Editor's Note: This post was originally published in August 2016 and has been completely revamped and updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.
Want the truth? There are tens of thousands of new pages of financial content posted on the Internet each month for every conceivable topic. The sources range from the brand name financial news to individual financial advisors in relatively small towns.
There is also a second truth worth mentioning. Publishing content on the Internet is still your best bet for increasing your online visibility and traffic to your financial advisor website. You just have to publish the right types of content that resonate with your intended audiences.
Request a free Scorecard Report that looks at your online visibility and website structure today!
These two truths are not contradictory. Their combined impact does mean you have to write compelling content that captures the attention of investors. An example of compelling content might be a financial solution for a frequent investor pain point.
Following are a few additional insights and tips that will help you write quality content that has a better chance of ranking on the first few pages of Google.
The Internet Scanners
Investors do not read pages of content. Instead, they scan content to find what they are looking for. This means, at the very most, the introductory content of your article has just seconds to convince investors to read what you have written. This means the most important space on a page is the title and the first paragraph.
Want proof? A research report produced by Nielsen Norman Group, showed a whopping 79% of people do not read online content word-by-word. Instead, they scan content looking for information that is important to them.
Succinct May Not Be Better
Remember when you were in school? You had to write 500-word essays to get a good grade. What if you only had 300 words of meaningful content? You still had to produce 500 words or you would get a bad grade.
This process produced some bad habits that are difficult to unlearn.
Excess words clutter the messages you want to deliver. You can also lose readers in the first paragraph if you do not deliver a clear message that resonates with them. You must prove, very quickly, that your article contains the information they are seeking.
Although it is controversial, like your school experience, it is widely believed that Google prefers longer articles that contain more detailed information about a financial topic. It makes sense that shorter articles may simply skim the surface of what could be a complex topic.
For example, you are writing about when to start taking Social Security benefits. Several important variables impact this financial decision. A more in-depth article should cover all of them.
Structure Matters
Since most people are scanners you want to make it easy for them to find information in your content. The easier you make it to find information, the higher the probability they will stay on your page.
The best web pages have the following attributes:
- Use big and bold headings for your paragraphs
- Highlight key points using bolding, italics, and color
- Use bullet points for all types of lists
- Limit your paragraphs to a single point
- Key points are easy to find
Maintain Your Objectivity
Most people have low regard for reading anything that looks like promotional material that is written to sell a product or service. They want information laden with facts, more facts, and nothing but the facts. Exaggerated, undocumented claims without meaningful sources will cause many readers to exit your pages.
- Make objective, credible statements
- Avoid exaggerated statements unless you have proof
- Avoid bragging unless it is a testimonial by a third party
- Minimize language that sounds like a sales pitch
Credibility & Trust
Using high-quality content to create online visibility and website traffic should be two of your primary goals. But, two other goals are of equal importance.
One is building your credibility that you are an expert in your field. The information in your article should help establish you as an expert on a particular topic. For example, you write an in-depth article about pre-retirement planning thereby establishing your credential as a pre-retirement planner.
An even bigger goal is building trust. That is, not only are you an expert, you are an expert that people can trust. You do that by becoming a consistent source of high-quality information that investors can read and forward to friends, family, and associates.
At the pinnacle of this relationship is the thought leader. This person is the trustworthy expert that investors follow for information that helps them understand complex financial topics and make better decisions.
They may tell friends, family, and associates about your content, but only if you establish trust by helping them first.
Google Bots
Google’s Bots are looking at the articles that you publish on the web. What they see determines the organic impact of your content. For example, the Bots see:
- How many people opened your document
- How long they spent reading your content
- Did they take action (Contact You) after reading your document
- Did they forward your content to other people
- Did they exit your blog site after reading the article
You cannot fool Google. Your best solution is to produce high-quality content that compels people to open your documents and read them. And, be sure to adhere to Google’s five rules for higher-ranking content:
- The content has to be original; publishing library content is a waste of time
- This is controversial, but Google prefers longer articles that are more in-depth (1000 words)
- Articles should be linked to pillar pages (topic clusters)
- Articles have to be good enough for people to open and read them
- Google gives increased visibility to consistent sources of quality content
Creating Competitive Advantage
One last observation. If you become a consistent source of in-depth, high-quality content that earns increasing visibility in Google, you may also benefit from the competitive advantage that is produced by digital marketing.
That’s because millions of investors are seeking financial information they can trust. When you are the source of that information you have a competitive advantage when the investors start their interviewing processes for selecting financial advisors.
