UKNov 8 2017

Better business: Advisers should consider blogs on websites to improve SEO chances

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Better business: Advisers should consider blogs on websites to improve SEO chances

Advisers should be adding content to their website in the form of blogs, news article and guides to increase their chances of attracting new clients.

According to Phil Bray, founder and director of marketing firm The Yardstick Agency, adding relevant content to a company website, particularly page titles, is another way to increase a firm’s chance of being found on search engines.

He said that in his experience the number of enquiries an adviser receives is correlated, in part at least, to website traffic volumes.

To illustrate this, Mr Bray pointed to figures showing the effect of adding content comparing 30 days of traffic before his firm started adding content to a firm’s site with the same 30-day period a year after working with the adviser. In the period between 17 July 2017 and 15 August 2017 there was a 178.32 per cent increase in organic traffic compared with the same period last year.

All the data was sourced from Google Analytics and taken from websites to which his firm adds content, usually at least three articles each month, often more. 

Mr Bray said: “No one knows the exact makeup of the Google’s search algorithm. But adding content has, for as long as I can remember, been a tried and tested method of appearing more prominently in the search results and consequently increasing traffic.

“I’m a huge Steve Jobs fan, but Bill Gates really hit the nail on the head when he said content is king. A website without content regularly updated will go the same way as a financial plan which isn’t reviewed on a regular basis.

“Add relevant and engaging content and see how it affects the organic traffic on your website. Providing you do it often enough and follow the basic rules, you should find that more people – some of whom will hopefully become clients – will be dropping by in no time.”

Daniel Bailey from mortgage broker Middleton Finance said that adding content to website does help attract clients, but cautioned against that being the only objective.

He said he has seen positive results from adding blogs and video blogs to his website.

Mr Bailey said: “It does work, but it is a long-term investment. I have clients who have come to me and said, 'we have followed some of the blogs that you have done'. It is difficult to measure, but I always ask clients how they found us. I would not advise people to go into it purely to attract business. You have to put the time in and become an expert in your field.”

For advisers who do not know where to start, Mr Bray recommends setting time aside to produce content on a regular basis; writing blogs and guides that are relevant to the target clients.

It is not just Google search engine optimisation (SEO) results advisers should be targeting. The content should be on the website because they want readers to engage with the content.

Adding keywords and adding relevant meta data - page titles in particular - to the content can produce good SEO results.The content can then be promoted through social media platforms or using newsletters.

Ima Jackson-Obot is features writer at Financial Adviser