Your email, and what all the other bits actually do
Two things here. First, what to do about email, because you're currently using a Rosemount address and your own domain sits unused. Second, a plain explanation of every other piece I'll be setting up, so you know what you're getting and why it's there.
Email: my recommendation
Google Workspace, with the address david@bournefinancialoptions.co.uk
It's the only sensible option that sends properly as your own address, works well on your phone, and doesn't rely on a workaround. You'd use Gmail, which most people already know.
| Option | Cost inc VAT | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Google Workspace | £7.08/month | My recommendation. 30 GB, excellent phone app. |
| Microsoft 365 Basic | £6.48/month | Just as good. Worth choosing instead if Rosemount run Microsoft and want your mail on their systems. |
| IONOS mailbox | £3.00/month, and possibly £0 | Cheapest, and one may already be included with your domain — I'll check in your account. The apps are weaker. |
| Free forwarding | Free | Only forwards mail to your Gmail. You can't reply as your own address, so replies would come from your personal address. |
People often suggest a free workaround where Gmail sends as your domain. I'd avoid it: Google is removing that feature in January 2027, so we'd be rebuilding this in a few months to save £7.
One thing to check with Rosemount first
You're an Appointed Representative, so Rosemount are responsible for your regulated work and need to be able to see and keep your client correspondence. There's no single FCA rule saying a mortgage adviser's email must live on the network's server — the recording rules don't cover mortgage business — but the record-keeping and oversight duties are why networks usually insist.
So I'd ask them one easy question to start: can the new address be used for the website, Google listing and general enquiries, with client advice emails staying on the Rosemount address for now? That's the version a compliance desk says yes to quickly, and it unblocks everything. I've written the full list of questions for you to send them.
What each piece does, and why it's there
In the order I'd do them.
Google Business Profile Week 1 · slowest to arrive
What it is: the box with your name, reviews, phone number and map pin that appears when someone searches for you or for "mortgage adviser near me".
Why you need it: Google ranks local results on three things it publishes openly — how relevant you are, how close you are, and how well known you are. The profile is the only thing that feeds all three, and it's free. It's also where star ratings in search come from.
What's involved: claiming it, verifying it (usually a video or a postcard, which is why it's first), then filling it in properly with your hours, category, photos and description.
Google reviews Ongoing from week 2
What it is: reviews left on your Google profile, rather than on Trustpilot.
Why you need it: your 12 Trustpilot reviews are genuinely good, but they don't help you show up in Google. Google's own reviews do, because reviews count towards how well known it thinks you are. The specialist firms you're up against have thousands. That's their real advantage over you — not their websites.
What's involved: a link you send after each completion, plus a line in your email signature. Both Google and Trustpilot forbid offering anything in return for a review, and Google doesn't allow asking only your happy clients — so it's a routine, asked of everyone.
Google Search Console and Bing's equivalent Day one
What it is: free tools from Google and Microsoft that show what people typed before they found you, which pages appear in search, and anything that's broken.
Why you need it: it's the only honest view of whether this is working, and it comes from Google itself rather than from a tool that guesses. It only starts collecting data the day it's set up — it never fills in the past. That's why it's day one rather than later.
What's involved: adding one line to your domain settings. Nothing changes on the site.
Analytics Day one
What it is: a small piece of code that counts visitors and what they do.
Why you need it: you have none at all today, so nobody knows whether your site gets 5 visits a month or 500. Installed before we change anything, it gives us a genuine before and after.
The information Google reads about your business Week 2–3
What it is: hidden code on the page that states your business name, address, phone number and what you do, in a format search engines read directly.
Why you need it: yours currently tells Google your business is called "My WordPress". That's the default nobody changed. It should say who you are, with your FCA details.
Clean addresses and a sitemap Week 3–4
What it is: sensible page addresses, and a file listing every page so search engines can find them all.
Why you need it: your mortgage page is at a misspelled address that your own menu links to, and your page list includes duplicates and leftovers. Tidying it means every page you care about gets found, and none of the rubbish does.
Speed Built in
What it is: how long your page takes to appear, especially on a phone.
Why you need it: yours takes about 6 seconds; Google's target is 2.5, and the quickest of your competitors manages under 2. People leave. It's a modest ranking factor but a big difference to whether someone waits.
Publishing new pages regularly Monthly, ongoing
What it is: new pages answering specific questions people search for.
Why you need it: the firms winning this work aren't older than you — two of them started within a year of you. They just kept publishing. One added 377 pages this year. You've published nothing since 2020.
Being listed consistently everywhere Week 5
What it is: your name, address and phone number matching across every site that mentions you.
Why you need it: your business name is spelled five different ways online, and three addresses are in circulation — the old Regus one is still on Companies House and on directory sites. Mixed signals make it harder for Google to be confident it's the same business.
Paid directories — my honest view Revisit at week 6
What they are: Unbiased charges around £10 plus VAT per enquiry; VouchedFor is about £60 plus VAT a month before lead costs.
My view: neither, for now. You told me you don't rate Unbiased, and for a credit specialist the money is better spent on the pages and the Google listing first. We can look again at week six with actual numbers rather than a guess.
Your own email address Week 1
Why it matters beyond looking tidy: your website says bournefinancialoptions.co.uk and your email says rosemountfs.co.uk. To a client who's nervous about being scammed — and adverse credit clients often are — mismatches like that register, even if they can't say why.