Friction

Friction refers to obstacles that slow down or prevent users from completing desired actions on your website. In marketing, friction is anything that makes it harder for prospects to move forward in your conversion funnel.

Common Sources of Friction

For financial services websites, friction includes

• Complex navigation that makes it hard to find information
• Slow page loading times
• Too many form fields
• Unclear calls-to-action
• Mobile-unfriendly design
• Broken links or technical errors
• Confusing fee structures
• Jargon-heavy language
• Lack of social proof or trust signals
• Required registration before viewing content

Good Friction vs Bad Friction

Not all friction is bad. Good friction includes

• Qualification questions that filter poor-fit prospects
• Security measures that build trust
• Required compliance disclosures
• Professional credentialing verification Bad friction includes anything that frustrates qualified prospects or makes legitimate next steps unnecessarily difficult.

Reducing Friction

Reduce problematic friction by

• Simplifying forms and processes
• Improving site speed
• Clarifying messaging and CTAs
• Making mobile experience seamless
• Removing unnecessary steps
• Providing clear fee information
• Using plain language
• Adding trust signals Analyze your conversion funnel to identify where prospects drop off, then systematically remove friction at those points. Every obstacle removed typically improves conversion rates.

Examples

• A financial planner removing registration requirement for their calculator tool, increasing usage from 180 to 720 monthly users and generating more leads
• An RIA discovering slow page load times causing 40% of mobile visitors to abandon, then optimizing images and improving load time from 8 seconds to 2 seconds
• A wealth manager simplifying their consultation scheduling from a 3-page process to embedded calendar, doubling bookings