Google Ads management for financial advisors and planners
When someone types financial advisor near me
, an ad is sometimes among the first things on the screen. Google Ads for financial advisors comes down to choosing which searches a firm's ads answer, which towns they answer in and which page of the firm's own site is shown after the click. Our desk builds and runs the account, and a person at the firm reads each ad ahead of launch.
What a search ad account looks like for an advisory firm
The account is cut along lines the firm already uses: an ad group for each service line the firm lists, and an area for each office. A planner with two offices and three service lines ends up with a small, tidy account instead of one crowded campaign.
Keywords come from the firm's service names, from a town name plus advisor and from a service word plus near me, such as wealth management near me
. Location is set by named towns or a circle drawn around each office, and we read where the ads actually ran so the area stays honest. If the firm wants a phone number under an ad, that is its call; we never switch it on by default.
Picture each ad group as a piece on its own string and the landing page as the rod it ties to. When an ad names one service line yet opens a different page, the string hangs crooked and the visitor leaves. For that reason the paid ads work is planned page by page, with identical wording from the ad to the page to the Maps listing.
Five parts of an advisory firm's Google account
- Ad groups
Service line ad groups for a planner's offerings
A separate ad group for every service line the firm lists, with ad wording lifted from that line's page and nothing added about what the line achieves.
- Near me
Office and near-me ad groups for each address
Searches made of a service word plus near me are answered by ads built around the nearest office, and they open that office's page.
- Area
Location targeting by town or radius around an office
We name the towns or set a radius for each office, then review the places the ads actually ran and trim any that drift.
- Phone
Call extensions the advisory firm chooses to show
A call extension puts a phone number beneath the ad, and the firm decides whether it appears. Calls are tallied by ad group, and the words of a caller are never recorded.
- Keep out
A strict negative keyword list for each ad group
Job seekers, students, do-it-yourself and software shoppers, company names and any search that contains a price word or a title word are all kept out. We compare the list with the search terms report and lengthen it as new entries show up.
Ad groups matched to the searches an advisory firm answers
| Ad group for the advisory firm | Searches it answers | Where a click lands on the firm's site |
|---|---|---|
| Service line ad group | The service name as the firm lists it, in plain words | The service line page for that line |
| Town ad group for a planner | A town name plus advisor | That town's page on the firm's site |
| Near-me ad group for an office | A service word plus near me | The office page nearest the searcher's town |
| Firm-name ad group | The advisory firm's own name | The home page or the contact page, whichever the firm picks |
How an advisor's Google account is built and kept
Read the offices, service lines and towns the firm lists
We start from the firm's own list and the pages already on its site. An ad group needs a page to open, so a service line with no page waits.
Draft ad groups and wording for the sign-off person
Each ad is held until the person at the firm who signs off on public wording has read it. The firm also reads Google's own rules for financial services ads before anything runs.
Switch on ad groups one at a time
Beginning with a lone service line at a lone office keeps the first search terms easy to read before more are added.
Read the search terms and tighten the negative list
The list of what people really typed is read on a regular beat. Whatever belongs on the keep-out list goes in, and each change is noted for the firm.
What a principal may have heard about search ads
Said at the planning tableA broad keyword list catches every searcher an advisory firm wants.
What the rod showsBroad lists pull in people hunting for jobs, students and anyone shopping for software. Narrow ad groups named for service lines and towns keep each ad aimed at the page that suits it.
Said at the planning tableAds can do the work of a Maps profile and of search pages.
What the rod showsAn ad is one piece on its own string, and it must tie to the same rod as the service line page and the Maps profile: same firm name, same wording for each line. The pieces work beside one another, not in place of one another.
Said at the planning tableOnce the ads are switched on, nobody needs to look at them.
What the rod showsThe search terms change as people type different things, so the report is read again and again. New keep-out entries and edited ads go back to the sign-off person before they run.
Five rules for a planner's Google Ads account
- Each ad group names one service line, one town or one office.
- The person at the firm who signs off on public wording sees every ad first.
- The negative keyword list is read against the search terms and extended on a regular beat.
- Each ad opens the page matching its own service line or town, and never the home page by default.
- No ad holds a promise or a statement about what any service does for a person.
Where the click bill runs and where our fee sits
Two separate strings hang from this account. One runs from Google straight to the card the firm keeps on the account and carries every click; we never touch it. The other is our fee. Management of Google Ads on its own falls under the one-platform ad plan at $895 a month. A firm that adds Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) or Meta Ads (Facebook and Instagram) moves to the two-platform plan at $1,595 or the three-platform plan at $2,295. No startup fee stands in front of the first draft, and no term holds a firm in place.
Plan figures for search and for ads sit on the pricing page. How calls and form sends after an ad get counted is covered under lead generation, and the other two platforms are described on the Bing side and the Meta side.
Questions a principal asks about Google Ads for an advisory firm
Which searches should an advisory firm's ads answer?
The ones the firm itself lists: its service line names, a town name plus advisor, and a service word plus near me. A search like wealth management near me
is answered by the office page, not a general page.
Can a planner choose whether a phone number shows under an ad?
Yes, the call extension is the firm's decision. Should it be switched on, calls are counted by ad group and nothing is recorded about what a caller says.
Who reads an advisor's ads before they run?
The person at the firm who signs off on public wording. We draft, they read, and the ad waits until that reading is done. Later edits take the same route.
Does a solo advisor with one office need Google Ads management?
One office means one set of ad groups and one list of towns, so the account is small. The method matches a firm with many offices; there are simply fewer strings to tie.
Tell the desk which offices and service lines need ads
Use the contact form to name the offices and the service lines the firm lists. Keep client details out; the towns and the line names are all the first read needs.
Which pieces should your firm hang first?
Tell us the service lines you offer, the towns where your clients live and the neighbouring offices that point people toward you. Keep every client name, every account figure and every personal identifier out of what you send.
Ask us to hang the first piece of your search work
Send one question about how your firm turns up in search. The call is taken by our CEO, Ross Cohen, who ends it by naming the first pieces to hang.
The mobile below is only an illustration, and it forecasts nothing.