Do you specialize in working with RIAs?
Yes! We only work with RIAs. We have deep industry experience in working with independent RIAs and our leadership team includes a practicing RIA owner so we're 100% committed to helping RIAs with the challenges and needs unique to independent fee-only financial advisors.
I'm with a Broker-Dealer... can I still work with you?
Unfortunately, we only work with independent fee-only RIAs. This is mainly because the compliance requirements from most broker-dealers make it prohibitive to efficiently manage your website.
Do you require long-term contracts?
No! Our agreements are project-based or month to month. We believe in retaining our clients by providing value, not by locking them into contracts.
What's the typical cost and timeline for a new RIA website?
The cost for a new website is a flat fee of $2,500. The monthly support agreement is $35 per month. Our typical timeline is approximately 30 days from start to launch.
Will I own my website and content if I stop working with you?
Yes! Your website is your intellectual property, and you own it. If you decide to leave Zephyr for any reason, we can provide you with a snapshot of the code that makes up your website. This would be a static version of your website that you could host anywhere you want to. The functionality behind it would not be powered by the Zephyr platform, but in general, the website should work anywhere.
Do you use WordPress or a proprietary platform?
Our websites are built on the Zephyr platform, which is a proprietary cloud-based system. We believe it is one of the most secure and easy-to-use platforms for financial advisors. It allows financial advisors to make general content changes on their websites, including things like posting blog articles, updating content, and changing images.
Do I need to write the copy for my website, or do you handle that?
Most of the financial advisors we work with provide their own website copy. However, if you would like us to create unique copy for your website, we have an add-on package for that.
How do you approach SEO for financial advisor websites?
All of our website projects come with an SEO audit. This gives us an overview of your target market and helps us tune your site to be as optimized as possible for search engines and AI tools. It includes a consultation that helps you determine the right focus for your website. While ongoing optimization is a separate service, we do give your website the best chance of success by optimizing it as much as possible from the start. Additionally, the Zephyr platform is designed to be as efficient and SEO friendly as possible.
Can I make updates to my website myself, or do I need to contact you?
In general, you can make most updates yourself if you want to. You can do things like update content, update images, post blog articles, and even add new pages if you want to. However, if you prefer us to help out, all you have to do is send us an email, and we are also happy to make minor updates for you as part of your support agreement.
What happens if my website goes down or has technical issues?
Our platform has a track record for being very reliable. However, occasionally downtime can happen, and if your website goes down, we are likely already aware of it. You are welcome to contact us if you notice any issues, but we react very quickly to make corrections or work with any of our third party data providers to give you a timeline for resolution.
Do you handle social media and email marketing, or just websites?
Yes, we do have add-on marketing packages that can include social media, email marketing, website content, and more.
Can you help me define my target client and messaging?
We can! During the process, we consult with you during the project to help you determine the appropriate target market for your firm and your website. Having worked with hundreds of advisors, we have a unique perspective that can help you tune your messaging to be as effective as possible.
What kind of training do you provide after the website launches?
We have a series of training videos to help you, but we are also available on demand anytime for unlimited training and support.
What technology is your platform built on? I'm a nerd and I want to know.
The Zephyr platform is a distributed system built on multiple providers, including Microsoft Azure, Uploadcare and a number of other providers. All of our providers are best in class, mainstream cloud providers with a strong track record for security and reliability.
What's included in my monthly support agreement?
The monthly support agreement includes three main things:
- Cloud hosting for your website.
- Our content management system that runs the site and lets you manage your content.
- Our support agreement that includes general support, lightweight maintenance, and any training you might need to help you manage your website.
Lightweight maintenance is generally anything that is a small task, such as updating content for you, posting an article, changing an image, adjusting the way something looks, or anything that is a relatively small update.
We don't really put a hard limit on this because small updates can be so variable, but if anything goes beyond the scope of the support agreement, we will let you know and give you a quoted fee for getting it done in advance.
How reliable is your platform? What's your uptime percentage?
You can see that in real-time right here.
I'm worried about being on your proprietary platform because I don't want to be "locked in." Should I be concerned?
We sometimes hear this concern from financial advisors, especially if they've had a poor experience with a former provider. Our platform is proprietary, which means that if you move your site somewhere else, you would have to reinstall it on a new platform. However, this is not as difficult as you might think. And we are always happy to provide a static snapshot of your site that you can host anywhere you want to if you ever decide to leave us. In fact, you can do it yourself anytime you want to as well. There are lots of tools that let you pull down a static version of your website.
And on the flip side, building your website on WordPress or a similar platform doesn't necessarily mean you are immune to switching costs. There are many situations in which websites built on open source platforms can become very difficult to maintain as a result of updates over time and potentially working with different developers.
Additionally, our agreements are month-to-month, so you are also not locked in from a financial standpoint. Our goal is to do everything we can to make sure that you have the flexibility to do what's best for you. Our approach is to retain your business based on the service we provide.
So ultimately, it's understandable to be concerned, but we feel that we make it as easy as possible to have the flexibility you need if something changes.