Simple question right?  Not so fast.  Before we build a website for a client, I always pose this question but do not always get the same answer.  So in the most unscientific way possible, I have concluded that the majority of US based, Independent Financial Professionals consider themselves to be Financial Advisors or Investment Advisors.  According to the SEC, you are an Investment Adviser, but according to most dictionaries both Adviser and Advisor are acceptable. 

Now you may be surprised to find that there is an ongoing debate on this subject (if you search the web hard enough you can find an ongoing debate on just about anything).  In the UK or Canada, it's Adviser or Advisor, depending on who you ask, and in the US it's generally accepted that Advisor is the correct spelling.  But why?  It just may be that, over time, we've grown used to the spelling in the US, especially as it has been the dominant spelling used by large financial institutions. 

OK, here's my point,  what you call yourself is irrelevant when it comes to prospects finding you through the search engines.  What matters is WHAT OTHER PEOPLE CALL YOU !! 


Let's Check What Users Are Actually Searching For in Google.com

Using Google's new Insights For Search Tool, we ran reports that show the relative numbers for both "Financial Advisor/Adviser" and then Investment Advisor/Adviser" for all Google searches within the finance category in the U.S for the last 12 months.  

Click here to view the Financial Advisor/Adviser Report

Click here to view the Investment Advisor/Adviser Report

It is very clear that the actual science backs up my original theory.  Here in the U.S you are genarally thought of as an Advisor.  But 1 out of every 4 people think of you as an Adviser!

Does this mean that you won't be found in Google when someone searches for "Financial Adviser in Delaware"...not necessarily.  Google accounts for words with multiple accepted spellings.   The real issue is your DOMAIN...   If we consider the Google search reports we've run, 25% of users may be having trouble finding your website...or worse...are they finding someone else's? 

OK, everyone in the room with the "Advisor" in their company domain name ( YourAdvisorFirm.com ) raise your hand.  OK now everyone with your hand up, tell the class if have also registered the domain with the "Adviser" spelling?  I think you get my point here.  For a few bucks per year, you could be saving yourself some headaches down the road if another firm decides to buy that name or even if you loose a new client because they couldn't find your website.  So do yourself a favor and search to see if the other domain is available.  If it is, register it and have it forwarded to your existing domain.  This is by no means a sales pitch...you can search and register domains with any of the major registrars ( godaddy.com, networksolutions.com etc ). 

One major tip...if you search for the domain and it is available, you should register it right away if you want it.  There are unscrupulous characters out there that have access to the public domain search database.  Once they see that you've searched for the domain they will register it if you haven't...then they will try to sell it back to you for a boat load the next day!!

Feel free to put in your two cents on the issue but submitting a reply to this blog.  We'll post the best replies in next month's newsletter.

 

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Jay Bellew
Directory of Design and User Experience
Jab Web Solutions Inc.
jabwebsolutions.com