Almost all prospective clients will look you up online or ask AI about you before deciding whether to get in touch.
Impress them, and you’ll secure the enquiry.
Make a poor impression or give them reasons (however small) to doubt you, and they’ll continue their search or contact another firm.
As we’ve said many times, you can’t control what people click when they look you up online, but you can control what they see. So, here are 10 simple ways to sweat the small stuff and impress prospects on their digital journey to your door.
#1. Make sure prospects can find you
When someone searches for you or your business online, they need to be able to find you easily. If they can’t, you’ve put a practical barrier in their way. You also risk creating doubt and losing the enquiry before their journey has really begun.
Your business should dominate the search results, with your Google Business Profile appearing on the right-hand side (we’ll get to that in a minute) and your website at the top of the organic results. The remainder of the page should be full of links about your business.
Action: Open a private or incognito window, then search Google for your business name and any variations prospects might use. Check that your website appears at the top of the results and that your Google Business Profile is clearly visible. Then review everything else appearing on the page.
#2. Check every link that’s about your business
Search results often contain profiles, directory listings and other pages you haven’t checked for years. Incorrect, missing, or outdated information on any of them could create doubt and chip away at your credibility.
Action: After you’ve run the incognito searches we described in the first point, click every relevant link on the first three pages of the results. Correct anything wrong, add anything missing, and update anything out of date.
#3. Claim and build your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile dominates the right-hand side of the search results page and is often one of the first things prospects see. A complete, professional profile reassures them that your business is credible, established, and active.
Action: Use our definitive guide to claim and build your profile or update an existing one. Complete every relevant section, including your contact details, opening hours, and a description explaining what you do, who you work with, and why clients choose you. Add high-quality, up-to-date photos of your team and office, then check the profile regularly to keep everything accurate.
#4. Build VouchedFor profiles for your advisers, planners, and firm
Some people will look your firm up online, while others will search for an individual adviser or planner. Your Google reviews won’t appear when they search for a person, so you need an alternative way to impress them. That’s where VouchedFor comes in.
Action: Build a profile for your firm and every adviser or planner, making sure each one is complete, accurate, and up to date and then…
#5. Consistently collect Google and VouchedFor reviews
Having no reviews won’t impress anyone. And having one single, solitary review is even worse, because it suggests you’ve tried and failed to collect more.
Action: Run a booster project to collect reviews on Google and VouchedFor, then build requests into your processes, sending them after onboarding new clients and annual review meetings to keep the reviews coming in consistently. Finally, use our free AI tool to help you reply to every review.
#6. Add client video testimonials to your Google Business Profile
Video testimonials let prospects see and hear real clients explain, in their own words, the difference you’ve made to their lives. Yet only 13% of firms have them, and almost none add them to their Google Business Profile. Doing so brings forward the point in a prospect’s journey when they see the benefits of working with you.
Action: Add a link to each video in the Updates section of your profile with a very short, benefit-led explanation of how you helped the client.
#7. Get your LinkedIn profiles right
Company and personal LinkedIn profiles will usually appear prominently when prospects search online. If they click them, incomplete profiles, outdated information, or inconsistent branding will create doubt. In contrast, profiles that explain who you help and demonstrate the outcomes you achieve will build confidence.
Action: Use our guide to review company and personal profiles, checking that they’re complete, up to date, and consistent. They should clearly explain what you do, who you work with, and why clients choose you. Use professional profile photos, while banner images should include your contact details, social proof, and a positioning statement explaining who you help.
#8. Find and deal with negativity
Even the tiniest stain on your reputation can put enough doubt in a prospect’s mind to send them elsewhere. For example, in the past month, I’ve seen firms with negative Glassdoor reviews that hadn’t been addressed. Another had a one-star Facebook review being pulled through to its Google Business Profile.
Action: Ruthlessly seek out any negativity about your firm. If it’s a fake review, do everything possible to get it taken down. If it’s genuine, resolve the underlying issue, then write a calm, professional reply explaining what you’ve done, before encouraging more clients and employees to share their positive experiences.
#9. Check every directory you might be listed on
Directory listings can appear prominently in search results, so incorrect or inconsistent information will confuse prospects and damage trust. Check specialist directories such as Unbiased, VouchedFor, the Personal Finance Society, and CISI’s Wayfinder, plus general directories.
Action: Claim every relevant listing and make sure your business name, address, phone number, and website are accurate and consistent. Complete each profile fully, use your latest branding and imagery, and clearly explain who you help and what you do.
#10. Build a great website
Our research shows that 75% of people, including those referred or recommended to you, will visit your website before getting in touch. Meanwhile, 88% of consumers won’t return to a website after a poor experience. So, your site needs to do three things:
- Empathise with a visitor’s trigger
- Build trust by proving the value you deliver
- Create action by showing visitors a clear next step
Action: Review your website and check how effectively it achieves each of those objectives. Then, read the six lessons from our review of 500 adviser and planner websites and make any further changes needed to guarantee it stands out and impresses prospects.
It’s all about the consumer
I know some advisers, planners, and business owners who will dismiss this stuff as unimportant, claim it doesn’t apply to their specific client demographic, or assume their opinions reflect those of their clients. For example, one adviser recently told me that he didn’t want to collect Google reviews because he believes they’re all fake, and that his clients feel the same way.
They’re not all fake.
And his clients won’t all share his view.
That’s why I want to leave you with this Mark Ritson quote: “You need to have cold blood in your veins to do proper marketing”.
Sometimes, we all need a bit of tough love: the only opinions that matter are those of your clients and target audience.
Not yours.
Not mine.
Only theirs.
Need our help?
If you’d like our help to impress more prospects on their digital journey to your door, email Abi Robinson, our head of client engagement, at abi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300.
We’d love to hear from you.
