The days of physical directory books left at your doorstep are long gone, but that doesn’t mean business listings are dead. In fact, a vast amount of consumers still research a local business before reaching out. In fact, Google revealed that roughly 46% of ALL Google searches are specifically looking for a local business! As a loan officer, you know that when it comes to making a major decision like home financing, prospective buyers need to have all the facts and feel confident before making a move.

So, how do you help homebuyers discover your business in a sea of fierce originator competition?

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Along with excellent local SEO on your mortgage website and an active social media presence, local online directories and business listing sites are where it’s at! However, we’ve found that most loan officers don’t truly understand what it takes to effectively manage their business listing –if they even have one! 

Since there are numerous online local business directories and many components to manage, we’ve put together this simple “marketing ideas for mortgage loan officers” guide to help you simplify managing your loan officer business listing.

The 4 W’s of Business Listings for Loan Officers

Before we get into the various business listing sites and the tools to manage listings, let’s take a step back and learn the importance of business listings for loan officers. 

Why Should Loan Officers and Brokers Create Business Listings?

As we mentioned earlier, a large portion of online searches are for local businesses, which is why Google’s algorithm highly favors geo-targeted listings. Adding your loan officer info to local business listings is an organic way to appear higher in search results.

What Info Should You Have On Your Business Listing?

Typically, a business listing has three core fields: name, address, and phone number (also known as NAP). Again, since your business thrives on online presence, you’ll also want your website URL. Not only does this affect your SEO, but it also makes it more likely for searchers to visit your site.

Additionally, the option to add photos helps you show off your business visually and give your audience a sense of the face(s) behind your business.

Where Can Loan Officer Business Listings Be Found Online?

One of the most common business listing websites is Google itself. When somebody searches for a local business, a Google Business listing is usually shown first. That’s if you’ve set up your Google Business listing. Other top local business directories for loan officers include Facebook, Yelp, Apple Maps, etc. It’s also worth noting that many online directories search the web to compare business information. So, if any of your business listings are incorrect, it may trigger a domino effect and start spreading incorrect information across the web!

When Is the Right Time to Create a Business Listing?

The right time to create a business listing is NOW. The sooner you create one, the sooner you expose yourself to more home buyers, and you will gain a lot more traffic on your website and receive more inquiries. 

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However, be sure that you have your mortgage website ready and have a dedicated phone number that people can call. This will ensure your audience that your business is established and you’ve had previous clients.

Top Business Listing Sites All Loan Officers Should Take Advantage of

Although there are numerous online business listing sites that you can create a listing on, here are the top ones that are extremely beneficial for your mortgage brand.

Google MY Business

Creating a Google Business profile as a loan officer takes just minutes, costs no money, and is generally easy to manage. The more often you update your profile, add new photos of your business, update your hours, and answer some of the most frequently asked questions on your profile, the more likely your listing will rank higher. 

When somebody searches for ‘loan officer near me’ or any similar inquiries, your business has a better shot at appearing as a top listing if your info is complete and current. Another good way to help your Google Business listing rank better is to gain as many reviews as possible. Be sure to ask your happy homebuyers to leave you a quick review! 

Meta/Facebook

Social media is one of the best ways to get real estate clients, and contrary to the popular myth that Facebook is dead, the platform still gets around three billion monthly users. The truth is that many homebuyers are on social media.

One of the top benefits of creating a Meta page is that it makes it very easy for users to reach out to you through the Messenger option. This exposes your company to a brand new audience online that is otherwise not so easily accessible. Plus, it’s free to create a listing. 

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Apple Maps

With at least 200 million users, Apple Maps is one of the top business listing sites on which every local business should be. Since nearly half of the American audience uses iPhones, having a listing on Apple Maps makes it easy for mobile users to find you whether they are sitting at home or on the go.

Like most directory sites, you’ll need to verify your business at the end, and then you’re good to go.

There are also listing sites geared more towards real estate, such as Trulia and Zillow, which are great sites for loan officers and brokers to get listed on.

Some real estate websites automatically pull up a list of licensed local loan officers and brokers without any action required on your side. It’s still a good idea to monitor these and ensure your information is accurate.

Local Business Listing Management Tools You Should Know About

The sites listed above are just a few of the many directories on which you can list your business. The more websites you get listed on, the more challenging it will be to manage every listing to ensure that your business information is accurate and consistent on all websites.

