SEO stands for search engine optimization and whether you are a candy store, a bungee jumping service or a financial advisor, it is one of the most important aspects of your digital presence. We live in a world where Google holds an incredible amount of power over new customers you may want to acquire. If someone doesn’t know where to get something, there’s a high chance they will type it into a search engine. Companies at the top of search engine pages get a positive well-renowned image in the prospect’s mind, not to mention how much more visible your company will become. Getting to the top of that results page when someone types in “Financial Advisors near me” is a long process but it can be the key to your business growing faster than ever before.  

Keywords

Keywords are the all important phrases that people are typing into their search engines. It is important to research these words by yourself to find out what people are searching to solve specific problems. For example, primary keywords for finding a financial advisor who specializes in tax could be “Tax Savings Expert”. The primary keyword should be relevant to the specific purpose of the page you’ve made. Secondary keywords should add more detail to the page to really hone in on the searcher’s intent. We recommend adding no more than 8 keywords per page.

Meta Descriptions

Although the meta description may not boost you to the top of the results page right away, it is very important for getting clicks on your link from web users. The description should be direct and interesting, as this is what users will glance at before deciding to visit your page. 160 to 180 characters per description will get you the best results.

Title tags

Title tags is the name of your page and these are vital for Google to judge whether the content underneath the title tag will give users a solution. For a search, the words in a title tag will be highlighted if they match the phrases entered. Typically, the best practice for keywords is to have your primary keyword, followed by the secondary keyword finished off with the company name. Companies like to trick Google by using keywords and title tags inappropriately to receive more clicks but you will eventually be punished so always keep the titles appropriate.

Content

Content is king with optimizing your search engine results. Creating content consistently and posting it regularly is one of the most important parts. Obviously it must be of good quality but maintaining a presence in the online community helps a lot. Writing about relevant topics is vital too, if a trend is picking up in the finance industry, you want to stay top of mind with prospects and write about it. Take the rise of cryptocurrencies for example, you will seem up to date and knowledgeable if you produce a blog post on this. Produce different forms of content as well, try mixing it up with an infographic or visual design now and again.

Internal links

When the user has entered your website, it will look good for your SEO if visitors stay a while. Adding internal links to your articles is a great way to maintain engagement on your site. This is when it is helpful to have other blog articles that relate to a general topic, so you can link back to them. Call to actions are a good idea for both sales and SEO. They will maintain engagement if the user is curious about the service you offer, as well as push them closer to signing on with you in some form.

Bounce rates

A website’s bounce rate is when a user enters a web page and instantly leaves without browsing any more of the website’s content. It is important for websites to limit this as much as possible because it doesn’t create positive results for SEO. Ways in which websites can improve this is by building an attractive design and filling the site with valuable content. Designing a website to look professional and robust are aspects users look for when browsing and it will keep those bounce rate low.

Google takes over 72% of the market share for search engines, so you should be concentrating most of your efforts on jumping up the search pages there. However, Yahoo and Bing are both competitors that cannot be ignored. Search engine optimization is becoming a more pivotal part to a business’ success online. Keywords, meta descriptions and title tags are all tactics that can be used strategically but is not time consuming. Finding someone who will create meaningful and consistent content for your blog will double or triple the opportunity to pop up first on a search. Engaging with your customers and prospects is key and social media is how many companies are accomplishing that. Social media can direct a substantial amount of traffic your way, being a very effective tool. For financial advisors, the time is now to embrace and take advantage of the concept of Search Engine Optimization.