Top 5 Search Engine Optimization Don’ts for Advisor Websites

Marketing
Marketing • Posted on May 13, 2013

As an advisor, you want to draw the right kind of investor to your website. Yes, it’s nice to have high web traffic, which you should know based on your Google Analytics results, but even more important is that you’re drawing the right kind of visitors to your site, in other words, investors interested in your services and specialties. But how are they supposed to find your website among the thousands of other similar-sounding websites out there? The answer lies in your search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is what helps your website to rank more highly in search than your competitors. We’ve covered SEO Basics for Advisors in a previous blog, but it’s also important to know what NOT to do in SEO so your good efforts aren’t undermined. Here are the top five don’ts:

1. Don’t just use generic keywords in your content. By using targeted and specific keywords, you are decreasing your competition in search. Take the examples below, you can see that a search for “financial advisor” yields over 32 million results, while a search for “financial advisor tax planning” yields just under 2 million. By optimizing your use of keywords to make them more targeted, you increase your chances of being found by visitors interested in your specialities. webpage-fina-advisor

top 5 don'ts for advisor websites2. Don’t rely on your website’s “Search” function to find webpages. All your webpages should be linked together and easily accessible through your website’s navigation. Google does not use the “Search” field to crawl content, therefore any orphan pages that are not directly linked on your website will not be indexed. webpage-tax-planning

top5don'tsforadvisorwebsites13. Don’t go overboard with links. On the other end of the spectrum of relying solely on the “Search” field, is posting hundreds and hundreds of links on a single webpage. Yes, links are important for SEO, but search engines only crawl a limited number of links on a page. If you find that you have more links than one webpage can handle, create a new page, or rethink what content really needs to be linked to.

4. Don’t gate all your website content behind forms. Forms can be an effective way to gather data on your prospects and other website visitors, however the content behind the form is not crawled by search engines. For example, if you have really strong, keyword-rich information gated behind a form a visitor must fill out for access, you are blocking search engines from indexing any of that content. If you do use forms on your site, include keyword-rich information on other site pages that aren’t gated.

5. Don’t forget your blog. Including a blog on your website not only helps you generate leads, it is one of the best things you can do for your site’s SEO rankings. Blogs give you an ongoing opportunity to include fresh, keyword-laden content on your website, and also provide the opportunity for you to generate inbound links – one of the most powerful factors of SEO. To get maximum value out of your blog, post consistently, market your blog, respond to comments, and write each post with your top keywords in mind. This will keep visitors coming back to your site for more, which ultimately generates better SEO.

Questions? Comments? Tell us below.

Author: Andrea Collatz is Communications Manager at Trust Company of America. She blogs on topics including practice management, marketing, social media, and digital strategies for advisors.

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About Advisor Websites, A Snappy Kraken Company

Founded in 2012, we specialize in helping financial advisors stand out and grow their business online with conversion-friendly, personalized websites and targeted digital marketing solutions, all of which follow FINRA and SEC guidelines.

Disclaimer: The content of this article is for informational purposes only. If you are planning to implement a new marketing practice and are unsure what the regulations are, always contact your compliance department first.

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