The good news is that you can use many listing management tools to get a single view of all your listings and a report on how consistent the data is across different sites. Here are a few of them. 

Yext

Yext is an online platform that allows businesses to control and synchronize their online listings across 200+ business listing websites. In other words, Yext helps companies ensure that business information such as phone numbers, addresses, hours of operation, and reviews are accurate and up-to-date. Some of the publishers Yext allows you to manage your listings on include Google, Apple, Amazon Alexa, and Bing.

With features such as the ability to remove duplicate listings, reputation management tools, and analytics reports that show how customers interact with a business’s online content, Yext provides invaluable insight that can help you improve your overall customer experience and drive more online and offline traffic.

Thryv

Thryv may not be as advanced as Yext when it comes to business listing management, as it only allows you to manage around 40 listings. However, the platform is great in other ways. The main benefit of Thryv is that you can add your listing once to the platform, and the data auto-populates to the 40 other websites, saving you massive time. 

Additionally, Thryv includes features to monitor reviews from customers, providing insights to improve customer engagement and help with reputation management.

BrightLocal

BrightLocal allows you to easily monitor and track the performance of 50+ online directory listings while also helping you clean up any inaccuracies that could be affecting your visibility online. 

The platform provides detailed analytics to help you understand how your business appears in search results, which websites drive the most traffic to your site, and areas for improvement.

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LenderHomePage Helps Loan Officers Elevate Their Digital Presence

If approached correctly, listing management doesn’t have to be difficult for your mortgage business. There are numerous tools to help you manage your online presence. 

As long as you are listed on the top directories mentioned earlier and your basic fields, such as your business name, address, phone number, and website URL, are consistent across platforms, your business can gain so much more exposure. 

Business listings are just one of the many marketing ideas for mortgage loan officers. As you scale up your marketing efforts and gain more traffic on your website, you’ll want to equally give importance to how your brand is presented to your audience. 

Check out LenderHomePage’s mortgage website templates and delight your prospects and customers today.

Link building plays a vital role in SEO and is one of the factors Google considers when determining search rankings. While actions like improving page speed can provide an immediate impact on ranking, link building is an endeavor that focuses on enhancing your website’s authority over time.

Although it may require some patience to see tangible outcomes, each high-value backlink compounds your authority, propelling and solidifying your site’s position in top search results for your target market.

Over time, backlinks increase website visibility and lead-generation opportunities.

While directory sites are a popular and effective link-building tactic, there are more advanced strategies that offer even greater advantages. Uncover the simplest and most impactful method to obtain high-quality backlinks for your mortgage website using AI, empowering your website to enhance credibility, authority, and achieve higher rankings.

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Link-Building 101: Understanding The Basics

When you “build links” to a website, you are essentially inserting your URL on other domains, which tells search engines that your website is important, and, therefore, should be ranked higher in search results. This is one of the main link-building benefits for mortgage websites. 

However, the catch is that you can’t just add any backlinks. It has come from a site with a related niche and also has some authority of its own. More on that later.

It’s also important to note that tackling backlinks to increase your site’s visibility is best done after foundational content and technical SEO strategies have been implemented, such as: 

• SEO mortgage content with meta titles and meta descriptions (continue reading to learn how we make this easier with our AI-enabled content creator on LHP3)
• Responsive, mobile-friendly design
• Optimized site architecture
• XML site map
• Optimized page speed

Now let’s discuss best practices for link building.

Pro Tips for Effective Link Building on Mortgage Websites

There are so many complexities involved with link-building. Here are some practices you should steer away from to avoid getting penalized by search engines.

Avoid paying for links (Sort of)

Google does not like it when sites attempt to artificially enhance their ranking, and this includes buying backlinks that go to sites whose purpose is just to host backlinks. This is called link farming and is penalized by all search engines. 

However, paying a marketer or agency to attempt to secure backlinks on your behalf is allowed. But buyers, be aware! Some marketing agencies may still employ “link farming” tactics in their services. This is because building links takes time and effort. Avoid getting penalized by never buying farmed backlinks, work with a reputable marketing agency —or do it yourself with the tactics we’re about to teach you!

When guest blogging, post on sites related to your niche.

