It is typically pathetic – most advisors have no Google rank. Read this blog to learn the financial advisor Google tips you need to know in order to stop being invisible online, so that wealthy prospects can find you.
But first…
For those of you who are new to my blog, my name is Sara. I am a CFA® charterholder and financial advisor marketing consultant. I have a newsletter in which I send you one actionable, practical marketing tip a day. Please sign up here!
#1 Know where your traffic is coming from
Learn how to interpret in your Google Analytics data.
But first –
What is Google Analytics?
Google Analytics is a free Google tool that tracks your website traffic. It doesn’t come with your website; you or your IT person have to install it.
Acquisition data matters
Open Google Analytics, go to the left hand column and click “reports”.
Then go to “Acquisition/overview” on the menu.
You should be seeing the breakout of your traffic between organic (people found you through something they searched for on Google), direct (somebody clicked a link they were sent directly), referral (they were sent to you from another site) or paid ads.
You want to maximize your website traffic, right?
After you look at the Acquisition/Overview data, ask yourself:
- Do you I enough keywords on the site to help Google send me local prospects? You should have the phrase, “financial advisor in [your local city]” 2-3 times on the site, for example, if you are serving your local community.
- Am I sending out my website pages through my email newsletter, social media, etc., so that my followers can visit?
- Am I making sure my centers-of-influence (CPAs, attorneys, etc.) have my website on their websites, so that I can gain referral traffic?
- Overall did I get enough views on my site given the effort I put in, or should I have gotten more?
There are a ton of creative ways you can increase website traffic; understanding where the traffic is coming from is the first step.
#2 Don’t have a totally suffocating website.
The language on most financial advisor websites is so dry and boring you would rather be at the dentist. Check out these financial advisor website tips and learn how to get people to stay longer on your website. Dwell time matters when it comes to Google and if people are bouncing after three seconds it’s going to affect your rank.
#3 Clean up non-indexing pages
Clean out your Google Search Console. I’ll tell you how in a second.
Google Search Console should be hooked up to the back of your website. It tells you how people are finding you on Google – what search terms lead people to your site.
Alot of times, there are pages on our website that are not being indexed (or registered, essentially) within Google Search.
Sometimes it’s a quick fix and other times it is because there is something structurally wrong. Whatever the cause you should know.
Take a second this morning and open your Google Search Console (you should install it btw if you haven’t already) and go to “Pages” under the Indexing menu on the left. Look at the pages that are listed under “not found 404” , “blocked due to 4xx” and “crawled, not currently indexed”, to name a few.
And then get them fixed and indexed onto Google so more people can find you! The more healthy, unbroken pages on your site, the more Google will like you.
#4 Understand where readers are dwelling or bouncing
The more time a prospects spends on your website, the higher the chance they agree to a meeting and/or work with you.
Improve the dwell time on the pages that getting the most traffic, and use Google Analytics data to find out what those pages are. Visit the Engagement tab on the left hand menu, and then scroll down to Pages and Screens.
Look at your top performing pages, and which pages are getting more than one view per user (the value in the furthest column on the right in the image above).
Ask yourself:
- How can I increase views per user on my five most popular website pages?
- How can I get people to stay on my site by visiting other pages, after they are done with a popular page?
What pages are not getting enough dwell time and what can I do to change that?
#5 How to handle financial advisor disclosures on Google
“I have an ADV disclosure from 15 years ago and it’s making me look bad on Google because when people search my name, it comes up.”
While we always need to be upfront about our past and any legal disclosures, there’s no reason it has to be front-and-center on Google page one with nothing else to buffer it.
Here are your options:
- Pay a lawyer big bucks to get it removed/hidden from Google
- Leave the disclosure and fill Google with enriching, super valuable content published in your name, so that when people search your name, they are impressed by what comes up first, at the top of the page. That way they don’t pay much attention to disclosures (which by the way, should naturally come much further down on the page after you do this).
I would suggest the second option.
Here’s what you should do.
- Establish a personal and business page for LinkedIn and Facebook and post enough there so Google recognizes the pages as active. Use your name on these pages.
- Establish a Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube account in your name and post a few videos
- Get interviewed on podcasts and in news articles. If the interviewer has good Google authority (is well known, well ranking, etc.) then those pieces will come up high on the page.
- Improve your website’s SEO rank by using these Google tips and make sure that the website has your full name on it and that a few meta tags include your name, where appropriate. This way the website comes up when people search your name
- Post infographics and images tagged with your name
- Write a few guest blogs for publications with high Google authority
All of this is great to do, by the way, even if you don’t have a disclosure issue. Flood Google with powerful insights that help other people, disclosures or not!
#6 SEO optimize your blogs to get found for financial advisor keywords
The 5 things you need to put on every blog if you want to attract Google traffic for financial advisor keywords. This may help you get wealthy clients online.
