Websites are more than just a collection of pages you choose to write about—they’re built on a framework, a website architecture, that defines how your pages, content, and navigation are structured.
Why does this matter?
As a financial advisor or RIA business owner, certain pages—like your Home, About, and Free Assessment pages—are essential to guiding prospects through their journey on your site. A clear structure makes sure those pages work together to move prospects closer to converting into clients.
Your website’s architecture plays a critical role in two key areas.
First, it enhances user experience by making it easy for prospects to find exactly what they’re looking for. Simplified navigation is always preferred over complex navigation.
Second, it boosts search engine optimization (SEO) by helping search engines effectively crawl and index your website more effectively, which means better chances of showing up in search results.
I’ll walk you through the key pages most financial advisors include on their websites, how to make the most of certain pages, and how to decide which ones are worth including. Plus, I’ll share some best practices to help you build a solid website structure that resonates with your niche.
Key Pages Every Financial Advisor Website Needs
There's a method to all of this website madness, I promise! Simply throwing pages together won't make a good website, you have to create a strategic structure that helps guide your visitors through their journey, turning them from prospects into clients. Here are the essential pages every financial advisor website should have:
Home Page:
I think this one’s pretty obvious—it’s the most important page on your website. As a financial advisor, your home page needs to clearly explain what you do (like financial planning, investment management, tax planning, etc.) and who you do it for (your niche).
Since your home page is the first thing prospects see, if you’re going to get any page right, make sure it’s this one! Add custom branding and think about your niche’s pain points, interests, and desires—and how you can cater to those.
Your home page should also have lots of internal links to other pages on your site. Feature sections that encourage users to explore more, like calls-to-action (e.g., "book a free assessment") and an "About Us" section to build trust.
About Page:
Your About Us page is key for prospects who want to learn more about your team, what your firm stands for, and why they should work with you. It’s your chance to get personal, be relatable, and build trust and credibility.
Use this space to share your story, explain your values, and highlight your experience. People want to feel like they’re working with someone they can trust, so make sure this page feels personal, genuine, and authentic.
Free Assessment Page:
I would argue this is one of the most important pages for converting prospects into clients—and I think I'll win this argument 9 times out of 10.
Why? Because this page gets some of the highest traffic on a financial advisory firm’s website. There are a few reasons for that. First, everyone loves free, low-commitment offers. Second, even if users haven’t explored your whole site, they can browse your FAQs, ask questions through your free assessment offer, and ultimately book a call with you.
So? Put some thought into your free assessment, potentially leveraging testimonials, any other free offerings you might have, outline the steps in your process, and more!
Services/Pricing Page:
I'm not exactly sure why I've come across so many advisors that are hesitant to add a services/pricing page to their website, but the majority of websites we've made at Aryze Design have large amounts of traffic navigating this page. This is the case because it presents your offering in a totally clear and transparent way: qualities that clients are looking for in their financial advisor.
See, transparency really matters. Outline the services you provide and give clients a solid idea of what they can expect out of an engagement with you. At the very least, include your starting pricing, whether that’s AUM or a fee-only offering. Just like you don't want your time wasted, prospects don't want to commit to even a free assessment unless they have an idea of what you bring to the table.
Blog:
I honestly don't think I can recommend having a blog enough. It’s such a key page for regularly delivering fresh content to both prospects and clients, helping you position yourself as an authority in financial planning for your niche.
If your website is set up to host a blog—like ours, with all the right SEO features like semantic tagging, meta hierarchy, E-E-A-T author sections, table of contents, and more—then creating blogs is as simple as following a recipe.
In fact, I’ve already written a few blogs to help financial advisors follow that recipe. Check out these links to get a better idea of how a blog can drive traffic, boost engagement, and help you convert more prospects:
Contact Page:
Despite what you might think, the Contact Us page is still a great spot for prospects to reach out to you—and it's also the perfect place to feature an FAQ section. This page gives prospects easy access to the ways they can get in touch with you, whether through email, phone, or social media. It’s also a great idea to include your physical address (if applicable), so clients know where you’re located.
Creating a Seamless User Experience
Your website’s navigation is a crucial aspect of prospects interacting with your content. The structure of your navigation bar plays a pivotal role in guiding users through your site. Here's the big rule:
Simplicity > Complexity
You should only put the key links in your navigation bar, and leave less relevant links in your footer. Keeping things simple to follows guides the user through a more intuitive and easy path to follow.
Clear Calls to Action (CTAs):
Your financial advisor website should encourage action—big, clear action. The primary CTA on your site should be something like 'Book a Free Assessment,' and it should be front and center on every page. This is your website's main goal: getting prospects to take that next step. As a secondary CTA, offer a free lead magnet in exchange for their contact info. This allows you to kick off your email or SMS marketing, nurturing the relationship and bringing them closer to conversion.
Loading Speed:
Believe it or not, a slow website can be a major roadblock for conversion. According to research, nearly half of users will abandon a website if it doesn’t load within 3 seconds—and Google seconds this, with Google Lighthouse delivering lower performance scores the longer your website takes to load. Likewise, then, the faster your site loads, the better. Optimize your images, minimize your code, and consider using a content delivery network (CDN) to improve load times.
How Website Architecture Impacts SEO
Website architecture plays a key role in SEO by making it easier for search engines to crawl and index your pages. Optimizing your URLs is essential—keep them simple, clean, and descriptive so both users and search engines understand what the page is about. For example, instead of using a URL like www.yoursite.com/page-id=123, opt for something like www.yoursite.com/retirement-planning. To take it a step further, if your pages fit within specific categories, you can customize your URL path by adding a "folder" structure to the URL, like www.yoursite.com/services/retirement-planning.
Internal linking also plays a major part in both navigation and SEO. By linking relevant pages throughout your site, you make it easier for users to find related content and help search engines crawl your site more efficiently. For example, you could link your Home page to your About page to indicate to search engines that there's a tie to these pages and that you Home page isn't just a dead-end.
Finally, organizing your content with proper header tags (H1, H2, H3) helps search engines understand the structure and importance of each section on your page. For example, your H1 should be the main title, like "Financial Planning Services," followed by H2s for subheadings such as “Retirement Planning” or “Estate Planning.”
An effective financial advisor website has a strong website architecture, signalled both to search engine and users. Optimize the pages on your website, create a seamless experience, and ensure you're following SEO best practices to help convert your prospects from casual viewers into ready-to-act clients.
We would love to be a part in your journey as we help financial advisor and RIA firm owners build a practice that they can feel confident in and scale through marketing and design. Book a Free Assessment today to see what we're all about!
