Google Loves IFAs

The recession has accelerated UK online demand for financial advice. There were over 50,000 searches for the term ‘IFA’ alone in Q1 2010. However most IFAs are not doing enough to be found online and are missing the opportunity to capture these leads.

During June and July, the Finance Team here at Google decided to make support available for IFAs. On this site you can find:

• Our White Paper, 'IFAs in the Digital Space' - exploring consumer behaviour and opportunities in the online financial advice market
• Our Webinar, 'Google Loves IFAs' - an educational run-through of best practices in online marketing and practical demos and tips for getting started on AdWords
• Links to a range of FREE Google tools and resources

Please do give us feedback on this initiative and on what you'd like to see more of in the future.

Highlights from our White Paper:

A marked increase in the demand for financial advice online

• Financial search queries have grown consistently since 2005 and were up 19% in 2009 alone.
• Advice sites have seen rapid growth during the recession.

The IFA industry has great digital potential

• Few IFAs appear against searches for key products and markets let-alone their brand terms on paid search.
• IFA related search queries have experienced strong growth while paid search auction intensity has fallen. This creates a cost effective opportunity for new entrants into these markets.

Understanding the evolution of consumer behaviour

• The length of finance queries is increasing, as people become more sophisticated with their searches.
• These more targeted,‘longtail’ queries are cheaper and increasingly driving more leads.

Understanding product seasonality in your markets

• ISAs are a key product in Q2 but the research phase is starting earlier every year.
• IFAs are well positioned to drive incremental leads online in the financial protection, mortgages and wealth management sectors