Another important factor in your search engine rankings is your local profile. Having a significant local profile is a great way to get new prospects. While in the early days of the Internet it seemed unlikely that consumers would look for a financial advisor on the Web, search engines are used by everyone all the time now. It's a way of validating that you are who you say you are.

If a search of your name results in a long list of links to articles, tweets and Webinars about asset protection for doctors, it validates that you're a specialist in that topic. It doesn't mean you'll be hired by a doctor seeking asset protection, but it puts you in the running.

The same principles can be applied to local searches. Doing it correctly literally puts your firm on the map in searches for local financial advisors. For example, if someone searches "financial advisors, Jericho, N.Y.," a list of local firms appears in the results alongside a map of your local area. You want your firm to be one of the pushpins displayed on the local listings map.

Start by verifying your place of business with Google Places and other search engines. Then think of local businesses and allied professionals that might want to link to your site because they work in related businesses.

Right now, few advisors are optimizing for search engines or for local listings, but that's going to change this year. An opportunity does exist now for advisors to use search engines more effectively, but the competition for leads this way is going to heat up in the next year.

 

Editor-at-large Andrew Gluck, a veteran financial writer, owns Advisor Products Inc., a marketing technology company serving 1,800 advisory firms.

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