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Choosing a keyword phrase for your financial content is one of the most important steps in your content marketing strategy. But it is not as easy as just picking a word. Using the right keyword strategy will not only help you with your search engine optimization (SEO); it will also ensure that the right people are finding your content.
In part four, How to Write Engaging Titles & Headlines for Your Financial Advisory Blog of The Ultimate Financial Advisor’s Guide to Content Marketing I went into detail about selecting titles and headlines that compel readers to click and boost your SEO.
Now it’s time to break out another one of these elements and go into greater detail — keywords.
Selecting a strong keyword phrase is essential to getting your content recognized by search engines. When writing content, it’s critical to remember that not only should it provide useful information that positions you as an expert in the eyes of readers, but it should position your website as a valuable resource in the eyes of Google.
What is a keyword phrase?
A keyword phrase is a short set of words people type into search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo!, etc.) in order to find an answer to a question, explore an interest, or meet a particular need.
How to select keyword phrases
Before consulting keyword tools, the trick to selecting the right keyword phrase for your financial advisor website content is to anticipate what people might enter into a search engine when seeking expertise like yours.
Take a step back for a moment and consider exactly what your potential clients are searching for online. As a financial advisor, you want to attract an audience that’s curious about financial planning or financial literacy and searching for a financial professional to hire. So, to increase the likelihood that your website will show up high in search engine results, the content you share on your website should provide the information they want in language that closely matches theirs.
Tips for brainstorming keyword phrases
A good way to figure out your keyword phase is to think about what your ideal clients’ questions would be. For example, if you were writing an article about helping millennials with their credit score and you wanted to make sure your article shows up when people search for this topic, you should start by considering what questions they might have about credit scores.
For example, here are some possible questions:
- How can I improve my credit score?
- How is my credit score determined?
- What makes up my credit score?
As you can see, “credit score” is the common term so this would need to be one of your main keyword phrases. However, you don’t want to stop there because you will face stiff competition if trying to rank high in the results for a popular phrase like “credit score” alone. Now, you’ll want to consider more long tail keywords.
Long tail keywords
Long tail keyword phrases contain three or more words. They are more specific than shorter keyword phrases so there is less competition and they convert better. So rather than “credit score,” you might search for “common credit score mistakes.”
Think about your own search engine behavior. If you wanted to know something about your credit score, would you simply type that two-word phrase into Google? Probably not, because the results would be too broad to meet your needs. That’s why long tail keyword phrases are so effective; there are more opportunities to select a phrase with less competition when you drill down into more exact searches.
Brainstorm more specific challenges someone might be facing when researching about credit scores. What might they type into Google to find the information they want?
- What credit score do I need to buy a house?
- Credit score needed to get a mortgage
- Mortgages for less than perfect credit
- How to get an 800 credit score
- Mistakes that can lower my credit score
- Will student loans ruin my credit score?
- Will getting a credit card improve my credit score?
Thinking through real-world scenarios will help you generate long tail keyword phrases that will organically optimize your content for search engines. For example, you can use the phrase, “how to get an 800 credit score” several times throughout a single article about credit scores.
So, while you will want to have one main keyword phrase that you use in the title and throughout the article, you’ll also benefit from incorporating relevant long tail keyword phrases.
Tools for keyword research
Once you have a good idea of the keyword phrases you might want to use, now it’s time to consult tools to determine how popular and competitive the phrases are.
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Google Keyword Planner - This free tool will help you find keywords that get a fair volume of searches each month but are not highly competitive.
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Keywords Everywhere - This convenient browser extension is a free keyword research tool that shows search volume and cost per click data to help you assess the competitiveness of keyword phrases for multiple websites at a glance.
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Google Trends - This tool will help you identify hot topics related to your keywords that you can incorporate into your keyword phrases.
- Google’s “searches related to…” - Type your keyword into the Google search engine. Then scroll all the way down to see the “searches related to” section for a list of phrases that will make strong long tail keyword. (Tip: Repeat the process by searching for the longer phrase and scrolling down to “searches related to” again).
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WonderSearch - This free tool allows you to find terms semantically related to your root keyword.
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AnswerThePublic - This visual tool has a free version that helps you find the kinds of questions your potential clients might be asking, which as we’ve covered here, can be a great start for selecting keyword phrases for your financial content marketing.
Keyword research tools range from free to pricey professional SEO options. As you are just getting started, the available free tools will provide you with plenty of insight into selecting effective keyword phrases to boost your website traffic.
Conclusion
When optimizing your financial advisor website content for search engines, always start by writing for your audience first. Think of the actual people who will be surfing the web looking for the information you’re sharing. Consider what phrases your potential clients might be typing into search engines. Then use keyword research tools to verify your assumptions and assess the popularity and competitiveness of each phrase.
Crystal Lee Butler, MBA is a creative marketer and results-oriented business consultant with over a decade of experience collaborating with independent advisers. At Crystal Marketing Solutions, she delivers exceptional insights for financial professionals enabling them to create a consistent marketing presence so they can focus on the things that matter most to them.
Download a free copy of the Financial Advisor Content Marketing & Optimization Guide here.
Sometimes content marketing can seem like an overwhelming task to undertake on your own. This is exactly what we do for our clients! We help create and select the right content, optimize it so it is reaching the right people, and handle the scheduling to ensure it is as far-reaching as possible. Let us help you get a handle on the whole process by scheduling a discovery meeting today.
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Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
