Updating a website is one of the best ways for marketers to improve results. In most cases, digital improvements are relatively low cost and can be implemented with limited effort.

Here are five things your can do with your financial or professional services company website that will help drive higher client engagement, generate more contacts and improve sales.

1. Add content. An easy and low-cost way to get repeat visitors to your site, nurture leads and build relationships with clients, is to develop a blog and regularly publish helpful information on it. Companies should offer content aligned with their areas of expertise:

• Retirement companies: Lifestyle, travel and safety tips for older adults.
• Property and casualty firms: Information on how to drive carefully and keep homes safe. 
• Banks: Tips on saving money and using credit wisely.
• Investment firms: Novel ideas on how financial intermediaries can educate clients about mutual fund offerings.

Ask internal experts to contribute to the blog or hire an agency or freelance writer that understands your business. Curating content from respected sources is an option, as well.

Use email and promoted social media posts to drive traffic to the blog. It’s a cost effective way to keep your brand top-of-mind when your clients have a new need for your products and services. In addition, if you design your blog correctly, it could provide great product and service cross-sell opportunities.

2. Conduct an SEO audit. Use an online SEO audit checklist or partner with an agency experienced in search engine optimization. An audit will uncover issues with your website that could limit search traffic. Taking steps to fix these will help bring in more free visitors from Google, Bing and other search engines. Who could argue with more qualified traffic from people looking for the products and services you offer?

3. Amp-up your brand. Does your website look like every other one in your competitive set? If so, that’s an issue. Your digital presence should be as unique as your firm is, clearly showing what you do, how you do it and what makes your product and service offerings unique.

Many firms limit their online branding to a logo and maybe a few photos. Your brand should extend to every aspect of the site, including messages and word choices, imagery and how visitors navigate and experience the site.

Need help re-branding your site? Check out Carpenter Group’s perspective on branding for financial and professional services companies.

4. Get a back-end tune-up. Have you checked how quickly your website loads on a smart phone or tablet device, different browsers and wifi services? You might be surprised. It’s probably slower than you expect. A slow website is a key reason many prospects give up on checking out a company online and move on to a competitor. A high abandonment rate can negatively impact search results, as well.

You owe it to yourself to do everything possible to improve the speed of your site. Make sure your server is up-to-date, images and media are optimized, plug-ins are compatible and code is developed correctly. Every second of site speed improvement is an advantage gained over competitors.

5. Drive social and email traffic to your site. How else will anyone or anything, including Google, Bing and other search engines, know that you’ve improved your site? Firms that enhance their sites often forget to send “signals” that they’re doing something new. It’s like a store opening without a sale, signage or a special event to attract attention.

Tip: Save a percentage of your website improvement budget to promote it to your clients and prospects. It’s a great opportunity to reintroduce them to what your firm does and generate new sales.

Interested in learning more about improving your website? Check out Carpenter Group’s perspective on digital marketing. Contact us to find out how we could help you improve your web properties.