To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
➡️ Find a Local Advisor | 🎯 Find a Specialist Advisor
Given the prominent role online search now plays in the lives of Americans, it’s important to establish your presence on Google since they control a majority of searches conducted online. Fortunately, setting up your Google My Business page is an easy and free way to improve your visibility in search results.
But an increasing number of searches are now taking place on voice-activated search engines like Amazon Alexa and Apple’s Siri. And millions of additional searches are taking place each day across dozens of other platforms.
In fact, in a recent study of more than 20,000 businesses conducted by Yext, an NYSE-listed online reputation management firm, they reported that approximately 73% of people searching for a business online visited a third-party website first to learn about the business before visiting the actual website maintained by the business. This reinforces the importance of being proactive in your efforts to manage what people see on the first page of Google when they search for you. By getting listed in general online directories and creating profiles on find-an-advisor sites, you’re taking important steps to strengthen your online reputation.
SEO experts will tell you it’s important to ensure your information is published consistently across these platforms since search engines like Google use these ‘citations’ (mentions of your business) to help measure your prominence and determine their confidence in the accuracy of details about your business. There’s generally no cost to create these profiles directly on your own, but it can be time-consuming to manage dozens of accounts and passwords to maintain your presence.
What does Google say about the importance of being featured in articles and directories?
Excerpt from “How to improve your local ranking on Google” published by Google Support:
“Local results are based primarily on relevance, distance, and prominence. A combination of these factors helps us find the best match for your search… Prominence refers to how well known a business is… Prominence is also based on information that Google has about a business, from across the web, like links, articles, and directories.”
If you don’t have time to manage your online presence on your own, you may want to consider digital marketing platforms and service providers that can automatically sync your professional bio and business information across dozens of directories and voice-activated search platforms. Here are three examples:
To succeed as a financial advisor, you need a robust marketing plan that combines digital marketing strategies with traditional sales and advertising tactics. By ensuring your information is listed consistently across dozens of online directories, your local SEO will benefit, and you’ll increase your likelihood of appearing higher in local search results.
About the Author
Brian Thorp
Brian is CEO and founder of Wealthtender and Editor-in-Chief. He and his wife live in Austin, Texas. With over 25 years in the financial services industry, Brian is applying his experience and passion at Wealthtender to help more people enjoy life with less money stress. Learn More about Brian
To make Wealthtender free for readers, we earn money from advertisers, including financial professionals and firms that pay to be featured. This creates a conflict of interest when we favor their promotion over others. Read our editorial policy and terms of service to learn more. Wealthtender is not a client of these financial services providers.
➡️ Find a Local Advisor | 🎯 Find a Specialist Advisor