If you were to poll financial advisors about the importance of building a comprehensive online footprint, most would quickly tout the merits of a polished homepage, informative social media posts, and possibly a blog.
CURIOUS ABOUT BACKLINKS? CONTACT PALADIN AND FIND OUT HOW THEY CAN HELP SEO!
Few people in the financial advisor industry and beyond are aware of the importance of building backlinks. Invest the time necessary to build backlinks for your financial advisor website and the effort will pay meaningful dividends for extended periods of time.
The Basics of Backlinks
Backlinks are created when a website links to another website. Also referred to as inbound links or incoming links, backlinks are an essential component of search engine optimization (SEO). Backlinks are valuable because they serve as a positive reference of sorts from one website to another. Establish backlinks on your financial advisor website and that will effectively communicate to Google and other search engines that your content is high-quality.
In short, if several websites link to one website or a specific webpage, search engines determine that specific content is worthy of the links, helping to bolster visibility on search engine results pages or SERPs for short. Earning backlinks ultimately creates a powerful positive effect on the site’s SERP ranking, enhancing critically important visibility.
Embrace the Challenge of Earning and Providing Backlinks
Backlinks are a valuable component of your firm’s off-site SEO. The quest to obtain such links is referred to as link building or link earning. However, all backlinks are not inherently equal. Backlinks from popular sites the public trusts and views as legitimate are the most coveted backlinks. Alternatively, backlinks from sites rife with spam and lacking authority are less desired.
Furthermore, your financial advisor website will benefit from followed links. A followed link is one in which the owner of the site directs search engines to pass on link equity. This is not to say no-follow backlinks are devoid of value. Rather, followed links are more valuable. It should be noted that in some cases, the mere mention of your website or another component of your online footprint - such as one of your social media pages - will help boost your unique brand, building an important rapport with local investors who are in need of your financial advisor services.
Do not be Intimidated by Backlink Research
It takes some time to earn backlinks yet this effort is worth it. New websites, as well as those attempting to bolster their keyword/keyphrase footprint, might find it challenging to understand where, exactly, to begin with link building. Competitive backlinking research is the answer. An examination of the backlink profile provides invaluable insight. In other words, it is prudent to analyze the group of pages/domains that link to a specific site as it relates to a competing website that ranks high for industry-relevant keywords. In short, your financial advisory firm likely has plenty to learn from the success of your competitors in the online realm.
Consider using a backlink tool such as Link Explorer to pinpoint the most important links, empowering you to properly target specific domains within your unique link building quest. Once you acquire relevant hyperlinks from other sites that connect to your firm’s URLs and domain, your traffic will spike and your site will rank that much better in SERPs.
However, this is not a one-and-done project. The overarching aim of link building is to collect as many inbound links as you can for as long as you can.
Start Your Backlinking Effort With the Easiest Links
Peruse the web for backlinking strategies and you will be inundated with an avalanche of tips and tricks. Push all that information aside and square your focus on the low-hanging fruit of backlinking. As an example, social media profiles will significantly help your backlinking quest. Ideally, your financial advisory firm will have profiles on the top social media sites:
- YouTube
Be sure to include your firm’s website link in the appropriate section of these social media profiles.
Directory listings will also help. These essential online directories list your financial advisor firm’s website, name and contact information. Be sure to establish a profile on the following online directories:
- Yelp
- Yahoo Local Directory
- YP.com
Include your firm’s homepage URL to bolster your backlinks.
Association links will also help improve your backlinking. If your firm is not yet a member of the most important industry associations and other relevant groups, it is time to join them. From Investment Advisor Associations to the Chamber of Commerce, the Better Business Bureau and beyond, each unique association represents an opportunity to link to your firm’s website.
Finally, be sure to add your company’s website URL to every single employee’s email signature. Though this addition won’t boost your SEO ranking, it will persuade locals interested in your services to visit your website.
Contact Guest Writers for Backlinking Assistance
Extend an olive branch to financial industry publications, or local publications. Find out if these parties are willing to feature one or several of your guest posts containing your financial advisor firm’s homepage link within the content. You can return the favor by featuring their work on your blog, social media or one of your webpages. Even a small feature that highlights your firm on a local website will help build your backlinks. Just be sure to include a hyperlink to your homepage or one of your service pages to encourage readers to check out your unique value proposition.
Build Momentum by Doing Something Noteworthy
The backlinking challenge will prove that much easier if your firm does something noteworthy that can be highlighted on the web. Hold a fundraiser, auction or other event and local media outlets will cover the event, adding a link to your homepage on the web coverage or at least naming your business.
Additional ideas for publicity include providing no-cost financial education lessons to deserving locals or establishing an educational scholarship for local students. The ensuing positive press will generate invaluable backlinks that steer web traffic to your financial advisor firm’s website and other components of your online footprint.
Keep Score
Though backlinking will gradually generate results in the form of web traffic that converts interested investors into paying clients, you can also keep score of your backlinking effort with quantitative methods.
In particular, Google Analytics provides a helpful website analytics platform that identifies those who link to your website. Google Analytics even identifies where your online traffic stems from.
Google Analytics also reveals whether your unique backlinking strategy is actually proving effective. Analyze this data with regularity, use it to fine-tune your backlinking strategy and your backlinking success will gradually boost your website’s visits. The end result will be a considerable uptick in client inquiries that benefit your firm’s bottom line.
