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Written By: Blair Kelly As a financial advisor, it can be difficult to market your firm and get your message out, especially with the rules and regulations that come with working within the financial industry. We work with a lot of advisors on their organic search rankings and the discussion of Google and online reviews is one that comes up constantly but for a very valid reason! Online reviews are typically a big question mark for advisors being in such a highly regulated industry.The financial services industry is changing and advisors are now getting more and more clients from their website, inbound marketing and other digital marketing efforts versus the traditional word of mouth referrals, direct mail postcards, etc.However, the power of a customer testimonial is so incredibly strong for your advisor business! In fact, according to Inc. 91 percent of people regularly or occasionally read online reviews, and 84 percent trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation. Furthermore, 68 percent of people form an opinion after reading between one and six online reviews. So, when getting around the red tape of the industry and trying to go beyond your website, how do you go about getting these Google reviews that are so important? Keep reading to find out!
The Importance of Google Reviews for Financial Advisors
Online reviews are not testimonials because you (the advisor) cannot control them. ANYONE can leave a review for your business on Google (and many other sites for that matter). And as long as you are not responding to the reviews at all (either positively or negatively), then you are not in breach of Section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. That’s because when a client writes and publishes a Google review, THEY (the client) are the publisher. Google is the owner and administrator.This is important to keep in mind when dealing with compliance standards. But why should financial advisors use Google reviews in the first place? Here are three strong reasons why they’re so important:1. MOST PROSPECTS WILL CHECK OUT REVIEWS
When leads turn to Google to search for an advisory firm, they will more than likely check out the reviews and those with more stars will bring more confidence to the searcher, as this proves that many people have found the work with your business to be favorable.2. REVIEWS BUILD TRUST AND ACCOUNTABILITY
In a sense, reviews serve as a referral for businesses. Prospects are able to read why your firm is a good choice, and later if they end up working with you they’ll leave a strong review, that will just boost your SEO rankings even more! According to a Pew Research Center report about reviews:
In the above image, Retirement Matters has great reviews all with 5-star ratings. Not all reviews receive write-ups, as well, but it’s a great way to go even further into detail about why someone chose to give a company a 5-star review. It builds trust and accountability when you can read about someone’s else’s great experience, and this will really boost rankings.3. GOOGLE REVIEWS AND SEO RANKINGS
Advisors who have collected many strong reviews will be well-positioned because Google reviews also improve search rankings!According to the 2017 Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, a combination of quantity, velocity, and diversity of Google reviews is will bring about higher ranking, which also results in a higher number of clicks, also boosting your firm’s SEO rankings!What is Compliance Approved When It Comes to Online Reviews?
When it comes to Google reviews and online reviews, the SEC is clear about what is inbounds and out of bounds or not advisable.Below is the testimonial rule as written:Section 206(4) of the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 generally prohibits any investment adviser from engaging in any act, practice or course of business that the Commission, by rule, defines as fraudulent, deceptive or manipulative.Rule 206(4)-1(a)(1) states that: [i]t shall constitute a fraudulent, deceptive, or manipulative act, practice, or course of business . . . for any investment adviser registered or required to be registered under [the Advisers Act], directly or indirectly, to publish, circulate,or distribute any advertisement which refers, directly or indirectly, to any testimonial of any kind concerning the investment adviser or concerning any advice, analysis, report or other service rendered by such investment adviser.IT IS OKAY FOR ADVISORS TO:
In the review above for Forward Thinking Wealth Management, having a review like this is a great way to boost rankings. Hiring a financial advisor can be a very big step for someone, after all, they are going to be dealing with your money and helping you plan your future. So when you see this kind of positive review about the great advice and how transparent he is, that really helps build accountability and trust for an advisor.