ADVISOR MARKETING

Susan Theder

If you want your advisory business to rank higher on search engines , follow these tips .

CCORDING TO A KITCES RESEARCH STUDY , ONE OF THE best ways for advisors to improve the return on their marketing investment is to appear higher in search results and , as a result , drive more traffic to their websites , a strategy called search engine optimization ( SEO ). But many advisors aren ’ t even sure where to begin .

There are a lot of factors that play into this strategy , which is why I often recommend advisors start with the basics . To help you do that , I ’ ve outlined five steps that will go a long way toward improving your SEO efforts and ultimately result in more visitors — and conversions — from your website .

1 . Think Local Think of how your prospective client is likely going about searching for an advisor . What words and phrases might they use ?

Most advisors appear in local searches — when people ask for things like “ the best financial advisor near me .” That means it ’ s critical to make your location clear throughout your website . There are a few steps you can take to do that .

When you do a search on Google , the results include a title tag ( the headline for each website ) and a meta description — a brief blurb about what the website offers . These are like tiny signs that tell you what each website is about before you even click .

The great thing is that you can control title tags and meta descriptions for each page of your own website ! Most website builders ( like the one at

I ’ ve outlined five steps that will go a long way toward improving your SEO efforts and ultimately result in more visitors — and conversions — from your website . our firm , FMG ) make it easy . Just log in to your website , navigate to the page you want to edit ( like your home page or a service page ), and look for a section on SEO or settings . There , you ’ ll find fields for editing the title tag and meta description for your pages .

And here ’ s where you can really shine :

• Include relevant key words : Think about the words or phrases people might use to search for a financial advisor in your area . Include those key words within your title tag and meta description .

• Keep it concise : Remember , space is limited ! Aim for less than 70 characters in your title tag and less than 160 characters for your meta description .

• Write compelling descriptions : Don ’ t just list key words . Craft a clear and concise description that entices users to click on your website and learn more about your services .

• Avoid key word stuffing : Don ’ t try to force key words in . Focus on natural language that accurately describes what you offer as a financial advisor .

By following these tips and using your website ’ s built-in search engine optimization tools , you can create clear and informative title tags and meta descriptions . This will help search engines understand your website ’ s content and improve your chances of appearing in relevant searches for potential clients looking for a financial advisor .

If your compliance team allows it , you

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