SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an all-encompassing term for making your financial advisor website visible to search engines like Google. While a successful SEO strategy includes multiple elements, Google doesn’t disclose its “secret formula” for what makes one website’s content rank higher than another.
However, there’s no question that content is the #1 factor for your financial advisor website’s SEO success. And if that’s the case, then financial advisors need to create quality content and let Google do the rest, right? If only it were that simple. The truth is, that knowing what content rules the top of the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) is only the beginning.
If all financial advisor content is not created equal, what factors affect how Google views your content?
1) E-E-A-T
While Google doesn’t share its specific algorithm formula, it shares critical information on achieving SEO success with its E-E-A-T guidelines. If this sounds familiar, that’s because E-E-A-T is an expansion of the original E-A-T guidelines.
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It’s also important to note that Google doesn’t only rely on metrics to determine E-E-A-T — instead, it uses what Google calls Quality Raters to provide input from a human’s perspective. In true Google fashion, it’s not known how exactly the information from these raters affects SEO rankings, there is no question that they have some influence.
Here's the rundown on what the Quality Raters are looking for:
Experience – as the latest addition to the guidelines, this second E stands for experience. Previously, the guidelines only outlined expertise in a subject area but not necessarily experience as well. Adding experience to the attributes for SEO success puts financial advisors in a good position to be able to demonstrate experience in the financial services industry.
Expertise – This is the original E, and as mentioned above, stands for expertise. Because Google wants to deliver the best results in any given search, it makes sense that it would give more weight to content from those sources with proven knowledge on a topic. Again, this is where your financial advisor content can outrank the content from non-experts.
Authoritativeness – This is what Google uses to establish credibility on a certain topic or industry. Content that ranks high in this area must demonstrate that other sources, such as partner websites or even 3rd-party reviews, use your content as a resource on their own channels. Essentially, this provides a form of validation for your financial advisor content.
Trustworthiness – Since virtually anyone on the planet can create a website, it’s no wonder that trust isn’t given easily by search engines and consumers alike. But once earned, trust can go a long way for financial advisors looking to provide quality content as well as grow their prospect base. Some ways to exhibit trustworthiness include displays of transparency, such as: crediting sources when publishing non-original content, having an established website, and having accurate and consistent contact information.
2) Relevance
Just because the content is high quality, that doesn’t mean it’s what that user was looking for. That’s why your financial advisor content should also be relevant to the keywords and descriptions you’re using in your SEO. Otherwise, you may be seen as using a “bait and switch” tactic which can result in high bounce rates and an overall poor user experience. Pro Tip: if you must choose between quality and quantity, always choose quality for your financial advisor content.
3) Originality
While the basic principles of financial advice aren’t likely to change anytime soon, that doesn’t mean your financial advisor content has to be the same as all the other financial advisor content out there. Google often rewards content on common topics that can be presented in a unique, original, fresh way. This includes graphics, charts, and other means of sharing content that brings a fresh perspective.
4) Being Up to Date
The internet is essentially a living, breathing organism. It was never meant to be static or stagnant. However, having what Google views as “outdated content” can negatively affect your financial advisor search ranking. This can be prevented by regularly performing content audits to ensure your content is current and accurate.
However, the content itself may not be outdated but rather the post has an “old” publishing date. A quick fix is to refresh this content with a few tweaks. This will show Google that the content has been “updated” recently.
5) Readability
Financial information can be confusing to first-time or less experienced investors. And if they’re coming to your financial advisor website for information, they need to be able to understand it.
You want to be seen as a reliable expert on a particular topic. However, that doesn’t mean using only specific industry terms that could be confusing and intimidating. The best practice for readability is to strike a balance between putting financial investing words and phrases in layperson language, and teaching the audience what it all means.
Hot Topic: The Role of AI in Your Financial Advisor Content
With the rising popularity of artificial intelligence chatbots such as ChatGPT, many financial advisors are wondering how this new technology could help with their financial advisor content. Here are some ways financial advisors can utilize AI in their content strategy:
- Use AI to improve your financial advisor content, rather than create it from scratch.
Chatbots are artificial intelligence programs that use the internet to simulate human conversation. That means nothing coming from a chatbot is original because it was gathered from currently published information. However, if you feed your existing content to a chatbot and ask for proofreading or suggestions for improvement, you are still working with your own content and not risking plagiarizing existing content.
- Get Ideas for what financial advisor content you’ll produce next.
If you’re stuck on what your next blog post or video should be about, you can ask the chatbot for ideas and then create your own unique content. This will also tell you what types of financial advisor content people are looking for, as well as what is out there from other (possibly competitive) sources.
- Partner Up.
Artificial intelligence isn’t going anywhere, and we’ve barely scratched the surface of all the possible applications for supporting and enhancing financial advisor content. Partnering with a digital marketing firm with chatbot specialists can help you make the most of this new resource for your financial advisor content.
About Paladin
Paladin is a digital marketing agency that has worked exclusively with financial advisors since its founding in 2003. Paladin’s team of digital marketing professionals has more than 100 years of collective financial industry experience marketing our clients' services to individuals, families, and businesses. Plus, our team has decades of experience providing digital marketing services to financial advisors. Our clients range from start-ups to firms with billions of dollars of AUM. We are a full-service agency that provides website, SEO, SEM, Video, and Fractional CMO services. Want more information about our digital marketing services for financial advisors? Email: Info@PaladinDigitalMarketing.com to schedule an introductory call. We protect your privacy.
