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Content is still marketing’s reigning king 👑, which means that blogs are crucial for any good marketing strategy . Now, websites with a blog tend to have 434% more indexed pages , proving that content is a huge SEO factor that you just can’t skimp on.Although blogging sounds like a huge time commitment, you can spend just a few hours a month developing content that your clients and prospects actually want to read . However, I understand those few hours are valuable to your financial planning business, so I want to help you ensure they don’t go to waste. To make sure your time, effort, and blog aren’t squandered, avoid these top 10 blogging mistakes.
1. Not Having a Niche
It’s crucial you define your niche before you do anything else. By choosing a specific target audience, you can write directly to your readers and give them content that will steer their financial aspirations. Your blog topics will be more specific, and ultimately more interesting and informative to a smaller group of people. Dorsey Wealth Management, a Twenty Over Ten client, focuses on empowering women to gain control of their financial future. To reach its audience, Dorsey Wealth Managementfocuses on women-centered blog posts, as seen below.
Even after deciding on a niche, it can be hard to actually reach your target audience amongst all of the other options online. Check out our blog on 5 ways to make your advisor blog stand out in your niche.2. Not Including a CTA
Since your blog is targeted at your specific niche, it’s the perfect opportunity to steer your audience to your services. Capitalize on your content by including a call to action, or CTA, that prompts the reader to take more action.Blogs are great for your SEO and connecting with clients, but they are way more powerful than that. By using CTAs, you have the ability to influence prospects to become more than just readers. Whether you want to verify them as leads with a newsletter sign up or you want them to schedule a meeting with you, CTAs are bold and effective in guiding potential clients to more information.
Twenty Over Ten client Sage Investor chose to go beyond and gate their blog with a pop-up CTA for their newsletter.3. Not Including Links
Linking to more information and content within your blog posts is an incredibly easy task, but I still see so many financial planners missing out! Once you finish your blog post, I always recommend going through and finding keywords and images that you can link back to other relevant blog posts or website pages. It’s a simple process that takes minutes but will create huge payoff in your SEO efforts and Google ranking.🚨 Pro tip: Make all your links open in new tabs so that the reader doesn’t get directed off your blog or website. This way, they can easily return to where they started their journey on your blog or website.
Brian Plain, Twenty Over Ten client, used this blog post as an opportunity to link back to his own website, as well as quality outbound links such as CNN.4. Not Using the Right Image:Word Ratio
No one wants to spend time on a website that feels and looks like a textbook. Images are not just for children’s picture books, they are essential on your blog too! Even if you’re using them, you might not be using the right ones or using them correctly.It's not the number of images that affect your blog, but rather, their placement. BuzzSumofound that articles with an image every 75-100 words got 2X the about of shares than articles with fewer images and a minimum of 30 more shares that articles with more images.For your advisor blog, you should break up your text similarly to keep visitors engaged. If you don’t have your own pictures to include in the blog, there are plenty of free, professional stock photo websites that I recommend, such as Unsplash. Stay away from cliche, over-used stock photos. Try to choose photos that are relevant to the story and your brand image.5. Not Making Your Blog Easy to Read
When prospects see advisor blogs will long sheets of text, it only scares them away. Reading your blog should be easy and enjoyable for potential clients. Use header tags to denote important topics or sections within your post. List out important information in bulleted lists when you can and keep paragraphs short to keep readers engaged and make it easy to digest information.Stay away from using financial services jargon as much as you can. Your role as a financial advisor is helping your clients make financial decisions, and they won’t feel comfortable working with you if they feel like they won’t understand what you’re saying.
Twenty Over Ten client, Story Capital, meets all the requirements of being user-friendly in this blog post.6. Not Using an Editorial Calendar
Many advisors post to their blogs only once in a blue moon or on a whim when the inspiration kicks in. This doesn’t help you, your business, SEO, or audience. You should be posting regularly to keep your clients up to date and put new content out to drive more traffic to your site.I totally understand that keeping up with a blog in addition to your many responsibilities as a financial advisor can seem overwhelming. By using an editorial calendar, you can keep your blogging consistent and doable, while holding yourself accountable. If you’re just starting out, I tell advisors to aim to publish 4-6 blog posts a month, at a minimum.The Twenty Over Ten team has created a great, FREE editorial calendar for you to download and get started now! The earlier you start, the better. Download it now!
7. Not Editing
By the time you finish writing a blog post, it can be so tempting to simply press “publish” and be done. Unfortunately, there is bound to be a few typos and grammatical errors. For a list of the 5 most important things to do before hitting publish, read this article.When your blog comes across as unprofessional and not polished, it can reflect poorly on your business. By taking the additional few minutes to re-read your blog post before hitting that publish button, you can save time and embarrassment in the long run.
The Twenty Over Ten platform makes it easy for financial advisors to publish, review blog posts in edit mode, see spelling errors, and more!Related: 5 Ways Virtual Financial Advisors Can Rank Organically8. Not Writing Creatively
Keep in mind your not writing a term paper, rather, you’re trying to develop relationships in your niche audience. Be lively, personable, and humanize your brand.You should write in a style that people enjoy reading. Think about the types of articles and blog poststhat catch your eye? Maybe they are a bit sarcastic or use metaphors to explain technical matters. Again, be sure to steer clear of the financial industry’s dizzying amount of jargon and get creative with your writing.
Twenty Over Ten client, WealthKeel, blog posts are written creatively to draw in audience members.9. Not Showing Your Personality
Going along with our previous point, a blog is often a prospects first impression of you and your financial planning firm. I read way too many advisor blog posts that show no personality, while their brand is radiating unique qualities. If you’re having trouble coming up with more personal ideas, our list of 10 blog posts that help clients get to know you better is a great place to start. Write your blog posts with your own personality infused.At Twenty Over Ten, we like to include “ Meet the Team” posts every now and then to put a face to our name. When you’re finding a service online, it makes it more personal to have team pictures and an in-depth view of your team rather than simply filling your blog with stock photos.