Establishing an effective financial online portal is perhaps one of the more difficult tasks to accomplish, are there are various factors that need to be considered. In this brief synopsis, we will not focus on the good or the bad, but rather the “ugly” in terms of what not to do (and why) when constructing a financial website from the ground-up. By avoiding these common and frequent pitfalls, a site can enjoy higher levels of customer satisfaction, a greater amount of exposure and a client base that can only be expected to grow over time. So, let us take a quick look at some of the most frequent mistakes that should never be made.
Irrelevant Affiliate Links
Every site wishes to increase the amount of monthly traffic that it receives. This is often accomplished through affiliate links that are found on various pages in the form of banner ads. However, many portals will make the mistake of placing links that are either out-of-date, less than reputable or just plain irrelevant. The only thing that this accomplishes will be the impression that the site itself is not completely trustworthy. In fact, some supposedly “reputable” site have actually posted links to online gaming casinos; hardly the way to entice customers to rely on sound advice!
Pop-Unders
Once again, these dubious devices fall into the category of unwanted advertising. Not only are these surprises annoying, they will directly take away from the power of the site itself, on older computers or those with a limited memory capacity, a pop-under can cause the system to slow down considerably. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that a visitor will ever return to the page itself. Potentially, a customer has just been lost.
Too Much SEO
While SEO is in many ways the proverbial “holy grail” of online exposure, times have changed Keyword “stuffing” and other tactics are now frowned upon. Although this is important for the algorithms that Google utilises for its search engine analytics, it should be remembered that the site is intended to cater to a live human audience. Using too many keywords too often will allow a site to appear clumsy and unfortunately, much like a sales platform.
Show and Tell
One the topic of salesmanship, a considerable number of financial portals are out to blatantly market a product or service. While there is indeed nothing wrong with this, “get rich quick” promises and words such as “sure thing” are bound to backfire. The bottom line is that while a visitor may very well be looking for a certain service, he or she is also keen on receiving good advice. Should they feel that they are being overtly marketed to, the chances of them remaining interested are exceedingly low.
So, we have seen a handful of the most common “don’ts” in the world of online finance. Avoiding these rather common mistakes can help a site appear trustworthy and reputable. The end result will be a larger client base and most importantly, word will spread that the site is both “no-nonsense” and helpful.
