Where oh where have all the good websites gone?

As I scour prospect websites I notice a very unfortunate trend. Very few mortgage companies have put a lot of thought into their websites. Many have almost no distinguishable traits, they are very confusing and hard to follow and quite a few companies actually have almost identical sites.
(most certainly used the same developers for an inexpensive rate) Bad idea!

I suspect it is due to a comfort level with the space. Most successful mortgage company owners were brought up in a very manual-hand written world. They also did a lot of face to face selling which didnt lean on a web presence to help legitimize the sale. It just wasnt needed at the time. They never had to use the website to help close the sale....Now they most certainly do!

Nowadays most people at some point during the sales process are going to go to your website (your window to the world) to check out what you are all about. It is imperative that that visit ends with them wanting to come back, not run away.

Some tips:
1) People want to work with companies they can trust- Be sure to have an about us section with some real tangible information about you as a company. Dont go generic here! It is about you, not about a theoretical mortgage banking entity..Be original!

2) Make sure it is easy on the eyes and not too cluttered. It needs to have enough content to bite into, but not a full meal. It should leave a prospect feeling more informed, yet wanting to get more questions answered by the sales person. Then it is up to them to convert. The website needs to help facitilate the sale...it should NEVER inhibit.

3) Make sure there are clear calls to action. You want them to stay with you and convert eventually into a sale. So you need to have many ways to get in touch with you
> Easy to use web applicaiton
> Some sort of "we'll contact you" form
> 800 Number displayed prominently on all pages
> A way to email you with questions
> A chat function

Parting advice:
Some sites I have visited have left me very confused and frustrated...I am certain this is definitely not the desired result. The good news is that it is an easy and relatively inexpensive fix...Give your site a face lift and reap the benefits of more closed loans!