Three Reasons Your Firm Doesn’t Show Up on Google

2. Your user experience is poor

Google recently announced that they will add “page experience” as a ranking factor in 2021. The criteria will provide a more in-depth evaluation of your website’s UX (user experience) and adjust your rankings accordingly.

It’s crucial to prepare your website for this upcoming addition. However, this is only a more robust version of evaluative factors that have already been impacting your website’s organic search traffic.

Mobile responsiveness

In a matter of years, mobile devices have taken over search engine usage. They jumped from representing about 27% of all organic searches to over half in just seven years.

Mobile share of organic search engine visits in the U.S. from Q3 2013 to Q1 2020

Google’s algorithm favors sites that are mobile responsive. That means if your website cannot adapt to all platforms, including laptops, desktops, tablets, and smartphones, your rankings will suffer –Google won’t recommend websites with poor user experience.

Blanchard Wealth Partners is an example of a fully mobile-friendly site. Its design remains responsive no matter the device. For example, here at Twenty Over Ten, all of our frameworks are created with a mobile-first approach. So, whichever framework you do pick for your website, it will look great on every device, whether a tablet, mobile phone or computer. Our frameworks are completely customizable, and all of our frameworks come pre-loaded with a robust, built-in blogging platform so you can create, edit and share updates with site visitors as often as you’d like.

Website speed

Google’s search engine “crawlers” collect loading speed information about your website. A slow-loading website is not going to perform well.

Longer loading times directly correlate with higher bounce rates, which lower your ranking.

3. You’re not producing original content

There’s a lot of rhetoric that if you produce lots of content regularly, with keywords relevant to the financial services industry, your rankings will benefit. That’s only partly true.

Content marketing is essentially a liaison that incorporates things into your website necessary for SEO. It is important to a) use keywords and b) produce content regularly. But following those guidelines does nothing for your rankings unless you consider the type of content you’re putting out.

Why original content?

A lot of advisors use syndicated or canned content libraries. While easy to use, this does nothing for your rankings for a few reasons:

1. It’s not credited to you. These platforms give you access to articles from top publishers such as the New York Times. However, the information you share is entirely credited to those sources – not you. It’s clear to search engines that you’re simply re-sharing information and does not establish you as an expert in the field.
2. It can’t be edited. You can’t alter syndicated articles. Thus there’s no opportunity for you to incorporate your voice, keywords, or phrases specific to your audience.
3. It’s the same exact content that others can use. If you’re solely producing articles that are, word-for-word, exactly the same as other advisors, Google is not going to differentiate your content at all. This is precisely why canned content does not markedly improve SEO.

Still, many advisors turn to canned content because they don’t have the time or resources to consistently produce their own. They, understandably, want pre-written content because it’s easier, and after all, content is content.

Lead Pilot (a service my company offers) is a way to access pre-written content while still being able to reap SEO benefits with originality. The content library is always updated and completely customizable; this gives you the ability to personalize your content however you want. And, on top of all that, it’s all credited to your firm.

If your firm’s website isn’t optimized for Google, you’re missing the opportunity to reach new potential clients. Still, search rankings are elusive. If you’re struggling to rank high in searches, remember these points: use Google’s tools, improve your user experience and produce original content.

Samantha Russell is the chief marketing and business development officer at Twenty Over Ten (a digital marketing and website development company for financial advisors). Samantha helps financial advisors create digital marketing strategies that produce explosive growth through website development, content marketing, SEO, social media and video.

The content in this article is the result of Twenty Over Ten’s interpretation and Twenty Over Ten is not a compliance expert. Information herein should not be considered legal advice and financial advisors should consult with the appropriate authorities as needed including the SEC.

Read more articles by Samantha Russell