One way to prove you are a real financial expert is to author a steady flow of high-quality content that addresses the financial pain points of your ideal types of clients.
Financial advisor content marketing includes blog posts, pillar pages, guides, videos, podcasts, infographics, and webinars. These different forms of content not only showcase your knowledge but can also provide actionable information for your audiences.
What do you need to know to make your financial advisor content marketing strategy a success?
Why does content quality matter for financial advisors?
High-quality online content should be one of your primary strategies for demonstrating financial expertise that benefits your clients. The higher the quality of the content, the more expert the voice of a financial advisor.
Bring your financial advisor marketing methods out of the dark ages and into 2023! Connect with Paladin Digital Marketing today!
The ideal content topics will be financial pain points that impact your ideal types of clients. What pain points? They get investors’ attention when they are surfing the internet for information that solves problems and helps them make better decisions - including which advisors to interview.
Meet All of Google’s Ranking Criteria
Paladin Tip: Advisor content has to meet all of Google’s content marketing requirements to achieve high page ranks.
Google's ranking factors and requirements for content have evolved over time, with the ultimate goal of providing the best possible experience for Google users.
Following are some of the more important factors that impact the ranking of your content on Google.
Content Relevance and Quality Impact Visibility
Some of the more important criteria that impact the visibility of your content are listed here.
- Topic relevance: Ensure your content matches the keywords that are entered by the user.
- Comprehensive coverage: Detailed, in-depth content that covers a subject more thoroughly tends to rank better. This doesn't mean the number of words matters, but the content should fully address the user's interest in some detail.
- Originality: Unique and original content provides more value to users and is strongly preferred versus duplicate or rehashed content.
- Mobile-friendliness: With the rise of mobile searches, a mobile-friendly design is a critical variable.
- Core Web Vital Statistics: Metrics related to loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability of a page should be monitored on a frequent basis.
- HTTPS usage: A secure and accessible website is a ranking signal, typically signified by “https://” in the URL.
- Intrusive interstitials: Pop-ups and other content that interfere with user access to the desired content should be avoided.
- Quality backlinks: Links from reputable, authoritative sites can signal that your content is trustworthy and valuable..
- Anchor text relevance: The clickable text in a hyperlink should be relevant to the linked content.
- Higher click-through rates (CTRs): The percentage of people who click on your listing after seeing it in the search results.
- Bounce rate and dwell time: If users quickly leave (bounce from) your page or spend considerable time on it, these can be indicators of the content's relevance and quality.
- Keyword optimization: Ensure that your content includes relevant keywords in a natural manner. This includes title tags, meta descriptions, headers, and throughout the content.
- Site speed: Faster loading times provide a better user experience.
- Schema markup: Helps search engines understand the context and content of your page.
Google's algorithms are complex and rankings are based on hundreds of variables. It's also worth noting that Google makes frequent updates, so staying informed about the latest best practices is essential for maintaining high rankings.
What does it take to rank on page one?
Ranking on page one of Google for competitive topics, like those in the financial sector, requires a blend of high-quality content, technical optimization, off-site authority, and continuous effort.
Following are tips that will help you rank higher on Google.
Conducting keyword research:
- Be sure to use tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Ubersuggest.
- Target longer strings of keywords for niche topics within the financial sector to decrease the amount of competition.
- Understand search intent – why is someone searching for this term?
Writing and editing quality content with a relevant purpose:
- Produce high-quality, well-researched content.
- Prioritize depth and value; your content should comprehensively cover your chosen topic.
- Incorporate multimedia (images, infographics, videos) where applicable.
- Update your content regularly to keep it fresh and relevant.
Pay close attention to your On-Page SEO:
- Optimize meta titles, descriptions, and URLs with targeted keywords.
- Structure content with headers (H1, H2, etc.).
- Improve page loading speeds.
- Make sure your website is mobile-friendly.
Make sure your website is optimized for technical SEO:
- Ensure your site has an SSL certificate (HTTPS).
- Optimize site for speed: minimize code, compress images, leverage browser caching, etc.
- Implement schema markup where applicable.
- Create a sitemap and submit it to Google Search Console.
- Optimize crawl settings through robots.txt.
Make use of backlinks:
- Build high-quality backlinks from reputable sources. In the financial sector, trust is crucial, so prioritize links from authoritative financial institutions or publications.
- Guest post on relevant blogs or websites.
- Avoid buying links or participating in link schemes.
- Optimize your Google Business Profile listing.
- Encourage positive reviews.
- Build local citations.
- Share content on social media platforms.
