How to Build a Financial Advisor Website

Having a well-designed website not only enhances visibility and helps convert visitors into clients, making a strong online presence essential for financial advisors. While most advisors maintain a website, fewer view it as a highly effective marketing tool compared to other channels, according to a 2024 Broadridge marketing report.¹ Your website can be a powerful tool for establishing credibility and making a strong first impression. These key strategies will help you create a site that captures attention, builds trust and keeps prospects engaged.

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How to Build an Advisor Website, Step by Step

Advanced technical skills are not a requirement to build an advisor website. You may want to spend some time thinking about who your site is designed to target and the message you want to convey before you begin. Otherwise, you can use this checklist to get your site up and running.

1. Purchase a Domain Name and Hosting Plan

Your domain name is your digital address; it’s where prospective and current clients can find you online. Hosting allows your site to occupy space on the internet. You may purchase your domain name from your host, or buy it from a third-party domain site. You’ll need both for your site to function.

The simplest domain name is your firm’s name. However, it may be necessary to choose an alternate version if another site exists with the domain you want to use. A simple search for [yourfirmname].com can show whether the name has already been claimed.

There are numerous web hosting services you might choose from, including Hostinger and SiteGround. When comparing them, consider pricing packages and tiers, average uptime/downtime and customer support. If you’re new to building a website, you may need a helping hand to get it up and running.

2. Choose a Content Management System and Theme

In addition to a domain name and hosting services, you’ll need a framework to build your site on. That’s where your content management system comes in. A CMS is what enables you to create pages and add content to your site. WordPress is one of the most widely used CMS platforms, but you may also consider Wix or Squarespace if you’re looking for alternatives.

Once you’ve chosen and installed a CMS, you can select a theme and begin customizing. You may purchase a website theme or find a suitable one for free. Many themes are fully customizable so you can update the colors, fonts and iconography to reflect your brand image. If you need some inspiration for how to build out the aesthetic aspect, browsing advisor website templates may help.

3. Include a Strong Bio Page

When a new visitor arrives at your website, they should be able to easily discern who you are and what you do. Financial advisor websites that succeed at this goal make this information easy to find and digest with a compelling bio.

“Your bio or about us page is the heart of your website,” says Paul Sundin, a CPA and tax strategist at Estate CPA.

Prospects visit this page because they want to know more about you, which may be a precursor to using your services.

“They’ll be trusting you with something very important about themselves,” Sundin says. “So if you want to win a client, win their trust through your about us page.”

So what should a good financial advisor bio page include?

At a minimum, you’ll want to share:

• Your name and professional credentials
• A few relevant career highlights
• Who you help and what you do for your clients
• An up-to-date headshot

It can also be helpful to include some interesting personal details. The more personality you can inject into your bio, the more relatable it may be to prospects. If you can build that initial connection with your bio, prospective clients may be more motivated to take the next step and reach out.

4. Focus on Essentials

Your bio is just one page of your website, and there are other important sections you’ll need to flesh out. When deciding what information to include on your business website, a “less-is-more” rule may prove helpful.

“One mistake I see advisors make is trying to put too much on their website,” says Corey Noyes, owner and financial advisor at Balanced Capital.

If there’s too much to take in at once, your website could be overwhelming for visitors.

When considering what to include on your financial advisor website, stick with what’s going to be most relevant and useful to visitors. That includes:

• A well-written bio or about us page
• A section detailing what you do and/or what type of clients you specialize in helping
• Contact forms or links
• A blog, if content creation is part of your marketing strategy
• Required legal forms and disclosures

Noyes also recommends including a page that includes your pricing and fee schedule.

“A lot of planners are very nervous to do this,” he says. “But I can tell you from experience you’ll win clients simply because you displayed your pricing and your competitors didn’t.”

Including pricing information can send the signal that you encourage transparency. And that can be another step in fostering trust among prospective clients who are considering using your services.

5. Pay Attention to User Experience

When designing a website for your advisory business, it’s essential to view it from a prospective client’s perspective. This approach helps you assess the user experience and determine whether your site effectively meets visitors’ needs.

Consider this scenario: You’re an individual seeking guidance on managing your 401(k). After a quick Google search, you find two financial advisor websites. The first has a cluttered homepage and confusing navigation, making it difficult to find relevant information. After 20 minutes of frustration, you leave and visit the second site. This one has a clean, intuitive design, allowing you to find the answers you need within seconds.

Given these two experiences, which advisor would you be more inclined to trust? A well-structured, user-friendly website can make all the difference in converting visitors into clients. If a website feels cluttered or is simply confusing, that creates a negative user experience that may leave a prospect reluctant to return.

When choosing a website design, consider what your audience is most likely to prefer. If you primarily serve older clients, for instance, they may prefer a layout that’s simple and easy to navigate. A younger client base, on the other hand, may be more likely to gravitate toward a financial advisor website that includes stylistic, interactive elements.

Mobile accessibility also matters for expanding your reach and connecting with your target audience.

“Almost everyone has a mobile phone and they use it to browse,” Sundin says. “Your website has a greater chance of being viewed on a mobile device so make sure that it’s responsive.”

