The overwhelming majority of consumers use search engines to help them find local services, and financial advice is no different, Seeking Alpha writes. That means wealth management firms need to show up high on those searches — and local search engine optimization is the way to achieve it, according to the publication.
Getting in Front of the People That Need You
Local SEO is a way for advice practices to get in front of the people looking for local financial advice providers, Seeking Alpha writes. To do so, advice firms need good SEO-friendly content on their websites, inclusion in business directory listings, a Google My Business listing and online reviews, according to the publication.
Google considers all those aspects when determining a site’s search page ranking, Seeking Alpha writes. Providing accurate information for online directories, such as Yelp, YellowBook and WhitePages, is essential, therefore, because Google will then deem a business as legitimate, according to the publication. The same goes for SEO techniques overall: so-called “black hat” methods to get SEO juice, i.e., those that are less than above the board, often leads to Google delisting the site entirely, Seeking Alpha writes. Setting up a Google My Business listing — which is free — also helps the site’s Google search rankings, meanwhile, according to the publication. Here, it’s essential to provide as much information as possible while keeping it accurate, Seeking Alpha writes.
It’s also important to be patient — local SEO takes time not just in terms of the labor involved but in how long it takes for any improvement in ranking, according to the publication. Seeking Alpha, therefore, advises against hiring any SEO service that promises speedy results, as those are likely sales scams.
One quick way to get top billing on Google searches, meanwhile, is to invest in pay-per-click advertising, according to the publication. But unless this is done by someone experienced, PPC advertising can quickly escalate to significant outlays, considering that the cost per click ranges from $1 to $40, Seeking Alpha writes.