#1
When people enter keywords into Google, Google will serve up blogs with a high enough concentration of that keyword. Get the keyword from Ubersuggest (set up free account) and use it as the beginning word in the title of the blog.
Example:
(keyword is “Roth conversion”)
Title is: Roth Conversions: MUST READ tips for 2024
#2
Take the keyword and use it in one of the headers for one of the sections of the blog.
#3
Repeat the keyword 2-3 times for every 1,000 words of text within the blog. You can also use phrases related to this keyword, but make sure you don’t use the keyword or its related phrases with a higher frequency than once every 200 words.
#4
Put the keyword into the blog’s slug, separated by hyphens. This is the end of the url (yes, you can customize it before you publish onto Google).
Example: The slug for this blog is “financial-advisor-newsletter, which was the keyword for that blog).
#5
When you upload the blog’s thumbnail image, enter the keyword as the alternative text. This is the language that comes up if the image doesn’t load on Google.
Try to optimize every blog you write so that the search engines can send you traffic. The higher the ratio of optimized blogs on your site, the higher your site will rank and the easier it will be for Google to trust your site.
#7 Know how much traffic you are getting
It may sound simple but most financial advisors have no idea how much traffic their website is getting.
Open Google Analytics and go to Reports Snapshot/Acquisition/Overview.
Look at the number of views and the time period over which these views occurred.
To find out how many views a financial advisor typically needs in order to start getting leads, read my blog on financial advisor websites.
#8 Update old blogs
Question from a subscriber:
“I wrote a blog about the Social Security COLA last year. Now that the COLA has changed, should I delete the old blog and write a new one?“
Noooooooooo, financial advisors!!!! Never do this.
Think of Google like a client. Over time, you build up what is called authority on Google. Google has to learn to trust you and the way it does this is by understanding 1) the type of information you offer and 2) quality of that information.
Based on what your authority is, Google ranks you and puts you at the top or bottom of the page that comes up when people search on a keyword term such as “Social Security COLA 2024.”
Yeah?
Yah.
When you delete content from your site, it thwarts this whole process.
You basically have to start over again with Google and build authority in the index for Social Security COLA keywords.
Okee, so here’s what I recommend:
Write a sequel to the blog with a different keyword, (“Social Security COLA changes for 2024”), and link to it from the old Social Security blog.
or –
Just update the old Social Security COLA blog. Edit the blog so that you discuss what the old COLA was, what changed, and what the new COLA is.
#9 Actively try to get more website traffic
Question from a subscriber: “What is the best way to get more website traffic? Or should I even care about that?”
Yes, you should care about your website traffic. Otherwise what’s the point?
If you don’t care, take down the website and save yourself the $30 a month on hosting (+tax?).
(Real talk. I live in NYC, okay?)
Now, let’s say you decide to keep it.
Here are three quick ideas.
- Including a few basic Search Engine Keywords (SEO) to trigger Google to send people your way based on geography. It drives me nuts when I have to use a treasure map to find out where you are located. On the home page, for example, “I am a financial advisor in Boise, Idaho.” The keyword that is triggered is “Boise, Idaho.”
- Include your website on your social media account profiles. Take a minute and pull up your LinkedIn, for example. Is the website listed in the Contact Info field? Is there a website link on your Twitter page?
- Get listed on as many industry directories as possible. NAPFA, CFP Board, and Fee-Only Network all have advisor search apps. If you are already on there, revise it every 6 months.
More no-BS marketing tips for financial advisors…
All these financial advisor Google tips may seem like a long shot but it’s pretty awesome when somebody pops up in your inbox and says, “I found you through a Google search, I want to retire with my $2MM portfolio, and I need your services.” This can and does work so get cracking on it today!
Alright that’s all for now.
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Or if you want more…
Learn what to say to prospects on social media messenger apps without sounding like a washing machine salesperson. This e-book contains 47 financial advisor LinkedIn messages, sequences, and scripts, and they are all two sentences or less.
You could also consider this LinkedIn training program which teaches financial advisors how to get new clients and leads from LinkedIn.
Thanks for reading. See you in the next one!
-Sara G
Disclosures
Grillo Investment Management, LLC does not guarantee any specific level of performance, the success of any strategy that Grillo Investment Management, LLC may use, or the success of any program. Nothing in these materials may be construed as an investment, insurance, or financial recommendation. For such a recommendation, consult with a financial advisor.
Grillo Investment Management, LLC will strive to maintain current information however it may become out of date. Grillo Investment Management, LLC is under no obligation to advise users of subsequent changes to statements or information contained herein. This information is general in nature; for specific advice applicable to your current situation please contact a consultant or advisor. Opinions stated by third parties may not be correct and do not reflect the views of Grillo Investment Management, LLC. Grillo Investment Management, LLC may not be held accountable for any statements made by third parties.
