The gist of this financial planner website project:
A fee-only financial advisor focused on impartial money coaching needed a new website to launch her new business in Vancouver. Using her existing brand guidelines, logo and photography, a custom, professional web design was made. The design was meant to cater to her mostly-female audience. Content copywriting services were also provided, as well as a content strategy, to help with SEO and information architecture on the site.
Appealing to a niche audience in the financial planning industry through a customized Vancouver website design, with copywriting
To start this website project, a discovery and consultation began our process, so I could fully understand this client’s business. Her financial services were delved into, with a focus on what makes her different from the myriads of providers in the industry. I also learned about her passion, and her story.
I gathered the information needed to produce a website that was truly ‘her,’ and that ‘spoke’ to her audience in every way. I also picked up queues about likes and dislikes when it came to design preferences, so that I could produce a site she would be happy with.
The end result was a website home page with a lot of content writing on it. This was purposeful. Normally one would think that ‘less is more’. However, I felt that long-form content would be ok on this site for a few reasons:
- SEO would be important for attracting customers and growing this brand new business. Plentiful content is always great for SEO.
- The field of finance can be one in which information is needed by website viewers. It’s not so much a pictorial type of service to explain. But, using a combination of design elements and great typography, the Vancouver web designer I hired for the job was able to divide content in a way that would not overwhelm users to large degree. Instead, it would allow site visitors to ‘go’ to where they wanted to be on the site.
One of my favourite parts of this website design was the footer. I knew I wanted something cool and unique – the kind of thing you don’t usually see on website footers. The designer took the ideas that were just in my head, plus a few samples found on the web, to produce a ‘box’ style design for the footer. Each element, like social media links or address information, would then neatly stack on responsive screen sizes. It came out far more interesting than the typical logo and menu-based footers we usually see!
Knowing that this client’s revenue stream would come from the initial contact she’d make with her sales leads, a call to action was included on every page, in multiple spots, to encourage users to get in touch.
FAQs were also dispersed on the site. They were designed to be easy to read and sift through, using ‘expand and collapse’ JavaScript for each question. Finance can be complicated, and so, answering questions that most users may have was important.
A newsletter signup box was designed to attract subscribers, for future marketing mail outs.
One important consideration we had when planning this site was, “what is the future of this site going to be?” We knew the client wasn’t yet ready to blog, advertise webinars or offer pro-bono services, because her business needed to grow first. But the intention to do these activities through the site was going to be needed later on. So, to avoid additional web design and development costs down the road, we pre-planned to include spots for these features. These could easily be dragged in or out using the WordPress widgets features. They would be ready when she wanted to use them. Asking this question of my clients is important, because it allows me to plan ahead for the content we may need to make room for. This way, we wouldn’t be awkwardly ‘forcing’ it in later.
Website development features for this financial planner
- Genesis framework responsive web design with custom theming and coding, all made in WordPress.
- Editable, widget-controlled home page and footer.
- High-resolution imagery to ensure the site’s icons would appear crisp, and not blurry, on many modern devices.
- Mailchimp form sign up integration with custom design to encourage subscribers for future e-mail marketing campaigns.
- Custom patterned background design.
- Custom form designs.
- Typography design elements, including first-of-type paragraph design, list styles, etc.
- ‘Jump to’ anchor links to help organize long-form content.
- Incorporation of client’s custom portraits and other photography.
- SSL certificate added later, along with speed optimization features.
Accolades from the client:
I would recommend Joyce to manage your WordPress Website project!
As a new business, I needed a professional website that I would be able to update after it was launched. After much research I decided to go with WordPress and hired Joyce for the project. I was completely happy with my choice. What I liked most about Joyce was her communication style. She was upfront as to the timeline, budget and expectations for herself as well as for me. I always knew where we stood. The Website Development and Design Proposal and the Agreement was thorough and ensured we both knew the scope of the project. The was no ambiguity which I valued. Joyce herself is a pleasure to work with. She is helpful, extremely knowledgeable and spent the time to really understand my business. From the design and development (including SEO) to the training and launch, I was extremely happy with the results. I have received many compliments on the website and would definitely recommend her services.
Nicole Heighington, CPA, CA, Founder and CEO of AthenaGrace Financial Services-Financial Coaching, Financial Planning and Accounting
Other work done for this client
I copyedited and wrote a lot of the content for this website. This client also hires me for ongoing maintenance and edits on her website. I did minor SEO work on this site, which did help the client rank for some relevant keywords.