There are three important assets an online brokers can offer any new investor. The first and most important is an easy-to-use website and platform. After all, what good is trading online if you can’t figure out how to perform place an order? Second, a robust offering of educational content (see the Education section for a full breakdown) is always beneficial. Third is having access to virtual trading for practice and honing the art of trading. “X” factors include research, mobile trading, and community functionality.