Today’s best websites are dynamic online marketing tools. They combine meaningful messages, rich media, interactive tools and search engine savvy to connect with audiences and drive sales. But in the financial services industry, a great many websites remain lost in the 1990s—looking and acting like dusty old brochures with bland imagery, flat language and little or no attempt to inspire or engage potential clients.

At least, this is what we believed based on anecdotal evidence. This study was sparked by the desire to test and quantify that belief. The Wickware Communications team reviewed more than 900 financial services websites, and rated their messaging, actionability, interactivity, data collection and searchability against current Internet marketing best practices.

Here are some of our key findings:

1. Too much navel-gazing. Amazingly, 97% of sites fail to talk about anyone but themselves. They talk about “our history” and “our people” and “our process,” but never get around to addressing their audience and their needs.

2. Lack of action. All firms would like to generate leads from the Internet, yet less than 25% of them have a call to action of any sort. And among those that do, only 2% employ a compelling call to action that requires the user’s contact information in exchange for something of value.

3. Not enough interactivity. Nearly half of sites offer PDF downloads as their only means of “interaction.” After reviewing more than 750 such downloads, it became clear that these documents are posted online, but are rarely designed with the web in mind.

While more than 90% of websites fell short of best practices, the business leaders behind some of the highest-ranking sites told us the secret of their success: they made the deliberate decision to place the web at the forefront of their marketing strategy.

Web-based communications are certain to pay growing dividends in the years to come. This report will help you gain a better picture of where your firm stands relative to your peers, and provide insights that can help you transform your website from a dusty old brochure to a dynamic online marketing tool.