Are you having trouble converting leads or improving your conversion rate, such as contact form submissions on your financial landing pages?
You may have heard of “analysis paralysis” before.
This is the idea that too many options can make it difficult for a person to make a decision.
This can happen to your website or landing page visitors if they have too many options, or if the design is confusing or overwhelming.
Your visitors won’t convert if they get lost in a complex and hard to navigate page.
To increase your conversion rate and lower your cost-per-acquisition, it is a good idea to keep things simple.
Make it obvious what option you want your visitor to take, and ensure your user experience (UX) is perfected.
What else can you do to improve your CRO as a financial company?
Today, we are exploring 10 ways to increase the conversion rate of financial landing pages and websites:
1. Keep your forms brief
Contact forms are the “entry point” for a conversion action. Most financial companies want to either have more enquiries through their forms, better quality leads, or maybe even both.
It can be difficult to convince people to complete your form, even if they are interested.
We recommend limiting the number of fields on the form to no more than 4.
3 fields is supposedly the optimum number to improve conversion rates.
Fewer fields makes the form appear less scary and will take less of the person’s time to complete.
2. Rethink your offering
Why would someone fill out your contact form? What are they getting out of it?
Consider how attractive your offer is to the user when they visit your website or contact form. Try to imagine yourself as the visitor.
It may be beneficial to test different offers and calls for action (CTAs), and compare the data to determine which one performs best.
We always see lead magnets perform well within financial marketing.
This is because in today’s world, people want information and want it now.
Therefore, if someone is searching for pension consolidation, for example, they will want information on the topic now, and are usually happy to leave their data in return.
This would then leave you with a warm lead, who has already received a branded lead magnet, which has provided them with free, added value.
When you contact the lead, they will likely need your services and know your company name.
3. A/B Testing
Have you tried different versions of your financial landing pages and/or contact forms to find the one that works best? If not, why not?
Split testing, or A/B testing, is a great way to improve conversions.
It is a smart idea to create two pages and run them simultaneously for around 2 weeks.
This process allows you to show one page to one group of users and the other to another.
To compare the results, you can check your Google Analytics (or any other reporting tool) after the test period.
Split test the winner version by changing a key variable, such as headlines.
This allows you to make continuous improvements to your website and financial landing pages, month by month.
4. Increase calls to actions on the page
Calls to Action (CTA’s) are sections of your page, usually buttons, that aim to get your visitor to take action.
CTAs can be difficult to write. Maybe the tone or wording isn’t right. Perhaps it encourages users to do something they aren’t ready for. Maybe it sounds too forceful or too soft in tone.
You can however increase your conversions by using CTAs effectively.
This could mean looking at the entire client journey, not just the words in the buttons to decide what your visitor wants to see at what points of their journey. When would they be ready to commit to leaving their details? Are there enough opportunities for them to convert on the page?
Although too few CTAs can be irritating too. Not providing links where there should be one can be frustrating for visitors.
It’s a fine balance – again – this is where A/B testing comes into play.
5. Remove distractions
It is easy to lose sight of what people want to do on your landing pages.
Pop-up forms are a common example. Your user may be looking at your contact form and interested in filling it.
A pop-up window then appears that blocks the user’s view. This can lead to a frustrating user experience (UX), which may prevent the user from completing what they were supposed to.
Pop ups can be effective, and we think that exit intention pop ups can be incredibly effective.
Although a cluttered or busy landing page can make it difficult to read, and discourage people from reading your CTA.
Keep UX in mind at all times.
6. Use a chatbot / live chat tool
Live chat can be incredibly useful to generate engagement and increase conversion rates, especially if the visitor doesn’t want to fill out a form.
Remember my previous point about people wanting something and wanting it now?
This is where chatbots come into play.
You can set them up to respond with an automated message after a short period, encouraging people to leave their details.
Obviously, the main aim of answering a live chat would be to convert the prospect, not just answer their question and let them go.
You can also use chat bots to show frequently asked questions, and even ask for the users’ details before they can speak with an agent.
Most chatbot tools now also have paid for services, which means their agents can answer your chats for you, in whatever manner you wish, to take some stress away from your team to be on call 24/7.
7. Showcase social proof
Are there testimonials or reviews from clients who have used your services in the past?
Perhaps you could integrate Google Reviews or showcase testimonials.
Social proof can help prospects feel at ease and build trust.
They feel more comfortable when they read a client story, because they know that you have worked with people like them.
Even better if you have the capabilities in house to do video testimonials with clients. These really help give your CRO a boost.
8. Speed up your pages
Slow websites are one of the biggest obstacles to conversions.
47% of customers expect pages to load in less than 2 seconds, and if they don’t? They’re off!
Every second that passes without load can dramatically reduce your conversion rate. So, make sure your financial website loads as quickly as possible.
Google PageSpeed Intelligences is a great tool for assessing your website’s speed.
It provides a step-by-step breakdown of your website’s performance on desktop and mobile, which allows your developer to make specific improvements.
9. Optimise your website and financial landing pages for mobile
Mobile optimisation is more important than ever, as Google has switched from mobile first indexing.
Your Google rankings could be affected if you do not optimise your mobile site, which can lead to significantly fewer conversions.
It’s important that you remember the differences between desktop and mobile experiences before you start to optimise.
To check if your website is mobile-friendly, you can use Google’s mobile testing tool.
This tool will give you recommendations on how to improve the mobile performance of your site.
For example, you may need to increase the font size on your mobile device, reduce your images or speed up your page.
10. Increase trust, authority and eliminate friction
How could we discuss conversion rates in the financial industry without discussing the need to build trust and authority?
People are petrified of being scammed in today’s world, and more cautious than ever to take over their personal details in exchange for financial advice.
If users don’t trust you or feel friction, they simply won’t convert.
So how can trust be increased?
There are many ways to make your site feel trustworthy. Use real people in your business, include their bios, client testimonials, and remember to showcase your accreditations in the industry.
If you haven’t posted a blog in a year, or if there are broken links and forms and too many pop ups, that can cause friction. It can work against you and instead create distrust.
Always look at the bigger picture when it comes to improving conversion rates
Our advice is to always look at the overall bigger picture. Put yourself in the shoes of your clients and consider whether you would convert on your site.
If you need help improving your conversion rate or advice on how to start with lead generation from the beginning, our team is here to help you.
