Having a strong online presence was already important as so many more people are going digital, but 2020 showed how incredibly crucial it actually is. We were forced to pivot quickly and change up how we connect with others and market our businesses, and that goes for creating a strong advisor website. How you structure your website is incredibly important for boosting your firm’s SEO and showing up higher in rankings, so let’s dive right in.
One of our favorite parts about writing copy for financial advisors is helping them organize their website structure and watch their businesses come to life through words. At Twenty Over Ten, we’ve worked with hundreds of clients so we know that your chances of ranking higher in search engines are better if your site structure is well-organized and intentional.
One of the most common questions we receive at Twenty Over Ten is about web structure, particularly how to rank high for SEO. You’ve come to us with questions, we have answers. Here are four tips that explain how to create a website structure and keep SEO in mind.
4 Tips to Create a Stronger Website Structure
1. Decide on a Clear Menu of Pages and Subpages
The first step that always helps us to visualize what a client’s website should look like relates to pages and subpages. When helping a client decide on these, I like to err on the side of less is more. If you start to think that there’s too much copy on your site, you’re probably right.
In order to give the best experience for your site’s visitors, we recommend having no more than eight main pages. Having too many options for visitors can be overwhelming. Start small and with three vital pages: your homepage, about page and contact page.
Think about your visitor’s experience, what should it feel like. If you’re stuck, think about your own experiences, what websites do you gravitate towards? If the content is buried or it’s difficult to find what you are looking for, whether it’s the contact information or pricing, then the bounce rate will increase, which in turn, can reduce your website’s rankings. This means search engines will lower your site’s rankings. This is because they are seeing that visitors are not finding what they’re looking for. Make your viewer’s lives easier by streamlining your website through clear pages which can in turn make your site more visible.
Olympus Wealth Management only has five main pages plus a “Contact” call to action button making it incredibly straightforward and easy to navigate. The pages on the homepage are:
- Our Services
- Our Approach
- About Us
- Insights
- Client Login
Visitors can find all they need with just these five pages with an “easy to find” CTA, which creates high lead generation for those looking to find out more.
2. Understand the Impact of Headers and Keywords
When it comes to SEO, we love learning about the factors that go into it because it feels like it’s constantly changing. If you’ve worked with us in the past, you know what headers look like on your site. In fact, you might know that there are a few different types of headers.
Today we’re going to focus on two very important header tags called H1 and H2. Header tags are important because they tell the search engines what your website is about. Search engines recognize keywords in your header tags and rank them as more important than the rest of your copy. The ranking starts with H1 and works its way down to H2, H3, etc.
As you can see, Asset Strategies has incorporated header tags into their pages that tell you what you will see on each page. For the header Comprehensive Financial Planning, you understand that you will then learn more about Financial Planning, Investment Management and Tax Planning & Preparation.
Because search engines have a hard time coming up with a hierarchy, the tags work with keywords to support the overall purpose of your page. For example, if you’re a fee-only financial advisor who works with professional athletes and celebrities in Los Angeles you’ll want to associate your company with keywords that your audience would be typing into Google. These should be associated with your business and could range from keywords such as “privacy,” “fee-only,” or or the specific area or city that you serve. You can even think about making sure your primary keywords are in your homepage title, H1 tags, and are scattered within your web pages.
3. Fresh Content is Key
Once you feel confident about the content that lives on your homepage, about page and contact page, another main page to start developing is your blog. Writing content and sharing it on your website is one of the best ways to improve your SEO. It’s also the perfect way to continue enhancing your company’s voice, share new offerings, update your client’s on special deals and build a rapport with your community. Crafting blog content will influence your website more than any other factor. Fresh content is key to a strong website structure.
If you need help creating content, then Lead Pilot and Content Assist can help.
LEAD PILOT
Lead Pilot is the industry’s first-ever AI-powered all-in-one solution for content creation and distribution. By using this tool, advisors are able to launch robust content campaigns from a streamlined, easy-to-use dashboard. Team members can collaborate and share content pieces, upload original content, and customize content from the media library. It not only includes blogs but also video and infographic content. Once it is added, the content can be easily scheduled to be sent out via email or social media with branded landing pages.
CONTENT ASSIST
We offer useful tools, such as Content Assist to all Twenty Over Ten users so that if you are struggling to come up with content ideas for your blog, you can use our pre-made content and edit it to make it your own. With Content Assist, you can choose from different categories, such as retirement, home-buying, young adults, business and much more. Once you have chosen which blog that you want to use, advisors can easily customize and edit the content to add your unique voice, keywords to fit your niche or you can use it as-is.
4. Be Patient
Last but not least, while deciding on pages and subpages seems simple, building up your SEO takes time. Results won’t be immediate so be patient. It can sometimes take up to six months to start seeing results. As we mentioned above, be intentional about the keywords that you associate your brand with and continue to fill your site with fresh content, it’s well worth the wait.
Crescent Lake Advisors not only has a beautiful video hero image but the keywords boldly placed atop the video tell visitors exactly what they will be getting at this firm and who they do it for.
While the information available about this topic is limitless, these are four tips to get you started. If you’d like our help writing your website copy or need a second set of eyes, contact us today or take a look at the copywriting packages we offer.
Ready to Boost Your Rankings This Year?
As we enter 2021, we know that the digital landscape has changed drastically. It was already crucial to have a strong advisor website, but it’s even more important now. So, having a strong advisor website that boosts your SEO rankings is a huge part of a strong and successful site. Even though we are hoping to slowly return to normal this year, this has changed the way that we will connect, making it increasingly important to practice strong SEO habits.
Struggling With What Content to Share on Social Media or via Email?
We are offering access to our content for advisors to use via Lead Pilot for 7-days completely free (even on our month to month plans).
About the author
Blair Kelly
Blair is a digital marketing assistant at Twenty Over Ten and has a passion for uncovering what drives online traffic and the highest engagement. She follows more animals on Instagram than humans and her greatest achievement is her daughter, Grey.
