Google urges financial advisers to get digital

The global search engine said over 50,000 online searches for the term 'IFA' were made during first quarter of 2010.

However Google said said most financial advisers were not doing enough to be found online and were missing the opportunity to capture leads.

Google is launching free training and support for financial advisers including a white paper, tools website and an online educational seminar.

According to the white paper, searches on financial related terms increased 19 per cent year on year in 2009.

Financial advice searches have grown strongly in the last 18 months with the search term 'unbiased financial advice' used 84 per cent more in February 2010 than in February 2008.

Ian Morgan, head of finance at Google UK, said: "This market represents a real opportunity for financial planners online because queries in this sector have grown strongly over the last few years - yet the lack of advertising by IFAs to this market means that they are missing out on valuable leads.

"We want to offer more support to IFAs looking to grow their business through effective use of search marketing."

Tina Weeks, owner of Serenity Financial Planning in North London, said it was unimaginable any firm of financial advisers could even survive today without the internet.

She said: "It's now an essential part of our lives and the lives of our clients, so it's vital that we keep on top of all the different ways that it can be used and build value in our business whilst adding value to clients.

"I also recommend that every financial adviser puts time aside regularly to get trained on internet marketing."