That means ensuring your site loads quickly and completely on mobile devices and that there are no pop-ups or banners blocking your content. A site that’s slow to load or hard to read on a mobile device may cause visitors to click away before they have a chance to learn what you’re all about.

6. Apply SEO Tactics

Search engine optimization is essential for increasing your website’s visibility and attracting organic traffic from Google and other search engines. SEO refers to strategies designed to boost your site’s rankings in search results; it has a 47% success rate for advisors who use it, according to a 2024 Kitces report. ²

Why should you care about SEO? The higher your site appears in the search results for a particular term or phrase, the more likely it is to be visited by users. You also have a better chance of rising to the top of local search results, which is vital for attracting prospects in your geographic area.

When designing your website, look to implement these SEO principles and best practices:

• Keyword research: Identify relevant keywords and phrases your potential clients may be searching for and naturally integrate them into your content.
• On-page SEO: Enhance each page by strategically placing relevant keywords in titles, headers, meta descriptions and image alt texts.
• Build domain authority: Obtaining backlinks from well-respected websites can boost your site’s credibility and ranking.
• Local SEO: Improve your local search visibility by incorporating location-specific keywords and setting up a Google Business Profile.

7. Make Your Site Shareable

A well-designed website should encourage sharing, which can help to bring in traffic from new visitors. For example, if you’re publishing blog posts featuring insightful financial planning tips or commentary on market trends, enabling social media sharing buttons can help that content reach a wider audience.

Of course, your content must also be valuable and unique enough to warrant sharing. This applies to any content you create, whether it’s a blog post, email newsletter or social media post. Keeping your ideal client firmly in sight can help you identify those topics that are most likely to make an impact. And if you’re using AI tools to generate content for your site, review it thoroughly to check for accuracy and your brand voice.

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Should You DIY or Hire a Professional to Build Your Website?

If you’re creating a financial advisor website for the first time or improving upon an existing one, it’s important to consider whether you want to do it yourself or outsource it. Doing it yourself can save money, though it may require an investment of your time. And there can be another benefit as well, says Noyes, who built his own advisor website from scratch.

“I chose to do it on my own rather than hire out the project because I wanted to learn how to use the software so that I can easily update and make changes to my site,” he says.

But if you lack the technical know-how or simply don’t have time to create a brand-new website, you may prefer to let a professional step in. Webster says if you’re considering working with a marketing firm that builds websites, to vet them fully beforehand. Specifically, consider how they align with your needs, goals and the message you’re trying to convey to prospective clients.

Another option is to reach out to the owners of financial advisor websites that mirror what you’re looking for and ask if they’d be open to referring their developer or designer. They may or may not be willing to part with this information, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

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Turnkey Financial Advisor Websites

If hiring a firm to build your website isn’t an option and you lack the technical skills to create one from scratch, you may consider a turnkey solution. A handful of companies offer website builder tools that include everything you need to create a functional, eye-catching site.

• FMG Suite: FMG Suite offers modern, professional websites for advisors that are designed for lead generation. Sites include built-in SEO tools and automatic compliance monitoring. You can also get help from FMG Suite’s team of copywriters if you need help expressing what you want your website to say.
• Oechsli: Oechsli features a range of unique designs to help you create a memorable advisor website that stands out from the competition. Oechsli learns your target market and uses that to build your theme and website copy.
• CPA Site Solutions: CPA Site Solutions offers custom websites for advisors that are mobile-friendly and designed around SEO. Sites also include a secure client portal to allow your clients to monitor their accounts 24/7.
• Broadridge: Broadridge offers smart designs to help you build a smarter website that grabs prospects’ attention and keeps it. There are more than 50 million unique layout combinations to choose from, reducing the odds of creating a cookie-cutter site.

As you compare website builders, consider the cost to purchase the site and the effort required to set it up. Some sites may handle everything for you, while others may expect you to handle some setup tasks on the back end before your site goes live. Also, consider what type of support is available on an ongoing basis in case you have questions or an issue arises that affects your site’s function.

Bottom Line

An optimized financial advisor website, both for search engines and user experience, can be a powerful tool for growing your business. If you don’t have a website or aren’t leveraging it to generate leads, you could be missing out on a key opportunity to attract and engage potential clients. The right tools and strategies can help you build a website that enhances your online presence and drives business growth.

Tips for Sourcing Clients

• Automate lead generation. SmartAsset AMP (Advisor Marketing Platform) is a holistic marketing service financial advisors can use for client lead generation and automated marketing. Sign up for a free demo to explore how SmartAsset AMP can help you expand your practice’s marketing operation. Get started today.
• Ask for referrals. Sometimes landing a new client can be as simple as asking your existing clients for a referral. This is something you can do through your content marketing via social media posts or email marketing.
• Expand your search. More investors are searching for financial advisors online these days. Rather than limiting your search for leads to your local geographic area, consider how you can widen your search to connect with clients who may be turning to digital channels to find financial professionals. These efforts can be a companion to offline tactics, like direct mail campaigns.

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