--- title: "#1 Tip for Creating a Unique Financial Website: Cookie Cutters" description: Cookie cutter is a term unfairly seen as a negative. Cookie cutters reduce time, costs, and stress by providing ready made and easily updatable components. image: https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Tired-of-back-and-for-emails-with-compliance-1-2-e1487890942243.png --- [![NEW AW + SK LOGO](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/NEW%20AW%20+%20SK%20LOGO.png?width=400&height=92&name=NEW%20AW%20+%20SK%20LOGO.png "NEW AW + SK LOGO")](https://www.advisorwebsites.com) [Back to All Posts](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/blog) ## #1 Tip for Creating a Unique Financial Website: Cookie Cutters ![Kirsten Ulveland](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hubfs/0%20(12).jpeg) [Kirsten Ulveland ](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/blog/author/kirsten-ulveland) • Posted on Feb 22, 2017 ![](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Tired-of-back-and-for-emails-with-compliance-1-2-e1487890942243.png) The term "cookie cutter" is not a positive term in a lot of industries, especially the web industry. It brings up the image of thousands of identical, cheap, and mass produced products. A sentence I hear a lot is: "I do not want a cookie cutter website." That is a fair statement, you shouldn't want a website that's the same as everyone else's! But 'cookie cutters' save you a lot of ***time, money, and stress.*** [embed]http://giphy.com/gifs/KJg6Znn4V1Jcs[/embed] ## Why all the bad rep with cookie cutter design? What do you think of when someone says 'cookie cutter' design? I bet it's buying a template, putting in a couple of paragraphs, your logo, some pictures, and a few different font styles. The result? A website equivalent of a 'cut and shut' car. [![](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/Tired-of-back-and-for-emails-with-compliance-1-2-e1487890942243.png?width=600&height=162&name=Tired-of-back-and-for-emails-with-compliance-1-2-e1487890942243.png)](https://advisorwebsites.com/demo?origin=BLOG) ## You want a website as unique as you are! When it comes to building a new website, you want something "built from scratch," right? Okay let's talk about what this actually means. First, you'll look at a lot of websites for inspiration. Yes good work! You need to have a clear idea of what you like and don't like. Then, you'll narrow down the websites you like to three and tell a web design company: "build me a website that is a combination of these three. But make it ***completely unique*** to my company. ![Cookie Cutter](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/specials-9-5.png?width=600&height=200&name=specials-9-5.png) What happens next? About 8-10 months of mock-ups, phone calls, more mock-ups, extra charges, passive aggressive emails, and reviewing the contract 10 times trying to figure out what a $1500 "holistic review" fee is. After all that work you end up with a website that looks remarkably like one of the three websites you shared during your first phone call. [embed]http://giphy.com/gifs/HteV6g0QTNxp6[/embed] ## Cookie cutters are designed to work Those first three websites you picked for inspiration all have one thing in common: you want the features they have on your own site. Thousands of hours have been spent studying where people look and click on a website. Using this data, website design standards are set out so people can build a website that gets viewers past the first page, submitting their contact details, and ultimately, ***giving you a lead***. When you create a site using the best-in-class design, you have a website that has a better chance of getting a low bounce rate and some leads. You have the blueprint of an awesome website. ![Cookie Cutter](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/specials-11-1.png?width=600&height=200&name=specials-11-1.png)   You are now ready to make this website as unique as you are! "Cookie cutter" is a term that is unfairly seen as a negative. Cookie cutters reduce time, costs, and stress levels by providing ready made and easily updatable components. This gives you a stable foundation to build your vision on top of. I don't bet, but if I had to put money on who would be happier after building a website: Person with a blank canvas vs. Person using a "cookie cutter," I would put my life savings on the person using a "cookie cutter." ![CEO-Graham](https://www.advisorwebsites.com/hubfs/CEO-Graham.png) ### About Advisor Websites, A Snappy Kraken Company *Founded in 2012, we specialize in helping financial advisors stand out and grow their business online with conversion-friendly, personalized websites and targeted digital marketing solutions, all of which follow FINRA and SEC guidelines.* Find Out More With A Personalized Demo   **Disclaimer:** The content of this article is for informational purposes only. 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