What Google looks for, and what you're getting
Google publishes what it wants from a website. Most of it isn't secret and none of it is magic. I went through their own documentation and checked your site against it, line by line. This is what they ask for, where you stand today, and what I'll be doing about it.
Where your site stands right now
Seventy-one checks, taken from Google's own published requirements. Four more couldn't be judged without access to your accounts. Nothing here is a penalty or a black mark — most of it is simply absent, which is good news, because absent things can be added.
1. Can Google find and read your pages?
The basics
NoYour mortgage page lives at a misspelled address, /mortagages/, and every link in your own menu points at the typo. The correctly spelled address shows an error page.
Correct addresses throughout, with the old ones redirected so nothing breaks and no visitor hits a dead end.
NoTwo live homepages, plus a third address serving an identical copy. Google has to guess which is the real one.
One homepage. This isn't a penalty — Google just splits its attention between the copies, which wastes it.
NoYour page title says "Home". Google's guidance specifically says to avoid vague titles like that.
Every page titled for what it actually is, and what someone would search for.
NoThree sample blog posts from the website template are still live and readable, along with an empty shop page.
Removed.
2. Does the site say anything worth ranking?
Content
NoYour mortgage page is 277 words and hasn't been edited since May 2023. The homepage is shorter still.
Pages written properly, one per thing you actually do, in your voice.
NoThe words bad credit, CCJ, arrears, bankruptcy, HMO, self-employed and limited company appear nowhere on the site.
A page for each situation people search for — the specific ones, where a one-man firm can genuinely compete.
Worth knowing: Google says outright that length alone doesn't help. "The length of the content alone doesn't matter for ranking purposes." So this isn't about padding pages out. It's about actually answering the question someone typed.
3. Trust — and why mortgages are held to a higher standard
This is the most important section for you, and it's the one most website companies skip. Google sorts topics into categories, and mortgages sit in a category it calls "Your Money or Your Life" — pages that could affect someone's financial security. Those pages are judged more harshly.
"Trust is the most important member of the E-E-A-T family." Google Search Quality Rater Guidelines, 11 September 2025
Google's own guidelines say a financial site needs "comprehensive information about who is responsible for the site and a way to contact the site if something goes wrong."
What that means on your site
NoNo named author on anything. No qualifications, no years in the job, nothing that says who is behind the advice.
Your name and your experience on every page that gives guidance.
PartlyThe footer shows Rosemount's FCA number. Your own firm reference, 988277, appears nowhere on the site.
Both shown and linked to the FCA register, so anyone can check you in one click. Wording to be confirmed with Rosemount.
NoNo phone number on the homepage at all, and no tappable number anywhere on the site.
A number on every page that dials when tapped.
NoTwelve five-star reviews that your website never shows. The review plugin loads on every page and displays nothing.
Your reviews on the site where people see them, plus a routine for asking clients afterwards.
NoGoogle adverts run on all 15 pages of your site — a leftover from whoever built it.
Removed, once you confirm they weren't deliberate. Google's own guidance asks whether ads distract from the main content, and on a regulated adviser's site they also look odd to clients.
4. Speed
NoYour homepage takes about 6.2 seconds to show its main content on a phone. Google's target is 2.5. The fastest of your competitors does it in 1.9.
Under 2.5 seconds. Modern image formats, far less code, and no leftover shop software loading on every page.
Being honest about this one: speed is a real ranking factor but a minor one. Google says it "always seeks to show the most relevant content, even if the page experience is sub-par". Speed is the tie-breaker, not the reason you aren't showing up.
5. Being found locally
Google says local results are ranked on three things: relevance, distance and prominence. A Google Business Profile is what feeds all three, and you don't currently have one.
NoNo Google listing found. You're also absent from Unbiased, VouchedFor and the other places people look, and there's no company LinkedIn page.
A verified listing with your reviews, photos and hours, plus the directory listings that matter for a mortgage client.
NoYour business name is spelled five different ways across the web, and three different addresses are in circulation. The old Regus address is still on Companies House and on directory sites.
One name, one address, one number, used everywhere.
One decision I need from you
Google doesn't allow listings at mailboxes or unstaffed addresses. Your office at Stockley Park is a serviced building, and you're based in Guildford. So the listing needs to be either the Stockley Park office, if you can show staffed premises and signage, or set up as a service-area business that covers where you work without publishing an address. Getting this wrong risks the listing being suspended, so I'd rather ask than assume.
6. Measuring any of it
NoNo analytics of any kind. Nobody has ever been able to see how many people visit your site, or what they do.
Installed first, before anything changes, so there's a genuine before and after.
NoNot registered with Google Search Console or Bing's equivalent — both free, and the only place you see what people searched before landing on you.
Verified on day one. This data never backfills, so every day it isn't set up is a day of information lost for good.
Things I won't sell you
- Star ratings in Google from your own reviews. Google explicitly excludes a business's own reviews about itself. Stars in search come from your Google listing, not from code on your site. Anyone quoting for "review schema for gold stars" is mistaken.
- FAQ boxes in search results. Since August 2023 Google only shows those for government and health sites.
- "Domain authority" scores. Those are invented by other companies. Google publishes no such score.
- Buying directory links. Google names "low-quality directory links" as a spam violation. If someone offers you 500 listings for £299, it's a risk, not a service.
- A separate "AI search" package. Google says there are no additional requirements to appear in its AI answers — the same work applies.
- A ranking promise. Google's own words: following its guidance "doesn't guarantee that your site will be crawled, indexed, or ranked". Anyone who guarantees you position one is guessing.
What the £2,000 covers
Every item below is a thing Google asks for, done properly.
- A new website built around you
- About a dozen specialist pages
- Correct page titles and descriptions throughout
- One homepage, correct addresses, old links redirected
- Your name, experience and FCA details visible
- Your reviews shown, and a way to gather more
- Tappable phone number on every page
- Enquiry form that works and is tested
- Speed under 2.5 seconds on a phone
- Correct business information in the code Google reads
- Photographs and proper image descriptions
- Google Business Profile claimed and verified
- Directory listings tidied and made consistent
- Analytics installed and a baseline recorded
- Search Console and Bing verified
- Sitemap submitted, theme leftovers removed
- Your own email address on your domain
- Email signature rebuilt with a booking link
- A referral one-pager for accountants and agents
- Everything through Rosemount for approval