Highly specialized investment websites are all over the place these days. The convenience of managing your investment from your PC, laptop or smartphone is unparalleled and creates a lot of opportunities for new providers of investment portals. Unfortunately, not all of them remain afloat. Because this niche is so ripe with opportunities, the competition is very fierce and only the “top dogs” make a profit.
When it comes to the real estate investments, the same situation applies. Due to the nature of the online environment, you need to do a great job when designing your online platform so that you can create a competitive environment. Still, the approach that you need to take needs to be customer centric. Sure, it is ok to “steal and improve” the things that work for your competition, but make sure that it works for your users as well.
The general design
Simplicity and minimalism work well for any business related website design. A clean design makes it easier for new user to find their way around and it also put focus on the actual data that is displayed, without creating distractions with visual eye candy. Avoid fast solutions like website builders because they only end up causing problems due to the limitations these platforms are plagued by.
Make sure you choose a font appropriate for the niche. It should also fit in well with the rest of the design. Remember, your clients are going to spend hours gazing at letters and numbers, so if something as simple as the font is faulty, they might give up on you on account of pure illegibility.
Responsiveness is a standard these days, but in this situation, you will need to ensure that the optimization process is done properly for all devices before you go live.
Testimonials
Anything as serious as an investment website needs a guarantee of quality. While reviews are all well and good, user reviews can mean a whole lot more. Due to the somewhat biased nature of paid reviews, users have gotten used to looking past that and searching for glimpses of real experiences real people had with the platform and this is usually done through user comments and testimonials.
The legitimacy of the data provided
This one should go without saying but it is so crucial that we need to at least mention it. The data related to the investment options provided needs to be 100% accurate. The first time the user runs into a mistake, they will start doubting the accuracy of all the data and will be hesitant to make investments, and in a lot of cases, they will completely abandon the platform in question.
Payment options
The online environment focuses on speed and convenience. Credit cards are the norm and your platform needs to provide support for, well, preferably all of them. You also need to ensure the safety of the credit card information that people put in. This is why you should go for top credit card processors so that you can avoid complications and ensure the best possible service.
Top notch customer support
Of course, no platform is perfect and mistakes, bugs and other problematic issues are bound to arise. Furthermore, not every user will find their way around your platform as easily as you anticipated. This is why it is crucial that you provide a good customer support system which resolves issues and does so in as little time as possible.
Tutorial videos, FAQs and a help centre are great things to have as well, but sometimes, you need a person on the other side who can help you understand all the capabilities and options that the platform provides. In some cases, the designers themselves don’t anticipate the ways the users want to use their platform, so you need to provide direct contact with someone trained to assess specific issues that may arise.
We hope we managed to clear some things up for you. You should be aware that nobody can create a perfect investment platform from the very start. It is a trial and error process and the users can help you find the right modifications. Keep this in mind and build your platform according to their wishes and don’t expect them to adapt too much.
