SEO is now an integral part of every financial advisor digital marketing plan. The manner in which your financial advisory firm executes an SEO plan really does have the potential to make the difference between a successful 2021 and a year of relatively flat growth. Whether your financial advisory firm has hundreds of employees or a couple of employees, has been around for decades, or is a startup, you would benefit from an effective SEO strategy.
The Importance of SEO
Your financial advisory firm’s position on the search engine results pages (SERPs) has the potential to be the difference between your company’s failure to grow or blossoming into an even bigger firm with a steady stream of new clients. If you want to grow, an SEO strategy is essential to helping your financial advisory firm reach the first page of the SERPs, ideally ranking at the very top of this page. Keep in mind there are around 70,000 searches conducted on Google every single second. This equates to two trillion searches per year.
However, the first five links listed on the SERPs receive more than two-thirds of all clicks. Furthermore, 91% of web searchers do not click through to the second page of the search results. The challenge lies in getting your financial advisory firm onto the initial page, with an emphasis on the first five listings.
Voice Search SEO
Voice search is gradually building momentum. Though this SEO trend has not taken off as quickly as most anticipated, it is still very important, in particular for busy investors. The plain truth of the matter is a growing number of your target clients will search Google with their voice, starting with “financial advisors near me” or something similar and sorting through the results of the voice query.
This is precisely why your firm should include keywords and key phrases tailored to voice search throughout your content. Consider what your target audience is likely to verbalize when conducting a voice search for your services and include those specific words and phrases across all of your online footprint.
Pay Attention to Google’s Algorithm Updates
Search engines are dynamic as opposed to static. This means search engines gradually evolve, implementing new algorithms that help web sleuths find the exact information they search for. So don’t shrug off Google’s latest updates as they roll out in 2021 and the future.
Core updates really do make a powerful impact on financial advisory firms’ organic visibility. If any news emerges of Google altering its core updates, read through those articles, and take notes. The information you glean from the stories detailing these updates really does have the potential to help enhance your financial advisory firm’s SEO. In fact, Google’s tech wizards have advanced to the point that they are altering the algorithms meant to enhance search results on an increasingly frequent basis.
Consider Paid Online Ads (SEM)
Wouldn’t it be nice if your financial advisory firm were featured on an on-page ad when someone in your locale searches for your firm’s services or related services? Implement pay-per-click (PPC) ads into your inbound marketing campaign and those in your area who search for anything related to financial advisory services will see your company’s PPC ads on the search engine results pages toward the top or bottom of the page.
The best part about PPC ads is you do not have to pay through the nose to display them to your target audience. Rather, the cost of PPC ads is the result of the number of clicks they receive. The bottom line is more than two-thirds of online ad spending is going to Google and Facebook as these platforms prove effective in connecting service providers to their clients.
Facebook now offers advertisement placement customization to help companies attain their marketing goals. Furthermore, it is now possible for your financial advisory firm to mix in ads on the social media platform’s News Feed and also in Instagram Instant Articles, Reels, and Stories.
SEO Matters for the Entirety of Your Online Footprint
There is a common misconception that a financial advisory firm’s website is all that matters in the context of SEO. Your website is only one component of your online footprint. Your social media, blog, Google My Business page, and other parts of your online footprint also matter a great deal.
So don’t restrict the use of keywords and key phrases to strictly your homepage and service pages. Every single part of the internet where your business is featured should be tailored for SEO purposes.
As long as keywords, key phrases, and localized information are woven throughout your internet content in a strategic manner, it will prove to be effective for SEO purposes. However, it is a mistake to overuse these keywords and key phrases. If you use such words and phrases at a keyword saturation rate in excess of 3.5%, there is a chance Google and other search engines will penalize your financial advisory firm for keyword oversaturation. Ideally, your keyword and key phrase optimization rate will be between .5% and 2.5%.
Make a Commitment to Updating Your Online Content With Regularity
Merely implementing certain keywords, key phrases, and local information in the occasional blog post or social media update will not suffice. SEO does not work unless you create a consistent flow of new and refreshed online content. Update your financial advisory firm’s blog at least once per week with an informative post that helps target clients learn more about your firm and/or solve important financial problems. Your homepage, service pages, social media and other components of your online footprint should also be refreshed with regularity to ensure your SEO strategy is fully implemented.
When in doubt, err on the side of providing more information through frequent updates rather than erring on the side of not providing enough online content optimized for search engines. As long as you do not flood the internet with an overpowering wave of information related to your financial advisory firm, your effort will not be in vain.
In fact, it even makes sense to publish guest posts on other blogs related to your industry or in your area to enhance your SEO all the more. Just be sure to include your targeted keywords, key phrases and local identifiers in these guest blog posts to target potential clients so they can find your financial advisory firm when they conduct an online search.
