor. They’ll turn to you rather than your competitor because they learned something from you, and you empowered them.
Use all media available to you to help strengthen your message. For example, comparison tables help to explain complex financial services products in simple terms. Infographics make it easy to visualise the impact of data.
You can learn more about making this accessible by referring to Google’s UX playbook for finance. This invaluable resource includes helpful information about how to structure your content for success.
Remember to link to additional resources to enhance the user experience. This could include a glossary to explain complex terms or additional reading.
How often have you abandoned a process because the form you’re trying to use doesn’t work intuitively? When building web forms, remove all friction and make the process as smooth as possible. If you want visitors to convert, don’t stand in their way.
Common barriers to conversion include:
Something as simple as auto-fill can help boost your conversion rate by simply making it easier for website visitors to fill in your enquiry form.
If you want them to checkout directly on the website, adding a live chat functionality can help to increase trust and reduce friction. In addition, if customers have final questions before they make their choice, a live chatbot can help to ease their concerns.
When you need a lot of information from website visitors, it makes sense to simplify the process and allow them to complete it in multiple visits. For example, they might start the process on a mobile device and then decide they want to switch to a laptop. In this scenario, they would have to start again and lose their progress.
By removing these barriers, you can make it easier for visitors to complete long processes in multiple steps. In addition, by including an option to save their progress, you can make it easier for returning visitors to pick up where they left off. You can also offer to email a link to the user that will allow them to pick up the form at a later date.
And if they don’t return after a few days, you have an email address you can use to send them a friendly reminder.
Remember, it’s about building trust, not sales.
There are many ways to drive up your website conversion rate. But the best way is to focus on promoting trust and relationship-building with your target market; rather than trying to sell them right now. This might seem counterintuitive, but it could transform your online marketing strategy.