Pick a target audience and the research says they are looking for their financial advisor to communicate with them over the Internet. They expect the advisors website to be a digital extension of the personal relationship they have with their financial advisor.

Over one million affluent households were surveyed by Forrester Research and overwhelming they chose email over snail mail. They are extremely busy with their careers, families, traveling and social commitments. They simply dont have the time to surf through a lot of junk mail to find your important piece of mail. You need to use the convenience, efficiency and timeliness of email to personally touch your clients on a regular basis.

People over age 60 now constitute the fastest growing segment of computer users and information seekers on the World Wide Web, according to the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine. According to Jupiter Communications, over 58% of those over age 50 are online. Furthermore, Suddenly Senior reports that the over 50 age bracket has an average network almost twice that of the national average and they hold 70% of all money market accounts and certificates of deposit assets.

An online survey of 1000 visitors to www.thirdage.com found that online consumers over 50 are eager to learn about new products and services and are tolerant, and often interested in online advertising, according to the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine. In fact, people over 50 are likely to share what they learn online with their network of family and friends.

What are they looking for?

According to Forrester Research, they are looking for their financial advisor website to support the messages of the financial advisor. So when the financial advisor is talking about tax free income or alterative minimum taxes or required distributions from IRAs, the clients are expecting to find supporting content and tools on the website. Remember with seniors theres a lot of show me in their attitudes. They expect to find calculators, so they can see for themselves how much their IRA might shrink from income and estate taxes. They expect to find supporting articles that teach them more about estate tax planning or building an investment policy when their advisor is talking to them about those concepts.

Are you building your brand?

Have you invested in branding? If so, then use your website to leverage your brand. The website should reflect your logo, color palette, signature photos and other branding elements to create a consistent public presence.

Remember your brand is what the customer perceives your brand to be. Your website should include your unique value proposition. Dont make your website sound like every other boring institutional site. To make a connection with the customer you need to tell them who you are, what you do and why you do it better than your competition. You need to tell them why they need a relationship with you. Use what makes you unique.