You’ve built what you think is an impressive website for your advisory firm, but there’s just one problem: It’s not getting as much traffic as you’d like. That could be a sign you need to tweak your SEO plan. Short for search engine optimization, SEO influences how well your financial advisor website ranks in search results. Incorporating the right financial advisor SEO keywords can help boost rankings and send more visitors your way.
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Understanding SEO for Financial Advisors
When users search for specific keywords, search engines use ranking factors or signals to determine where to place websites in the search results. Ranking on page 1 over page 100 can make a huge difference in the level of traffic your website receives.
Without getting too technical, financial advisor SEO involves both on-page and off-page tactics. On-page SEO is all about optimizing the different pages of your website to make them more “readable” to search engines and help them land higher in search rankings.
Keywords are a principal component of on-page SEO, and they can make it easier for prospective clients to find your site when searching online. There are several types of keywords financial advisors can use to draw traffic to their sites, including:
- Short-tail keywords: These are brief phrases, maybe just one or two words, which can draw lots of traffic if you’re able to rank for them.
- Long-tail keywords: Long-tail keywords are longer phrases that are highly targeted to a specific search query.
- Branded keywords: Branded keywords include your brand name or a unique product or service that you offer.
- Transactional keywords: Transactional keywords are words or phrases people use when they’re in the sales funnel and want to complete a purchase.
- Competitor keywords: These are the keywords your main competitors use to draw traffic to their websites.
- Locational keywords: These keywords are used to target searches in a specific geographic area. For example, “financial advisor near me” is an example of a localized search term.
Understanding the distinct types of SEO keywords is important because they each serve a different purpose. Your approach to SEO can determine how and where you put different keywords to use.
Financial Advisor SEO Keywords Examples

There are numerous SEO tools that you can use to generate lists of keywords to drive traffic to your firm’s website. Many of these tools offer insight into things like:
- Search volume or how many people are searching for a particular keyword
- Competitiveness and how easy or difficult it might be to rank for a chosen keyword or keyword phrase
- Which websites are ranking highest for a particular keyword
- Which keywords your competitors are ranking for
These tools can be invaluable for finding the right keywords to incorporate into your SEO strategy. With that in mind, here’s a list of financial advisor SEO keywords that you can use as a starting point.
- Financial advisor
- Financial advisor near me
- Local financial advisors
- Best financial advisor near me
- Financial planner
- Financial planner near me
- Top financial planners near me
- Certified financial planner
- Certified financial planner near me
- How to find a CFP
- Financial consultant
- Financial consultant near me
- Best financial consultants near me
- Financial advisor estate planning
- Financial advisor retirement planning
- Financial advisor college planning
- Financial planning firms
- Financial planning firms near me
- Wealth advisor
- Wealth advisor near me
- Best wealth advisors
- Wealth manager
- Wealth manager near me
- What is a fiduciary financial advisor
- How to find a fiduciary advisor
- Find a financial advisor
- How to find a financial advisor
- Financial advisors [your zip code or city]
- Personal financial advisor
- Personal financial advisor near me
- Financial advisor cost
- How much does a financial advisor cost
- How to choose a financial advisor
- Do I need a financial advisor
- When to hire a financial advisor
- How to hire a financial advisor
- Financial advisor free consultation
- Independent financial advisor
- Independent financial advisor near me
- Registered investment advisor
- Investment advisor
- Investment advisor near me
- Questions to ask a financial advisor
As a general rule, the shorter the keyword, the higher the search volume will be. More searches can also mean more competition, however, if other firms are trying to rank for the same keywords.
Longer keywords can have less competition, but lower search volume. That could be a good thing, however, if you’re trying to target a specific niche with your advisory services.
How to Use SEO Keywords to Boost Your Visibility
SEO is more than just knowing which keywords to target; it’s also important to know where to put them. SEO strategies are constantly evolving as search engine algorithms change. But it’s typically recommended that you include keywords in the following places on your site:
- Title tags: Your title tag is a short descriptor that tells search engines what the page is about.
- Meta description: The meta description is one to two sentences that summarize the content on the page, similar to a teaser.
- URL: The URL is the page’s address, and adding keywords here tells search engines what the page is about.
- Image alt descriptions: The alt description or tag is meant to tell someone who is using a screen reader what the image conveys.
- Headings and subheadings: Headings and subheadings are used to break up content on web pages and in blog post content.
- Content: Weaving keywords into your content – whether it’s sales copy for a product or service, a description of a lead magnet you offer or a blog post – can help search engines better recognize what the page and your site as a whole is about.
Navigating SEO has become increasingly difficult as search engines incorporate AI tools to generate results. For that reason, it’s important to pair on-page strategies with off-page SEO.
Some of the most effective ways to drive traffic back to your website include social media marketing, email marketing and content creation on other platforms. You might start a YouTube channel, for instance, and include links to your site in the description. You can also use collaborative partnerships to get more eyes on your business.
Being a guest on a financial influencer’s podcast, for example, is an opportunity to promote your site. You could also work with an advisor marketing platform to secure more leads as you grow website traffic.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Does SEO Work for Financial Advisors?
SEO can be hugely impactful for financial advisors, particularly when it comes to local search. If a prospective client searches for a term like “financial advisor near me,” you want to make sure your site is at the top of the rankings. Implementing SEO strategies across your website and pairing them with off-page methods, like using social media to drive traffic, can help improve results.
Should Advisors Pay for SEO Services?
Whether it makes sense to pay for professional SEO services can depend on your budget, what you need help with and the results you’re hoping to achieve. SEO services can easily run into the thousands of dollars, so it’s important to be reasonably certain you’ll get a decent return on your investment.
How Is AI Changing SEO?
Artificial intelligence is impacting what shows up in search results, with AI-generated results showing up ahead of individual websites in the rankings on Google. With less room to rank at the top and search algorithms constantly changing, succeeding with SEO has become more challenging for businesses.
Bottom Line

If you’re new to SEO, it pays to spend some time learning how it works and what affects your ranking in search. The list of SEO keywords provided here can be a good jumping-off point for creating a strategy to get your firm’s site to rank.
Tips for Growing Your Advisory Business
- Marketing is something you can’t neglect if you want to gain more clients for your business. Digital marketing is taking over as more investors use search engines to find financial advisors to work with. If you’re looking for a simpler way to market your firm, you might consider partnering with a platform like SmartAsset AMP. You’ll get the benefit of a holistic marketing approach and the tools you need to follow up with leads. Schedule a demo to learn how it works.
- If you’re considering one or more SEO tools to help improve your site’s rankings, take time to compare them carefully. Some tools are much more expensive than others but offer a broader range of features to help you better understand what’s impacting your visibility in search. You might consider a free trial if one is available to test out the tool and see how easy it is to navigate.
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