Since the term “SEO” still feels a bit like a buzzword, I want to break down how financial advisors and RIA business owners can properly leverage Search Engine Optimization (SEO) without needing to become experts themselves.

If there’s one thing I know about the advisors I work with, it’s that they’re often pressed for time, have lots of great ideas, but are sometimes unsure how to execute those ideas effectively.

Sound familiar?

You’ve likely heard all the SEO concepts before, but let’s take a moment to define them in simple terms for anyone who isn’t quite up to speed. (Feel free to skip this section if you’re already familiar with the basics.)

• Keywords: The specific words or phrases people type into search engines (e.g., "financial planning for retirees"). Using the right ones helps your site appear when prospects search for services you offer.
• Search Engine: A platform like Google or Bing that helps users find websites and information by matching their search queries with relevant content online.
• Meta Tags: Small pieces of code that provide search engines with information about your webpage. They don’t show up on the page itself but play a big role in SEO.
• Meta Titles: The clickable headlines that appear in search engine results, summarizing what your page is about. Think of these as your first impression in search results—these are limited to 60 characters.
• Meta Descriptions: The short blurbs underneath your meta title in search results, giving users a quick idea of what they’ll find on your page—these are limited to 160 characters.
• E-EAT: Stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Search engines prioritize content that demonstrates these qualities, especially in industries like finance.
• Internal Linking: Hyperlinks on your site that connect to other pages within your website, helping users and search engines navigate your content more effectively.
• External Linking: Links on your site that point to credible, external websites, providing added context or resources to your audience—and making your website less of a deadend.
• Backlinking: When other reputable websites link to your site. This signals to search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable, especially when those backlinks come from more credible sites.
• Alt Tags (Alternative Text): Descriptive text added to images on your website. This not only helps visually impaired users understand your content but also improves SEO by providing search engines with context about your images.

Now, let's refer to some real-world, actionable strategies that will help you write better content that will help you stand out in the financial and wealth management industry.

Keyword Research and Strategy

Keywords are sort of the backbone of SEO, and if you’ve been in the game for a while, you probably remember when keyword stuffing was all the rage—but the SEO game has drastically changed since then.

When it comes to a solid keyword strategy, it's important to strike a balance between search volume (how often a term is searched) with keyword difficulty (how hard it is to rank for). For financial advisors, this means finding terms that people are actively looking for but aren’t so competitive that you get buried under big-name firms.

For newer financial advisors or RIA firm owners, I’d suggest starting with keywords that are easy to rank for but still have solid search volume. If you’re using tools like SEMRush or Ahrefs, aim for keywords with a keyword difficulty of 0-15% and a search volume between 100-1000.

If your domain has strong authority, good backlinks, etc., then you can start going after slightly tougher keywords—say, in the 16-29% difficulty range—but make sure they still have decent search volume. The more authority your site has and the higher you rank, the easier it’ll be to go after those tougher keywords—and that means showing up for more popular, high-search terms.

Finding the Right Keywords

Tools like SEMRush, Ahrefs, Google Search Console, and Google Ads Keyword Planner can help you uncover some great keywords that find the sweet spot between keyword difficulty and search volume. Let’s say you specialize in retirement planning—plugging in “retirement planning for small business owners” might reveal related searches like “tax strategies for retiring entrepreneurs” or “best retirement accounts for self-employed professionals.”

Why Long-Tail Keywords Matter

Long-tail what? Long-tail keywords—more specific phrases like “401(k) rollover options for self-employed individuals”—tend to attract higher-quality traffic. Maybe that means not receiving as much traffic, but more qualified leads that fit into your niche. While broad keywords like “retirement planning” get tons of searches, they’re often too competitive and won't align as well with your offerings.

Building a Keyword Cluster

Instead of targeting a single keyword, I like to think in clusters. If your core topic is “retirement planning,” related content might include things like:

“Retirement income planning”

“IRA distribution strategies”

“Long-term retirement goals”

Meta Titles and Meta Descriptions

Your meta title and meta description are your first (and sometimes only) chance to grab attention in search results. A strong meta title makes users want to click, while a compelling meta description reassures them that they’ll find exactly what they’re looking for.

The best meta titles stay under Google’s 60-character limit so they don’t get cut off. Every word counts, so swapping out unnecessary words like "and" for "&" can free up space.

Similarly, keep meta descriptions under 160 characters. A short, engaging summary improves click-through rates, especially when using action-driven language like 'Book a Free Assessment,' 'Get Started Today,' or 'Claim Your Consultation.' Make sure your meta descriptions match the intent of the content on the respective page.

Using Header Tags for Readability and SEO

Search engines rely on header tags (H1, H2, H3) to understand the structure of your page, and realistically, so do readers like you and I. Your H1 should clearly state the main topic, while H2s and H3s break down supporting points in a logical flow.

