SEO: Be Sure to Show Up When Searched

For wealth managers, SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the digital marketing tactics that gets overlooked. The truth is, in the digital world we live in today, not being able to be found online by potential clients can be a costly mistake. For those who do not know, SEO is the practice of optimizing your website to improve its visibility and ranking on organic search results. SEO involves various techniques, including keyword research (e.g., retirement), on-page optimization (e.g., page layout), link building (e.g., links within the website, and content creation (e.g., blogs and articles) to improve the website’s relevance and authority to search engines. The overall goal of SEO is to drive organic traffic to your website without paying for advertising.

Like all other businesses, a wealth manager’s website is a digital online store for clients and prospects to visit. Unlike a physical store where you have an address that can easily be found using your phone, tablet, or laptop, your website may be hard to find if you don’t implement an efficient SEO strategy as part of your overall marketing plan.

To make it easy for clients and prospects to find you and your practice online, here are some SEO best practices that can help improve your website’s visibility and ranking on search engine results pages:

1. Keyword research: Conduct thorough keyword research to identify relevant and high-traffic keywords and phrases related to your business. Use these keywords in your website’s content and metadata.
2. On-page optimization: Optimize your website’s structure, content, and design to make it more user-friendly and search engine-friendly. This includes optimizing your page titles, meta descriptions, header tags, images, and URLs.
3. Content creation: Create high-quality and engaging content that is relevant to your target audience and incorporates your target keywords. Regularly update your website with fresh and relevant content.
4. Link building: Build high-quality backlinks to your website from reputable sources. This can help improve your website’s authority and ranking on search engine results pages. For example, use backlinks in social media posts and email newsletters.
5. Mobile optimization: Make sure your website is optimized for mobile devices, as more and more users are accessing the internet on their smartphones and tablets. You do not want potential clients to get a bad experience the first time they search for you.
6. Site speed: Improve your website’s loading speed by optimizing images, compressing files, and minimizing HTTP requests. A faster website can improve user experience and ranking.
7. Analytics and tracking: Use tools like Google Analytics to track and analyze your website’s performance. This can help you identify areas for improvement and measure the effectiveness of your SEO strategy.
8. Local SEO: If your business has a physical location, optimize your website for local search results by including your address, phone number, and business hours on your website and in online directories. The best tool to use is Google My Business.

By following these best practices, you can improve your website’s visibility organically and attract more qualified traffic to your site. The goal is to have your practice show up on page 1 of the search engines, because you can’t afford to be on page 2.