The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Review Sites

Week 16

Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Review Sites

The third area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is review sites such as Yelp or Google My Business. While review sites have traditionally been dangerous territory for advisors, starting May 4, new SEC marketing rules will allow for advisors to solicit and promote reviews with some restrictions.

Similar to advisor listings, review sites frequently show up on the first page of search results for popular search terms. Google also uses reviews to confirm you are a local business, and reviews improve your chances of ranking in the local pack. To get started, focus your efforts on a few review sites as recommended back in Week 7.

P.S. Our next Niche Starter Kit begins in two weeks! Take the next steps here.

The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Advisor Listings

Week 15

Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Advisor Listings

The second area of the five components of a local SEO strategy is advisor listings. These are the “find an advisor” sites that help connect consumers with financial advisors. These websites can be pay-per-lead sites like SmartAsset.com, professional association sites like FPA’s PlannerSearch, or paid listing sites like FeeOnlyNetwork.com.

Many advisor listing sites spend significant time and money on their local SEO strategy to appear on the first page of Google results ahead of local financial advisory firms. While not all these sites are going to be worth the cost, having a profile on sites that appear on the first page of Google results can lead to an increase in web leads.

P.S. Join Kristen Luke (@kristennluke) and Kristin Harad (@kristinharad) on Clubhouse this Thursday, April 15, 2021 at 1 p.m. PDT to discuss how to use videos in your marketing.

The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Local Pack

Week 14

Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy: Local Pack

The first area of the five components of a local SEO strategy we discussed last week is the Local Pack. This comprises the three businesses that show up in the map portion at the top of Google search results. To improve your chances of being listed there, here are three non-technical steps you can take:

• Complete your Google My Business profile as much as possible, including photos.

• Make sure your name, address, and phone number are consistent across the internet using a service like Yext so Google can verify your location.

• Get client reviews on Google My Business (RIAs will be able to do this after May 4).

P.S. Does this seem like a lot? Did you know that if you adopted a niche-focused expertise approach, you wouldn’t have to worry about keeping up with the latest local SEO tricks?

The 52: Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy

Week 13

Five Components of a Local SEO Strategy

If you want to rank on the first page of Google in your area when a prospect searches for “financial advisor near me,” then you need to do more than just have the right keywords on your website. You will need to address five areas to optimize your local search engine optimization (SEO) presence:

• Local pack (e.g., Google My Business)

• Advisor listings (e.g., NAPFA.org, FeeOnlyNetwork.com)

• Review sites (e.g., Google My Business, Yelp)

• Organic rankings (e.g., website optimization)

• Paid ads (e.g., Google search ads, local service listing ads)

Over the next several weeks, we’ll cover these areas in our weekly tips. Until then, download this week’s infographic on this topic.

The 52: Name Your Services Specifically for Your Niche

Week 12

Name Your Services Specifically for Your Niche

When listing your services on a website or brochure, think about naming them in a way that speaks the language of your niche. For example, if your niche is multi-generational families who want to protect and transfer wealth to their heirs, you may want to change “estate planning” to “family legacy planning.” Using the language of your niche will communicate that you designed your service specifically for them.

P.S. The deadline to sign up for the next Niche Starter Kit is Thursday!

The 52: Don’t Settle for Generic Messaging

Week 11

Don’t Settle for Generic Messaging

When we work with firms to launch into a niche market, we often see them drawn to a generic message that could apply to almost any type of client. To capture the attention of your niche, every aspect of your message should relate to the specific issues that client faces. For example:

Generic message: We help sales executives with the unique financial issues they face to bring them peace of mind.

Targeted message: We provide sales executives with the financial strategies that break the cycle of the feast-or-famine lifestyle. 

When developing your message, ask yourself, "Does this uniquely resonate with my niche?" If not, keep working at it until it does.

P.S. Struggling with messaging for your niche? Join our next Niche Starter Kit on March 26.

The 52: Develop a Strategy, Then Pick the Tactic

Week 10

Develop a Strategy, Then Pick the Tactic

Back in December, I was asked to contribute to a survey of marketing professionals in the financial services industry as to which activities were the most important to a firm’s growth. I struggled to answer this survey because my answer for each was “It depends on the target market and the strategy.” For example, the fifth highest-rated activity in the survey was “local search.” But if you focus on a national niche such as employees of United Airlines, local search is not important at all.

Instead of trying to decide which tactic is “best,” clearly define your target market, go where they are, educate them on what they are interested in, and then reach them through channels they want to be communicated through. If you follow this formula, then the activities you choose will be the most important for your firm’s growth.

P.S. Our next Niche Starter Kit begins March 26. Take the first step by enrolling in our free Select a Niche course.

The 52: Embrace and Commit to Your Marketing Approach

Week 9

Embrace and Commit to Your Marketing Approach

We have observed that financial advisory firms tend to follow one of three overall marketing approaches to attract new clients:

• Transaction approach: Firms engage in direct-marketing campaigns such as workshops, direct mail, or ads.

• Relationship approach: Firms rely on referrals from clients and centers of influence or their reputation in the community.

• Expertise approach: Firms focus on being an expert in a niche market.

All three approaches can be successful. The goal is to embrace the approach that is best for your firm and then commit your time, money, and energy to fully capitalize on its effectiveness. 

P.S. Interested in learning more on this topic? Check out our in-depth blog and video training, “Three Approaches to Financial Advisor Marketing.”

The 52: Evaluate Your Niche Potential by Buying a List

Week 8

Evaluate Your Niche Potential by Buying a List

If you have recently chosen a niche market for your business, you may wonder whether it has potential. One way to evaluate your niche is to ask yourself, “Can I purchase or compile an exhaustive list of the niche clients I want to serve?” Sources for this information could include a direct mail list provider, LinkedIn, company directories, or association membership directories. You don’t actually have to buy or compile a list, but if you can’t find one, this tells you that it is probably going to be hard to find your niche to market to.

Source: Derived from The Business of Expertise by David C. Baker.

P.S. Our next Niche Starter Kit begins March 26. Take the first step by enrolling in our free Select a Niche course.

The 52: How to Pick Review Sites to Focus On

Week 7

How to Pick Review Sites to Focus On

If you have decided you will take advantage of review sites as discussed two weeks ago, the next decision is to pick the sites to focus on. In the beginning, you will want to focus on a few to get a decent number of reviews or ratings. Here are some guidelines for deciding which sites to use:

1. If you do only one review site, make it Google My Business. The ratings and reviews are integrated into general search results and impact your local search rankings. Google My Business will have the most visibility of any of the sites.

2. Ask clients which sites they most frequently interact with. When you make the request for reviews, it will be better to get them from people who already have a history of posting reviews on the various sites.

3. Google “financial advisor near me” and see which review sites show up on the first page. If your company isn’t already appearing on the first page, then this is an opportunity to get visibility on the sites that are.

P.S. Check out this week’s video “Three Types of Markets.”