Is technophobia costing RIAs millions in passive SEO leads?

Hesitancy to leverage technologically driven marketing strategies could be costing American RIAs hundreds in passive SEO leads every month, according to Jaclyn DeJohn, CFP, director of economic analysis, SmartAsset.

In a recent study, SmartAsset found that most RIAs fail to take advantage of even basic search engine optimization, or SEO, which can increase website traffic and drive growth.

“I think, a lot of times, it feels outside of their area of expertise. Anything computer and internet-related can kind of seem a little overwhelming,” DeJohn said in an interview with InsuranceNewsNet.

But this fear means many are losing out on opportunities to stand out from the competition, generate passive leads and build trust and growth. Meanwhile, excelling in SEO is often much easier than many RIAs seem to believe.

“You have better information, as an RIA or an insurance representative, than what’s on the internet because you are plugged into that industry,” DeJohn said. “You’d actually be surprised how much open space there is, topically, on the internet. This expertise is really needed.”

An ‘underutilized’ strategy

SEO generally refers to a marketing practice that leverages Google search rankings to drive more visitors to any given website. It can be an in-depth process that analyses factors like website content and layout according to Google’s constantly-evolving algorithms.

Higher SEO typically means a company’s website is among the first that appears when someone searches for related information in Google. This means more high-quality leads that have a good chance of converting into sales.

SmartAsset spends a lot of time looking at RIA websites. According to DeJohn, their team got a “hunch” that many large and quickly-growing RIAs were “underutilizing SEO strategies.”

Their study assessed the websites and SEO strategies of 20 of the fastest-growing RIAs in the United States and found that just two normally had high website traffic in any given month. A “handful” of the 20 had websites so poorly optimized that potential clients could not even find them on Google search.

“We took a deep dive into some of their search engine stats to see what kind of traffic they’re getting and how Google views their website. What we found was that there’s definitely a lot of underutilization going on here. For the amount of effort that some basic SEO tactics take, we were very surprised to see that a lot of large RIAs are really not executing these strategies,” DeJohn said.

Internet intimidation

The study did not record responses from RIAs on why they fail to leverage SEO. However, DeJohn suggested it’s likely because many feel intimidated about getting into digital strategies. SEO can be a complex strategy with constantly-changing goalposts as Google continually updates its algorithm and rankings can fluctuate unpredictably.

“A lot of resources will tell you that, ‘Hey, SEO is a long game. You need to be in it for years. You need to be creating content constantly.’ While that’s an ideal, you’d be surprised how many people that generally scares away, not necessarily even just in the RIA space but across many businesses,” she said.

At the same time, she noted some RIAs may hesitate to share content online out of fear of “giving away their secrets” and losing their competitive edge.

However, she said RIAs that fail to embrace SEO are missing out on enormous opportunities that exist simply because not many others are leveraging it. For instance, by providing information that may “feel secretive,” RIAs can show prospective clients that they have even more to offer and build trust.

“The point here is that people are scared away, but you shouldn’t be scared away; you should embrace this with open arms. There are some simple things you can do with a little upfront research that could make a big impact because so few RIAs are taking advantage of this strategy,” DeJohn said.

SEO baby steps

DeJohn added that RIAs may be surprised by how much their SEO can improve even with very little effort and resources on their end. As an example, she noted that many RIAs have similar wording in their name and that’s a small change that can make a big difference.

“For instance, you’ll see the words ‘wealth’ or ‘capital’ or ‘advisors’ in so many RIA names. It can be really helpful to distinguish what you’re doing in terms of Google by putting out some content and just making sure that your website kind of has the basics down correctly. Just making sure that it’s navigable and it has useful content targeted towards your niche,” DeJohn said.

She pointed out that there are also many simple tools or professional services available to support a company’s SEO needs.

“I think part of the point of this study is that there are actions that someone could take at any level of internet familiarity, really. There’s a lot of tools available online that someone could use to get started and really just make a basic plan for themselves,” DeJohn said.

SmartAsset is a popular financial technology, information and advice company founded in 2012 and based out of NYC. Its “100 Fastest Growing RIAs – 2024 Study” assessed data from American registered investment advisors who have at least $500 million assets under management, offer financial planning services, have no disclosures on their record and have not undergone a merger or acquisition in the last five years.

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Rayne Morgan is a journalist, copywriter, and editor with over 10 years' combined experience in digital content and print media. You can reach her at [email protected].