Making Content Easy to Skim

People don’t read online the way they do books—they skim. In fact, studies show that most people read at about a 4th-grade level online. Short paragraphs, clear subheadings, and well-placed bullet points make information easier to digest.

Why Alt Text Matters

Alt text (alternative text) describes images for visually impaired users, but it’s also a key SEO tool. Search engines can’t “see” images the way we do, so adding descriptive alt text helps them understand and rank your content. Instead of adding generic alt text descriptions, like “image of graph”, use something specific: “Bar chart showing retirement savings growth over 10 years.”

SEO Tools and Technical Aspects

Whenever I build a financial advisor's website, I quickly implement these three tools right away. Google Analytics, Tag Manager and Search Console all provide a bunch of really valuable information, like how users are finding the website, what they do on the website, and whether they convert or not.

Google Analytics helps you understand how visitors interact with your site. You can see where your traffic is coming from, which pages keep users engaged, and where people are dropping off.

Google Tag Manager lets you track specific user actions, like link clicks, form submissions, and scroll depths. The benefit of a tag manager is it means you add the code to your website once and it keeps everything nice and organized!

Google Search Console gives you direct insights into how Google views your site as well as highlights indexing issues, shows which search queries bring in traffic, and allows you to submit sitemaps for better search visibility.

Beyond these tools, site speed and mobile optimization play a major role in rankings. A slow, clunky website turns users away and signals to Google that your site isn’t offering a great user experience. Free resources like PageSpeed Insights can help you test performance and identify ways to improve load times too.

Backlink Strategies

Building backlinks is one of the most effective ways to boost your site’s SEO, and the focus should be on quality, not just quantity. The goal is to get reputable websites to link to your content, signalling to search engines that your content is valuable and trustworthy.

What this means for financial advisors is leveraging articles, podcasts, and guest blogs. Wealthtender seems to be a great resource when it comes to being quoted and receiving backlinks! It's important to build backlinks on sites that are credible and authoritative, sort of like we talked about earlier!

I think it goes without saying that it's incredibly important, then, to avoid spammy links—those from low-quality sites or irrelevant sources. Use tools like SEMRush, Moz or Ahrefs to assess domain authority before pursuing a backlink.

Local SEO for Advisors

For financial advisors looking to attract clients in specific regions, Local SEO is a really great opportunity to leverage the local advantage you have over other advisory firms.

One of the most important tools for improving your local SEO is your Google Business Profile. This free tool lets you manage how your business appears in Google search results and on Google Maps, helping local clients find you more easily.

To optimize your Google Business Profile, start by ensuring that all your contact information—address, phone number, website—is both accurate and properly up-to-date. It’s also important to add location-based keywords to your profile description, such as “financial advisor in [City Name]” or “retirement planning in [Region].” Throw a few pictures on your Google Business Profile too and consider adding other content every now and then.

Reviews play a major role in boosting local rankings—I can't stress this enough! Try to have happy clients to leave positive reviews, as Google uses these as a key ranking factor in E-E-A-T. The more reviews you have, the better your chances of standing out in local search results.

Content Updates and Evergreen Strategies

One of the simplest yet effective ways to maintain your SEO ranking is by keeping older blog posts updated. SEO is not a one-and-done effort—it requires a lot of attention (unfortunately for you and me) to stay relevant. Updating existing content with fresh data, new keywords, and internal links ensures that your posts remain accurate and valuable to both users and search engines.

Older content, even if it was once popular, can lose its edge if it’s not kept up-to-date. If you have blog posts that are ranking well but haven’t been updated in a while, go back and give them a quick refresh. Add recent statistics, update links to reflect your latest blogs, and adjust keywords to make sure they align with what people are currently searching for.

Voice Search and AI Search Optimization

As voice search becomes more prevalent, optimizing your content for voice queries is essential for staying ahead of the curve. Voice searches often use conversational language, so it’s important to integrate long-tail keywords that reflect how people actually speak. For example, instead of just focusing on “401(k) rollover,” think about how someone might ask their voice assistant: “How do I roll over a 401(k)?”

Additionally, with the rise of AI-powered search tools, such as Google's BERT and AI-driven search engines, there’s a shift towards content that answers specific questions. People are more likely to search with highly detailed queries, and AI tools are designed to better understand and rank content that directly addresses these questions. So, it’s critical to produce content that answers questions clearly and concisely. Checkout more on AI Search in this article here!

If you need help building a website that attracts the right kinds of prospects, increases your engagement, and boosts conversions, we might be the agency for you! We'd love to see if you're a fit to work with us—book a Free 30-min Assessment today!