Link building for financial advisors and planners
Before a first meeting, a referral partner often types a firm's name and lands on somebody else's page: a local news item, an event page, a partner's list of nearby firms. Link building for financial advisors means tending those pages so each one spells the firm identically and points at the correct office or service line page. The pace is slow, the materials are plain, and every mention used is one the firm genuinely holds.
Other people's pages that already name an advisory firm
Another site's link is one route by which a search system discovers a firm's pages and notices who else names them. Our link building begins with what the firm already does around its towns: sponsored events, local partners with a listing page, outlets that have named a person at the firm, and community pages printing its address. We make up nothing to pad a list.
Bought links, bulk swaps and placements on pages with no tie to advisory work all sit outside what we do. Each candidate gets an entry before anyone is contacted, noting the page it sits on and the page of the firm's own site it ought to reach. The person at the firm who signs off on public wording reads the entry, and only then does a request move.
There is also a quieter side to link building: mending mentions that already exist. A partner page that spells the firm two ways, or points at an office page that no longer exists, is a string knotted to the wrong spot on the rod. One short note to the page owner usually mends it, which makes it the lightest piece of the work. It sits next to the Maps and office page work, because both lean on one name and one address.
Six kinds of mention a planner's firm can truthfully hold
- Partners
Local partner pages that list an advisory firm
Some local organisations publish a roll of the businesses they work with. We ask for one plain line carrying the firm's exact name and a link that opens the office page it belongs with.
- Sponsorships
Event pages that already name the firm as a sponsor
If a firm already sponsors a local event, the organiser's site tends to print the sponsor. We check the spelling, then ask for the link to open the town or office page closest to that event.
- Local news
News mentions of a named planner
Where a local outlet has printed the name of someone at the firm, we note the page and the spelling, then ask whether that name can link to the team page the firm supplies.
- Community
Community pages that print an advisory office address
Neighbourhood sites and event calendars sometimes print a firm's name beside a street. We check the street against the Maps listing, then request a link that opens that office's page.
- Referral
Referral partner pages that point back to the firm
A local partner that already points people toward the firm may say so on its own site. We ask that the mention link to the referral partner page the firm publishes, worded as the firm has approved.
- Citations
Citation entries for each office of the firm
A citation is a directory page's printed copy of how the firm is named, where it sits and how it is reached. One spelling is kept for every office, so each entry ties to the same rod as the Maps listing.
Where each link should land on an advisor's own site
| Source an advisory firm can point to | What the page should show | Where the link should lead |
|---|---|---|
| Sponsor page naming an advisory firm | The firm's name spelled the way its own site spells it | The office page nearest the event |
| Local partner list that includes a planner | Firm name, town, and a short line the sign-off person has read | The town page for the partner's area |
| News item naming a principal | The person's name set beside the firm's name | The biography page the firm supplies |
| Community page printing an office address | A street matching the Maps listing exactly | The page for that single office |
| Partner page that points readers to a wealth management firm | Wording the sign-off person has read | The referral partner page |
How a firm's link building runs from list to log
List what the firm already does in its towns
We ask the firm for its sponsorships, partners and local organisations, then open each of those pages and note whether the firm is named and linked.
Sort the mentions that exist from the ones that could
Mentions that exist but carry no link or a crooked name come first. New requests are only written where the firm has a real tie to the other site.
Hold each request for the sign-off person
Each note to a page owner is drafted at our desk, then read by the person at the firm who signs off on public wording. It leaves only after that reading.
Log each link on its own string and look again later
A sheet records the page, the date asked, the answer and the page of the firm's site the link leads to. Some owners say no or never reply; that is logged as well, and we do not press.
What a principal may have heard about links
Said at the planning tableMore links, from any source, will raise a firm's pages.
What the rod showsWhere a source has nothing linking it to the firm or the places it serves, the link is a piece hung on the wrong rod. We seek fewer links, and each must be explained by something the firm really does.
Said at the planning tableBuying a batch of links is the shortcut.
What the rod showsPaid link schemes are a separate trade and we take no part in them. Every link we request rests on a mention the firm has a genuine reason to hold.
Said at the planning tableA link only matters if it comes from a large publication.
What the rod showsA small local page that names the right office, with the right street address, is often the page a referral partner actually opens. We judge a source by its tie to the firm, never by its size.
Five rules that govern an advisory firm's link requests
- Each mention we pursue rests on something the firm already does.
- On each page we ask an owner to touch, the firm keeps one name, a single street address, and one phone line throughout.
- No link is requested from a paid scheme or from a site unrelated to advisory work.
- Every link leads to a service line page, town page, office page or biography page, and the home page only when the firm asks for it.
- The sign-off person reads each request before it leaves.
A page owner who declines is thanked and left alone.
The running sheet a principal can open, and what no sheet can promise
The firm can open the running sheet of mentions, requests and answers whenever it likes. No sheet can promise that a page owner will agree, nor that any link will carry a page higher in a search list. Link building is the slowest string on the mobile and is only worth cutting where the tie is real.
The firm keeps the list of sponsorships and partners, the choice of which mentions to chase and the last word on every request. The link work runs beside the search work and the published pages the links lead to, and it works once those pages exist. Review replies are a separate piece, covered under review habits, and a site with one contact route gives every link a sensible place to land, which the site layout work describes.
Questions a principal asks about links to an advisory site
Does an advisory firm need a link from a large publication?
No. A local organisation's page that names the firm and its office suits a referral partner's search better than a faraway page unconnected to the firm. We look for mentions the firm could explain in a sentence.
Which pages of a planner's website do the links point to?
The page that matches the source: an office page for an address, a town page for a local partner, a biography page for a named person, a referral partner page for a partner's mention. The home page is the fallback, not the default.
Can the firm read every link request before it goes out?
Yes. Every request is drafted here and parked with whoever at the firm signs off on public wording. Nothing reaches a page owner until that person has read it.
Is link building different for a wealth management firm with several offices?
The approach holds; only the list lengthens. Each office gets its own set of mentions and its own page to receive them, and a single spelling of the firm's name runs through every one. A solo advisor with one office keeps a shorter sheet.
Send the firm's sponsorships and partners to the desk
Use the contact form to name the events, partners and local pages the firm already has. Leave client details out; three contact fields and a line on the towns involved cover it.
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.