6 Tips For Financial Advisors Who Want To Write A Great Blog Post
By Hillary Gale
Starting a blog on your financial advisory firm’s website may not have been at the top of your list when you started your business. But content marketing is an important component of staying competitive when it comes to search engine optimization (SEO). And making sure your website is search engine friendly is one of the best ways to grow your business organically.
Content marketing can end up being far more cost-effective than paid advertising, but it’s a long-term strategy, so you have to stay committed. Unlike paid advertising, content you publish on your website keeps working in your favor forever after the date it goes live.
Blogging Boosts SEO
Creating a blog on your website is the best way to take your content marketing to the next level. Blogging consistently and intentionally is good for SEO because it shows Google that you are:
Posting relevant, educational content for search engine users
Updating your site regularly
Providing other websites opportunities to link to your site (which is another SEO strategy called backlinking)
Blogging Benefits Your Clients
Blogging also offers benefits to you as a business owner. If you’re posting information that answers questions your ideal clients are asking, your posts will attract them to your site and show them you’re a knowledgeable, trustworthy resource that could help solve their problems.
Blogs also keep potential clients on your site for longer periods of time, creating space for them to get curious about how else you might be able to help them. What’s more, blogging benefits your current clients as well. Providing easy-to-read and easy-to-find information for free is not just a show of goodwill, it’s also an opportunity to showcase your knowledge and expertise.
And finally, blogging provides ample opportunities to link internally to other pages on your site. As your blog grows, you can link to other posts if clients want more information on a specific topic, further showcasing your website as a “one-stop-shop” for answering their questions. You might also find opportunities to link to your Services page for readers who need more in-depth help with their problems.
6 Tips For Writing A Great Blog Post
In short, the benefits of blogging for generating warm leads and making your site visible to potential clients cannot be overstated. But you’re a financial advisor, not a professional writer. So how can you be sure the blogs you’re posting are doing their job?
Here are 6 tips for writing a great blog post that will not only boost your SEO, but will keep interested readers coming back for more and, eventually, turn some of them into paying clients.
1. Use Keywords Intentionally
If you’re going to spend time creating a blog, you want to make sure the right people find it. In other words, you want to make sure that Google will recognize your blog post as an answer to users’ questions.
The way to help Google recognize you is by using the right keywords and using them intentionally. (Overusing keywords in a piece of content is called keyword stuffing and could actually negatively affect your SEO. As long as you’re incorporating keywords naturally into your writing, you’ll be fine.)
In order to use the right keywords, you may need to do a little research to find out what terms and phrases your ideal audience is typing into Google. Neil Patel’s website Ubersuggest is a free keyword research tool that will show how competitive your keyword is, related keywords, and much more. Keep in mind that the best keywords may often be long-tail keywords, which are 3-4 word phrases that are more specific and thus less competitive in Google.
Once you’ve decided on the keyword(s) you want to showcase, use them intentionally. Your keyword(s) should certainly be included in the title of your blog post, as that’s the first piece of information Google will show in search results. From there, you also want to use your keyword(s) in headers and in the body content. Use them naturally as you write, and avoid over-stuffing.
2. Appeal To Emotions
Next, the content of your blog posts should appeal to readers' emotions. Especially when it comes to finance content, interested readers are often looking for answers to finance questions that cause stress, anxiety, or uncertainty. Although you don’t want your blog post to create these feelings, your writing can and should relate to readers through the emotions that may have caused them to perform a search in the first place.
After you’ve sympathized with your readers’ emotions, your content comes in as the solution to the problem, or the reminder that your reader isn’t alone. This technique positions you as a trusted guide that your readers may want to contact for more in-depth financial services.
3. Be A Personable Writer
Additionally, your blog posts don’t need to read like a college essay. When it comes to content marketing, personable writing is your best bet. Your readers want to know you’re a real person, and they want to get a feel for your personality through your writing.
I recommend writing in a voice that is similar to the voice you use in conversations with your clients. If you’re a funny guy (or gal) and your ideal clients appreciate your humor, let that come across in your writing. If you’re more formal and professional, keep your writing formal and professional. But most importantly, write with your audience in mind. Use second-person pronouns like you and your often, so your readers know your content is truly meant for them.
4. Format, Format, Format
When it comes to writing blog posts, formatting is important for different types of readers. In marketing, you have 3 basic types of readers:
The deep reader
The skimmer
The search engine
The deep reader is the person who will read everything you’ve written to a tee. These are the people who are looking for an in-depth answer and want to know exactly what you have to say on the subject. We love deep readers because they’ll probably get the most out of our posts.
But we want to appeal to the skimmer as well. The skimmer benefits from bullet points, numbered lists, strategically bolded or underlined text, and lots of headers. For the skimmer, you want to draw their attention to the most important parts of the post or format it in a way that they’ll easily be able to find the answer they’re looking for.
And when it comes to the search engine, you want to make sure that your formatting is aligned to what the search engine will recognize. This doesn’t have to be too technical. If you’re using Google Docs (which we highly recommend for its ease of sharing and collaborative editing), Google will recognize the preformatted headings when you copy/paste your blog into your site.
5. Write In Short Bursts
This is more of a writing tip, but as a professional writer and part-time college writing instructor, I couldn’t resist throwing in this little tidbit. One of the best things you can do for your content is to give it time to simmer. Instead of sitting down to write a blog post in 2 or 3 hours, consider spreading that time over a few days in short, 20-30 minute bursts.
This strategy provides a few different benefits. First, if you’re a skittish writer or writing instills a sense of dread in you, the push to write for only 20 or 30 minutes is less daunting than a big long writing session.
Additionally, the chance to write over several days gives you an opportunity to simply write what comes to you on the first day. Too often I see writers get discouraged with their first draft and give up because it’s not good enough. Giving yourself space between drafts allows you the chance to recognize what was good from the first draft and replace what wasn’t so good with better ideas the next day.
6. Include A Call To Action At The End
Finally, include a clear call to action at the end of the blog post. Even if your post is free education or helps someone solve a problem, one of its main purposes is to generate leads and land you new clients. At the end of the post, decide what you want your prospect to do.
Do you want them to sign up for your newsletter?
Do you want them to download a free guide you’ve created?
Do you want them to schedule a consultation call?
Choose whichever call to action makes the most sense for the content of the post, and don’t be afraid to leave your contact information at the end.
Or, Let A Personal Finance Copywriter Do the Writing for You
And to model that last piece of advice, here’s my call to action in case the burden of writing consistently and intentionally week after week becomes too much for your already full plate. At Gale Creative Agency, we specialize in creating high-quality inbound marketing content for financial advisors that will benefit your clients and generate more leads for your business.
If you’re ready to partner with a personal finance copywriter who will help you generate article ideas, incorporate SEO keywords, develop content in your own unique voice, and format your posts for the three types of readers, give us a call at 480-353-1608 or send me an email at hillary@galecreativeagency.com to set up a free consultation.