SEO isn’t what it used to be but still critical to your success

We all know that marketing has changed and many financial advisers are leaving behind the old world of outbound marketing for the new world of inbound marketing. As a result of the digital revolution, your clients and prospects are predominantly consuming information online.
It only makes sense, then, that your marketing starts and is primarily driven by your website. Your website serves as the hub for your marketing campaigns. The goal is to get a prospect to find your website and, with the content and resources you provide on the site, encourage them to contact you.
At this point, the conversation often turns to search engine optimization (SEO). This punchy term has wooed and romanced just about everyone with a website, including financial advisers. Well-meaning advisers have spent tens of thousands of dollars in hopes of increasing their SEO and seeing their website rank at the top of a Google search.
(More: Follow these steps to climb search result ranks)
If you master SEO, you’ll appear on the first page of a Google search and see massive website traffic and prospects from across the country calling (or so the myth goes). If you’re feeling skeptical, you may be right to trust your instincts.
SEO IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING
Many advisers have a preconceived notion of what SEO is based on what it used to be. In the early days, you could effectively trick search engines. Today, SEO has matured. What was once a simple game of discovering the right keywords is now a multifaceted discipline. As Entrepreneur magazine explains, “The focus is now on content and branding rather than manipulation and trickery.” This means your main goal should be better content, not higher rankings. As they say, if you build it, they will come.
NOT YOUR TYPICAL INDUSTRY
By and large, your business is and will continue to be referral-based. Unlike most other industries, you can’t easily find adviser reviews on websites like Yelp. When it comes to something as personal as one’s finances, people want to work with someone who they can trust. They are much more likely to trust an adviser their friend recommends as opposed to the adviser they found by a keyword search on Google. The main goal of your marketing should be to convert those referrals with great content like resources, tools and education.
GOOD SEO AND EFFECTIVE MARKETING
A good SEO score doesn’t directly correlate with effective marketing. Rather than entirely focus on maximizing your SEO, create your website with SEO and site visitors in mind. Your prospects will naturally be able to locate your site and find insightful resources that don’t scream “sales pitch!”
(More: Advisers who embrace big data will have a leg up)
Search engines are looking to match a search with relevant content, so the information on your website should accurately reflect what you do and who you do it for. Keep in mind what search engines are looking for (valuable information) as you build your site.
If you are confident in your site’s content and want to integrate SEO best practices (those that Google prioritizes and are therefore less likely to change) into your website and marketing, try these four techniques:
1. Use keywords
When writing your website content, use keywords that your prospects might use to search. For example, “wealth management,” “asset allocation,” etc. The more specific, the better. For example, “comprehensive financial and tax planning for women,” “San Diego 401(k) specialist,” etc. List your firm name, your location and the services you offer multiple times in your headings, content and page titles for maximum effect.
2. Create unique and accurate page titles
Search engines value the titles of pages higher than other information on your site. Write descriptive and accurate titles that describe your firm and the content that appears on each page.
3. Update your site with fresh, new content
Ideally, you should be adding new content to your site weekly, or at the very least, monthly. This is easy to do if you leverage writing that you do for client emails or mailings into a blog. Search engines will favor your site because it’s timely and up-to-date.
4. Use images and video
Search engines favor sites with video and images. Use video on your site to improve your SEO and leverage images, especially of your specific location, and title them with relevant, descriptive names.
Once you write your content with SEO in mind and feature engaging content, don’t worry too much about optimizing your site. The time and energy you could spend trying to get your site to rank higher in search results is likely better spent creating valuable content for clients and prospects that will naturally draw in site visitors and convert them.
Craig Faulkner is CEO of FMG Suite, which offers a complete inbound marketing solution for financial professionals, from websites to email newsletters to a customized mobile app. You can also follow him @fmgsuite on Twitter.