Any user who is looking to build trust in a brand before committing to them is going to place a lot of importance on the presentation of that brand’s website. The user experience (UX) is instrumental when navigating any digital environment, and if a user visiting your financial adviser website can’t navigate it easily, they likely aren’t going to stick around to enlist your services. With this in mind, you need to think of how you can create a cohesive and curated experience that takes a user exactly where you want them to go.
What makes good website navigation?
Plenty of research has been done on what constitutes quality website navigation, and it’s all part of the UX - with much (but crucially not all) of the discussion centred around how you design your user interface (UI). When a user visits your website, if they struggle to get to where they want to go and find themselves frustrated by the entire experience, they’re likely going to leave with a negative impression of your brand. This is especially detrimental in a field like financial planning which requires a lot of trust.
Why navigation matters for financial advisers
To improve website navigation, you have to understand what the optimum UX for financial services websites looks like. People who come to your website are going to be looking for information about your services, about the kind of advice you offer, your credentials (why they should trust you) and how they can get in touch - all of this should be easily telegraphed, creating an atmosphere of ease and support. An essential part of this is ensuring that your website is optimised for mobile for enhanced accessibility.
The link between navigation and conversions
If someone can’t navigate your website effectively, they’ll leave before they get too far in, inevitably meaning that your conversions are going to suffer as a result. Easy website navigation for clients will reduce bounce rates, with a clearly-defined user journey helping to guide them through all of the necessary resources and your call to actions - creating opportunities for them to engage more fully with them in the case of the former.
Best practices for financial adviser website navigation
It’s important to remember that you’re the financial experts - jargon in this field might not mean much to people looking for help, so keeping language plain for menu items can help to improve navigation and approachability - perhaps also implementing secondary navigation menus for sub-sections of the main headings. Drawing particular attention to your About, Services and Contact pages can help to divert traffic towards them, meaning more people are being put in direct contact with you and giving you a better chance of conversion through engagement. It’s also paramount for your online marketing that your website is optimised for mobile, given the number of people who will be using this platform.
Common navigation mistakes to avoid
The impulse to stand out from competitor websites can often lead you to make decisions that cause your UX to suffer. There’s no need to skip out on what works here as functionality, convenience and user satisfaction are all more important than novelty. This means keeping your menus understandable with a reasonable number of options, avoiding off-putting jargon and ensuring that the most important pages are visible instead of hidden and hard to find.
Improving existing website navigation
Applying website menu design tips is important but it’s also worth considering that the problems with your website might be more entrenched than that. To get a sense of what works and what doesn’t, you should gather feedback through user-testing while reviewing your analytics to become informed of where and why users bounce off the site. This understanding can help you to apply small, iterative changes that are heavily targeted - fixing the most pressing issues without requiring a full-on overhaul.
Remember how important a good first-impression is, and your website is often the main introduction to your brand. You’re trying to establish trust for your financial advice website, and that means a carefully-crafted but supportive UX that makes it as easy as possible for audiences to get in touch.
