Gone are the days when GPs controlled the flow of information.
These are the days of LPs who do their homework long before the first conversation.
They compare firms, assess track records, and form opinions – all based on what they find online.
By the time an investor reaches out, the first impression has already been made. They have visited your website, your LinkedIn profiles, and Googled all the relevant news articles.
First impressions are very hard to change.
So, you need to make a good one.
This is where your website becomes a critical tool.
The power of an effective user journey
Giving your website a clear structure does not just make it easier to navigate. It also shapes how investors feel about your firm.
An easy, intuitive user journey guides investors through the information you want them to see.
If investors have a good experience on your website, it paints a vision of what it’s like to work with you.
If they leave your website after struggling to find key information, they may forever associate that frustration with your firm.
Give investors confidence by following our best practices. In previous articles, we have discussed improving readability and making regular content updates .
In this article, we are focusing on improving user journeys. All of these recommendations come from our WebSCAN process, where we’ve reviewed 400+ GP websites against six main categories.
There are two key steps to improving user journeys:
1. Add strategic links to the content you want to showcase
Investors don’t have time to click back and forth through endless sub-pages to find the information they need. Strategic internal links ensure they move seamlessly through your website without frustration.
Typically, for a fund manager’s website, these pages include:
Your investment strategy
Investors want to understand how you invest, what industries you focus on, and what makes your approach unique.
A clearly written investment strategy page or section should answer these questions upfront and be easy to find.
This enables LPs to instantly understand whether you are a good fit for them.
Link to your strategy page from:
- Your homepage
- An ‘About us’ page
- Deals relevant to the strategy on your portfolio page
Your team
Investors want to know who is managing their capital. A clearly structured team page gives them confidence in your firm’s leadership.
Link to your team page from:
- Your homepage
- Deals on your portfolio page (add links to individual profiles of team members involved on that deal)
- News and insights (add links to individual profiles of team members who wrote the content or are most relevant to the topic area).
Your portfolio
Investors look for proof of successful past investments. Showcasing all your deals allows them to assess your firm’s track record at a glance.
Link to your portfolio page from:
- Your homepage
- Your Investment strategy page
- Team member profiles (highlighting deals they were involved in)
- Case studies or deal highlights with links to deeper insights
2. Enhance the user’s journey with helpful navigation tools
Adding navigation tools can improve the user experience and reduce friction.
These include:
A search bar
A search function is essential for websites with large amounts of content, such as research reports, market insights, and deal portfolios.
A smart search bar with autosuggestions also helps visitors find what they need quickly.
By tracking search analytics over time, you can also better understand what website visitors are looking for. This allows you to tailor search suggestions and structure your website according to your user’s needs.
Chatbots
A chatbot acts as a digital assistant, allowing investors to find answers quickly – before they lose interest.
While not necessary for every GP website, a chatbot can enhance the user experience by providing real-time guidance and reducing search time.
Advanced AI-driven chatbots can even schedule meetings with your team, streamlining investor inquiries.
404 error pages
When a user enters the website address wrong or arrives on a deleted page, they land on a “404 page”.
A generic “Page Not Found” message can cause frustration and drive users away.
Instead, you can use your 404 page to turn dead ends into opportunities.
Do this by offering redirect links to key pages or including a search bar that helps users find what they are looking for.
Your next steps
A well-structured user journey directly impacts investor interest and engagement.
When visitors quickly find what they need, they are more likely to stay, explore, and take action — whether that’s reaching out, subscribing to updates, or requesting a meeting.
Our WebSCAN can reveal the effectiveness of your website’s current user journey compared to your competitors.
Want to see how your website measures up?