- Encourage social shares and engagement.
- Ensure your site has a clear, user-friendly design.
- Reduce bounce rates by providing relevant, engaging content.
- Improve site navigation and include a clear call-to-action.
- Regularly track your rankings.
- Use tools like Google Analytics to understand user behavior.
- Adjust your strategy based on data and results.
- SEO is continuously evolving. Stay updated with algorithm changes and best practices.
- Attend webinars, follow SEO blogs, and participate in relevant communities.
Will video improve your online marketing results?
Compared to print, ranking on page one of Google using video depends on various factors: Including the platform, the niche or industry, the quality of the content, and the specific keywords targeted.
The following are some points to consider:
Platform Matters: On platforms like YouTube, which is primarily a video platform, video content is obviously favored. On traditional search engines like Google, while video content is integrated into the search results (often as rich snippets), whether it's easier to rank with a video depends on other factors.
Search Preference: For some queries, users are more inclined to watch a video than read an article. For instance, someone looking up "how to tie a tie" might prefer a visual guide. Google often presents videos at the top of the search results for such queries.
Competition: If there's less competition in video content for your specific niche or topic, it might be easier to rank with a video. Conversely, if a space is saturated with high-quality video content, it could be a waste of resources.
Quality and Engagement: A high-quality video that engages viewers can be a major marketing asset. Platforms like YouTube consider user engagement (e.g., watch time, likes, comments) when ranking videos.
SEO Considerations: Just as with traditional SEO for web pages, video SEO is crucial. This includes optimizing the video title, description, tags, and closed captions. High-quality backlinks to the video and embeds on other websites can also boost its visibility.
Video Thumbnail: An attractive thumbnail can increase the click-through rate for your video when it appears in search results or on video platforms.
Content Integration: Google tends to reward comprehensive content. If you have a web page that seamlessly integrates text, images, and video, it might be seen as more valuable to users and could rank higher.
Mobile and Load Speed: Video can be heavy, which may slow down page load times. Slow-loading pages can be penalized in search rankings. If you embed videos on your site, ensure they're optimized and don't hinder performance.
Video Platforms: Hosting your video on established platforms like YouTube can be beneficial because these platforms are already trusted and recognized by search engines.
Diversification: Not all audiences prefer video. While it's a dominant medium, especially among younger audiences, there are still many users who prefer reading articles, blog posts, or infographics.
Lack of Unique Value Proposition (UVP): Generic content, by definition, doesn't offer anything new or unique to the audience. When viewers or readers have a plethora of options to choose from, they are more likely to gravitate towards content that offers a fresh perspective, unique insights, or specialized knowledge. If your content is similar to what's already out there, it's less likely to stand out.
Over-saturation of the Market: With the rise of the internet and platforms like YouTube, blogs, and social media, content creation has become more accessible to the masses. As a result, there's an overabundance of content on almost every topic. When content is generic, it becomes just another drop in an ocean of information, making it hard for users to find or be interested in.
Lack of Personalization: Today's audiences expect content to be tailored to their specific interests and needs. Generic content doesn't address the specific pain points or concerns of a targeted audience. With algorithms on platforms like Google, YouTube, and Facebook giving preference to relevant, personalized content, generic content often falls by the wayside.
Trustworthiness and Authority: Brand-name competitors usually have built a reputation over time. They are recognized by audiences as authoritative sources in their respective domains. On the other hand, content that is generic may not be backed by a recognizable brand or expert, making it harder for viewers to trust the validity of the information.
Poor Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Generic content, especially when it doesn't utilize strong SEO practices, will struggle to rank on search engines. Brand-name competitors often have dedicated resources for optimizing their content for search, making them more visible to potential viewers. Effective SEO requires targeted keyword research, backlinking strategies, and quality content, all of which might be lacking in generic content.
When considering financial pain points specifically, audiences are looking for solutions to genuine problems they face in their financial lives. They want actionable insights, tools, or advice. Generic content that doesn't directly address these pain points or offer tangible solutions will fail to resonate with the target audience, leading to lower engagement and views.
About Paladin
Paladin is a team of digital marketing professionals with more than 100 years of collective financial industry experience marketing our clients' services to individuals, institutions, and financial advisors. Paladin is a boutique agency that was founded in 2003 to provide game-changing digital marketing services to a limited number of firms and professionals in the financial service industry. Our services range from designing and developing custom websites to providing SEO, SEM, and Fractional CMO services. Want more information about our digital marketing services? Email your request to Paladin’s CMO: Jack@PaladinDigitalMarketing.com
