When we work with advisors and they use Google Analytics, we can see the most-visited pages on their Web sites. Almost always, one of the top three is the "About Us" page, which provides their biographies.
Although important, many of these pages are fair, at best. The risk is that you are likely to lose the opportunity to work with that client if you don't make a good first impression.
Why Your Bio Is So Important
It is no secret that this is a relationship industry and that people want to work with people. A prospect that is going to trust you with his or her financial assets is going to want to do research and get to know something about you first.
In other words, prospective clients are going to go online and look you up. They want to know everything about you and that is why they go to your biography page more than most others.
Here are five elements of a great bio page:
1. Show a picture. You do not have to be a model to include your photo on a bio page. Let the Website visitor see you are a human through pictures, but invest in a photographer who knows how to take higher-end photos that will convey both your professional and personal personalities. Make sure you smile.
2. Explain what you do. Prove that you can solve your prospects problems. Avoid jargon and use the keywords that your prospects will understand.
3. Don’t be long winded. In today’s information overload age, we do not have time to read every word, so make sure your key messages pop off the page. Utilize subheads and bullets. If your bio is scanable, the readers will get what they want out of it and hopefully you will win the business.
4. Use videos. If people want to learn about you by searching the "About Us" page, a video can be super powerful because it allows folks to see and hear you.
5. Be personable. Do what you can to make a personal connection so people get to know you as a person. If they like you, they are more likely to want to work with you.