Financial advisors aim to set themselves apart from their competitors, making original blog content the keystone to captivating their website visitors. Original content is also essential for Search Engine Optimization (SEO) purposes and a financial advisor’s credibility in the eyes of new and existing clients visiting their website. Read on to explore why and how original content should be implemented on a financial advisor blog.
Digital marketing for financial advisors starts with your content marketing strategy.
Why Is Original Content Important?
To qualify as “original content” in the eyes of the almighty search engines, such as Google, a financial advisor blog content needs to be unique enough to pass plagiarism and/or duplicate content scans. Of course, given that there are many common themes throughout the financial industry, Google isn’t looking for 100% unique content. However, taking a different approach and avoiding large chunks of copied content – even if you attribute the original source – will go a long way toward being seen as “original” by search engine algorithms.
SEO is perhaps the most critical reason for original content, followed closely by wanting to offer the audience the content they’re looking for. In terms of SEO, the more authentic and high-quality your financial advisor content, the more likely your website will appear higher on SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages).
By ranking higher, a financial advisor website will get more visitors. Keep in mind that if someone clicked on your blog, they’re looking for your thoughts and insights; otherwise, they would have clicked elsewhere. By giving the audience the quality, unique content they desire, you’re helping your SEO and overall online reputation with both clients and potential clients.
How To Create and Get the Most Out of Original Content
Often the biggest challenges for financial advisors in creating original blog content is that they don’t know what to write about. If that’s the case, look no further than your existing clients or FAQs from potential clients. If advisors are asked the same questions regularly, or if there are specific topics that come up time after time – those are excellent places to start.
Chances are, many people share those same questions and concerns.
By creating blog content from these topics, advisors gain access to a larger audience of those looking for that exact content. This can be especially true for current events and how they specifically relate to the financial industry. Financial advisors can demonstrate their insight on what can sometimes be very difficult for non-financial professionals to understand through a blog.
How a Content Calendar Can Help
Outside of newsworthy current events that impact the financial industry, there is some seasonality to the type of content people are looking for within the realm of financial advice. This may be around holidays, seasons, or events such as tax and plan contribution deadlines.
By creating a simple content calendar, advisors can map out planned content for three, six, or even 12 months. Even if firms cannot fill in the gaps just yet, they can consider mapping out the seasonal content and fill in the holes as they go.
Pro Tip: If there are certain times when you know you’re less busy with clients, block out chunks of time to produce your financial advisor blog content. That way, you can build a library to share content regularly even when you’re swamped.
How Often Should Existing Blog Content Be Updated?
This answer is regularly!
While publishing new, original content is paramount, a financial advisor website SEO will benefit from updating or refreshing your existing content. This can be as minor as changing a few words around or updating a headline, image, or a complete revision based on current information. Google can see when content has been updated, and updated content fares better than older, stale content – even if it’s still relevant.
Another way to keep content fresh is to keep tabs on which articles perform better (Google Analytics can accomplish this). Advisors can write similar content while keeping those blog posts light turned on with timely updates or minor tweaks to show Google it has been reformed.
A Note on Stock Photography
Stock photography can be a valuable tool for financial advisors looking to add appealing visual elements to enhance the aspects of their digital marketing efforts. However, it’s recommended to be used sparingly. While Google doesn’t claim that stock photography directly impacts SEO, it can affect other factors that do.
For example, visitors to some financial advisor blogs can spot stock photography a mile away. And even if the content is authentic and high-quality, seeing the overused stock photos seen on many other sites can impact credibility before the first word is read. This can result in high bounce rates and other website performance factors affecting SEO.
Instead, consider using original photos or infographics. While they may not be as high-quality as professionally produced stock images, they show a level of authenticity that visitors appreciate.
Of course, all financial advisor websites have different visitors. Consider surveying some of your most trusted current clients that would like to give feedback. After all, they are your ideal client, right?
High Quality Content Is Just as Important as Original Content
Original doesn’t always mean high quality. And writing a financial advisor website and blog content isn’t for everyone. If this sounds familiar, or if you’re simply too overwhelmed to even think about producing content on your own, there’s no shame in hiring outside help.
Not everyone is a writer, and seeking the help of digital marketing and blog writing professionals doesn’t make your content inauthentic. In fact, the content can still come directly from you, but it’s simply arranged and formatted by writing professionals. It is the best of both worlds – your visitors get the content you need, and you can spend more time servicing (and growing!) your client base and AUM.
View this complete guide to keep the lights on with financial planning original content.