Google and other search engines quickly pick up on the type of websites linking to you. As a mortgage broker or loan officer, you may not want to post on sites about general pet care, for example. Otherwise, search engines assume your site is about pets and will not help you rank for mortgage, real estate, or location-specific keywords.

Get rid of outdated practices, such as commenting on blogs with your website link.

Simply adding your link and a sales pitch to the comment section of a popular website is a very spammy practice and does not make you or your company look good. Instead, provide engaging and thought-leadership commentary along with your website link for the best results.

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4 Link Building Hacks for Mortgage Websites to Rule the Rankings

On the other hand, here are some practices you should opt for to improve your link-building efforts and ensure you are building links in an ethical way.

Use Web Content as Ego Bait

Ego bait is a strategy that involves creating content specifically designed to flatter or appeal to influential individuals or potential referral partners. The goal is to attract attention and generate backlinks by tapping into the “ego” or self-interest of these individuals.

Ego bait content can be in the form of an article or interview, but listings are fast and easy ways to gain traction from many individuals from just one piece of content. 

The key to successful ego bait backlinking is to create engaging content that showcases the targeted individuals in a flattering, authentic way while also providing relevant value to your business and prospects.

For example, you can create a listicle highlighting the various yoga studios in your target location, like traditional, hot, prenatal, etc, and detail the differences between them.

Another option would be to use local professionals to create content. A piece titled “Omaha Home Inspectors Answer Your Toughest Questions” is an example of a type of content that may perform well for SEO using keywords but also gives you an opportunity to create a backlink.

Reach out to the business and let them know that you’ll be featuring them on your site. Share the link and ask if they can add it to their site –creating the backlink!

They’re also likely to share it on social media, so remember to tag them on any social posts you create from the content.

When executed effectively, ego bait can not only attract valuable backlinks but also establish relationships with influential figures or brands in your industry, potentially leading to further collaboration and exposure.

Struggling to find the right words or short on time to craft captivating content? No worries, we’ve got you covered! Introducing our game-changing LHP3 website platform with its supercharged AI-enabled content creator. Simply share the topic, throw in a catchy title, and let our AI work its magic to generate an incredible first draft. It’s like having a wordsmith sidekick on demand!

All that’s left for you is a quick polish, and you’re ready to publish. Don’t let time or inspiration hold you back – unleash the power of our AI content creator.

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Thought Leadership

If you have been actively searching for guest blogging opportunities, you may have come across some that are seeking experts on a specific topic. For example, there is a website called HARO, which stands for ‘Help a Reporter Out.’ You can offer your knowledge and expertise to publications to gain valuable and high-quality backlinks.

Other ways to do this are by carrying out original research, doing podcast interviews, speaking at relevant industry conferences, creating and posting infographics to your socials, etc.

Besides the backlinks, you will also benefit by better gaining your audience’s trust. Everybody wants to work with a savvy, well-spoken loan officer. Let’s also remember that high-quality content often leads to increased trust and higher rates of conversion.

Broken Link-Building

There are so many broken links on the web, and these can badly impact a website. Take some time to research sites in your industry that have broken links. The goal is to either create new content or use your existing content and encourage the webmaster of that website to replace the old content with your new content.

Before reaching out, always make sure that the content you are pitching adds value to the page and is not just there for the sake of link-building. Explain what value it will add to that page when you reach out.

Here is more information on broken link building. 

Do Directory Submissions

Directory sites are a great way to build links to your mortgage website. To get the most out of this tactic, you’ll want to create two lists: top general directories and industry-specific directories.

The general directories are those that every business should be listed in (ex. Google My Business, Yelp, Bing, etc.) plus any locale-specific directories. The niche-specific directories will be ones that are related to mortgage or real estate (ex. Zillow and MortgageBite).

When getting listed in directories, prioritize that that allows for a website URL. The ones without a URL are still good for exposure but will not help you with link-building.

Another thing to keep in mind is to ensure all of your company’s information is consistent throughout different directory sites; otherwise, this can negatively impact your SEO.

LenderHomePage: Empowering Loan Officers to Excel in the Digital Age

Unleash the power of link-building! Elevate your mortgage website’s authority and boost search rankings effortlessly with our AI-enabled mortgage content creator. Book a demo now and experience how our tools simplify the creation of quality content that attracts backlinks and builds your online presence.

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