Google likes video. So should your financial advisor firm.
You are going to see a lot of references to Google in this article for three reasons:
- Google controls 72% of all search traffic
- High SEO visibility means page one Google ranks
- 91.5% of Google users do not scroll to page two
Page one rankings for keywords that matter to financial advisors is one of the most competitive marketplaces on earth. Every financial advisor would like page one visibility for keywords that produce high-quality leads and contacts for their firms.
Google values two criteria more than any others: the quality of your content, and its relevance to keywords that are entered by investors who are searching for wealth advisors or financial information.
It stands to reason the more you help Google deliver high-quality content to its users, the more visible you will be in Google’s search engine. High-quality content includes video, blog articles, social media posts, and other ungated forms of investor information.
To determine rankings, Google doesn’t just look at the text on a particular page. It also sees financial advisors mix of information and measures its quality based on numbers of viewers and the average length of their stays. It is a major plus, if your financial advisor website has a mixture of text and high-quality videos.
Video Generates More Traffic
Following this same thinking, one of the metrics that Google looks at when determining rank factor is the amount of traffic financial advisors have on their websites. Google assumes there must be a good reason why some financial advisor websites have more visitors than others.
There is a bottom-line. Video can produce more traffic than text. That’s because it has more appeal to a bigger range of investors who are seeking information on the Internet.
Everyone watches television. Not everyone reads books.
Plus, and this is a big one. People retain a lot more of what they see and hear, versus what they just see. This means the ideal video is a combination of voice and visual aids.
People are also more likely to visit your website after watching one of your videos they find on YouTube or your other social media channels. This is one of the main reasons why so many B2C financial service firms are adding video to their websites and other marketing channels.
The more video content financial advisors create, the more quality traffic they will experience, which will boost their overall SEO visibility.
Investors Stay Longer
Google pays close attention to how long investors stay on financial advisor websites. If the websites have significant traffic, but visitors exit in one minute or less, Google is going to assume they did not find what they were looking for. A devastating Google assumption can be the content on a financial advisor website is just not good enough to keep visitors on the site.
Video, on the other hand, can increase investors’ time on site. That’s because a high percentage of investors are more inclined to watch videos than they are to read blog articles or website content.
When you increase your use of video, you can increase the amounts of time investors spend on your website, which improves your SEO rankings in all of the major search engines.
Video Produces More Links
Quality backlinks are a critical factor when Google’s algorithm produces search engine rankings for financial advisor websites. The more times investors link to your content, the more authority you have in the major search engines. When you are identified as an authoritative source, your page ranks will improve in all of the major search engines.
Publishing your financial advisor video content on sites like YouTube and the various social media channels is a good way to boost referrals and produce high-quality traffic to your website. Both results will improve your SEO rankings.
Video Improves Conversion Rates
So far, we have been describing the ways video will improve your online visibility, website traffic, and website conversion rates. A key element in this process is your visibility in Google. You may have a great website, but you need conversions to produce positive ROI.
Video is a great way to pre-sell prospective clients. Whereas the written word can be dry and a little boring, video is a way for you to project the personality and values of your financial advisor firm.
This plays into the process that most investors use to select financial advisors. Since many investors have a hard time evaluating advisors based on objective criteria, they tend to use subjective criteria to select the advisors they like the best. Online video for financial advisors can be the beginning of that selection process. If investors like what they see and hear, they are more likely to initiate contact with the financial advisors who are represented on the videos.
This contact starts the conversion process: Viewer to lead, lead to prospect, and prospect to revenue-producing client.
Conclusion
Why would financial advisors limit their digital marketing strategies to the written word that includes blog articles, website content, and eBooks? This type of content may only appeal to a certain type of investor.
On the other hand, financial advisor videos can open another dimension by appealing to investors who are not inclined to spend time reading articles and website pages. High-quality videos may be your most important differentiating characteristic.
You may need a digital marketing agency, that is experienced working with financial advisors, to help you produce a steady flow of high-quality videos that appeal to the right types of investors.
