Is Your Financial Services Website Still Working? A Redesign Checklist

How To Know Whether Your Financial Services Website Needs Attention

Most financial services websites are not dramatically broken. They just gradually stop working. Services change, teams change, regulations change, and the website stays the same. The result is a site that no longer accurately represents the firm — or supports its current goals.

This checklist is for financial advisers, mortgage brokers and wealth managers who want to assess whether their website is still doing the job it should be — or whether it is time to think about a rebuild, a refresh or a more targeted update.

When A Website Starts Working Against You

A financial services website can work against the firm in several ways that are easy to miss if you are not looking for them:

• Team pages that list advisers who have left, without removing or updating their profiles
• Service pages that describe services the firm no longer offers, or omit services it now does
• Claims or figures that were accurate at the time but are now outdated
• Regulatory information that has not been updated to reflect changes in permissions, network arrangements or compliance requirements
• Contact details, office addresses or phone numbers that no longer match current operations
• A design that looked appropriate in 2019 but now looks dated compared with competitor sites

Any one of these can undermine a visitor's confidence in the firm before they have had any other interaction. The cumulative effect of several together can be significant.

The Content Checklist

Work through each of the following for every key page on the site:

For any page where the answer to more than two of these questions is no, the page needs attention before any other marketing activity is considered.

The Design And Usability Checklist

Design and usability issues are harder to self-assess than content issues, because familiarity with a site makes problems invisible. The questions below are best answered by someone who does not work at the firm:

• Can a visitor understand who the firm works with from the homepage in under ten seconds?
• Is it obvious how to find the main service areas without using the navigation?
• Does the site load quickly on a mobile device?
• Are calls to action clear, consistent and appropriate for the stage of the visit?
• Do contact forms work — and is there confirmation when they are submitted?
• Are there any broken links, missing images or error pages?
• Does the site feel consistent — or does it look like it has been added to by different people over several years?
• Does the design still feel appropriate for the type of firm and the clients it serves?

The Technical Checklist

A basic technical review can identify issues that affect both user experience and search visibility:

• Is the site running on HTTPS? This is a baseline requirement for any financial services website.
• Are page load times acceptable — particularly on mobile? Google's Core Web Vitals report in Search Console provides useful data.
• Is the site indexed correctly in Google Search Console, with no significant crawl errors?
• Are page titles and meta descriptions accurate, current and not duplicated across multiple pages?
• Is there a sitemap submitted to Search Console?
• Is the cookie consent mechanism compliant with current ICO guidance?
• Is there a current, accurate privacy policy that reflects the firm's current data practices?

The Enquiry Journey Checklist

A website that attracts visitors but does not convert them into enquiries is doing only half the job. Check the following:

• Is there a clear call to action on every key service page?
• Does the contact page load quickly and present contact options clearly?
• Is the enquiry form short enough to complete in under three minutes?
• Is there any follow-up email after a form submission — and does it reflect the firm well?
• Is there a downloadable guide or useful resource for visitors who are not yet ready to enquire?
• Are there trust signals — reviews, qualifications, FCA status — near the main calls to action?

Deciding What To Do Next

After working through these checklists, most financial services firms will find they fall into one of three categories:

The right choice depends on the gap between where the site is now and what the firm needs it to do. A useful rule of thumb: if more than thirty percent of the pages need significant content changes, and the design is more than four years old, the economics of a full rebuild are usually more favourable than extensive patching.

For a broader view of what a financial services website should include, see our complete guide to financial services websites for advisers and mortgage brokers. For guidance on how SEO fits into a website review, see our article on SEO for financial services websites.

This article is for general marketing information only and does not constitute financial, legal or compliance advice. References to FCA requirements and compliance obligations are for general guidance — always verify current requirements with your compliance adviser or network.