There is a growing gap between how advisors believe organic growth happens—and how modern clients actually find them.
The average firm still relies on referral networks to drive client acquisition, yet 50% of all clients now use online search engines to search for advisors. These firms spend big on in-person events and COI nurture—while overlooking the most cost-efficient and scalable growth engine ever created.
This article will help you avoid that fate and turn SEO into your most reliable source of new clients.
Expect to learn:
- How appearing in search results translates into measurable organic growth
- Why local SEO is the most valuable and highest ROI approach for advisors
- What you can do to immediately improve local rankings and drive more leads
The True Value of Search Visibility for Advisors
Google could be described as a very powerful referral engine. While clients might ask friends, family, or professionals like mortgage brokers to connect them with an advisor, they are far more likely to take out their phone and search Google.
Several factors drive this shift away from traditional referrals to online research:
- Limited Connections: Many people who would benefit from financial advice don’t have a personal connection to an advisor. Even those that do have a personal connection often prefer to find their own firm; 57% of HNWI’s children don’t have a relationship with their parents’ advisor.
- Poor Experience: Clients often use Google to research a new advisor after a disappointing experience with their previous firm. While traditional referrals come with a personal vouchsafe, the internet allows clients to more carefully vet the advisory firm—and assess reviews and testimonials.
- Expanded Options: The internet has enabled clients to explore more advisors with less effort. Simply accepting the first advisor you’re connected with feels to some like negligence; 96% of clients do further research online after receiving a referral.
The net result?
Ranking in your ideal clients’ Google searches can drive a high volume of organic website traffic and qualified leads; build your brand reputation and domain authority; and even support the nurture process for leads generated through other channels.
But there’s a catch: you have to appear in the right searches.
The Danger of Vanity Rankings: Why Advisors Should Skip General Keywords
Every search engine optimization (SEO) strategy starts with a simple question: which keywords do we want to rank for?
While high-quality content and strong technical foundations can generally improve your rankings, it’s really only through careful targeting that firms manage to land themselves on Google’s first page.
The problem is that many firms opt for “broad” keywords—terms like “best financial advisors” or “top wealth management firms”. These terms have much higher monthly search volume and appear to be the most prestigious; it seems sensible to focus your limited budget on them.
But for 90% of firms, chasing these broad terms is completely pointless:
- Terms like “financial advisor” are insanely competitive, and big firms almost inevitably dominate. They have bigger SEO budgets and stronger domain authority (DA), forcing most medium-or small firms out of contention.
- Broad search terms generate high volumes of unusable leads. Given the generality of a term like “financial planning”, ranking might actually mean your website is inundated with messages from clients on the other side of the country, meaning your sales team wastes time and energy just sorting through requests.
- These terms also convey relatively weak search intent. Terms like “Financial planning” are more likely to be used during the research phase, when clients are learning about their requirements—not actually selecting an advisor.
Instead, the vast majority of advisory firms should narrow their focus—and invest heavily in what is known as “local” SEO.
Understanding Local SEO: How Advisory Clients Really Search
Let’s zoom out and consider what the average advisory client likely wants:
- Personal Connection: Most clients want an advisor they can actually meet. Nearly 50% of clients plan to hire a local advisor, while almost two-thirds expect some form of in-person meeting.
- Shared Culture: Most also want an advisor they believe “gets” their personal experiences. Factors like local culture are important in shaping relationships and building trust.
- Simple decisions: While clients want choice and autonomy, online search can feel overwhelming—and wading through 50 websites to find a suitable advisor is nobody’s idea of a fun afternoon.
The conclusion is clear: most clients want to work with a local advisor. Searching for “Financial planners near me” is an easy way to quickly find advisors they can meet in person and share a cultural affinity with.
Local SEO is designed to help you appear in those searches. Rather than throwing money at broad terms, it allows you to drive visibility with prospective clients within your specific geographical location—and generally get tangible results much faster.
Local SEO for Financial Advisors: 5 Steps to Start Ranking
Our search marketing experts argue that five steps are essential for better local SEO:
1. Optimize Your Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most important factor in local search rankings. When someone searches "financial advisor near me" or "wealth management in [city]", Google pulls results directly from these profiles. Yet most advisors treat their GBP like an afterthought—leaving fields incomplete, uploading low-quality photos, or failing to update their business hours.
Action steps:
- Claim and verify your Google Business Profile if you haven't already, then ensure every field is completely filled out: business category, service areas, hours of operation, and a detailed description that naturally incorporates your location.
- Add high-quality photos of your office, team, and client meeting spaces—Google prioritizes profiles that feel complete and credible, and prospective clients do too.
- Regularly post updates to your GBP, whether that's blog articles, market commentary, or announcements about workshops—these signals tell Google your business is active and relevant, which directly impacts your rankings.
2. Target Location-Based Search Intent
Clients aren't just searching for "financial advisor"—they're searching for "financial advisor in Austin" or "retirement planning Chicago." Your website content needs to reflect that reality by creating dedicated pages for each geographic area you serve, not just a single "Contact Us" page with your address buried at the bottom.
Action steps:
- Create separate location pages for each city or neighborhood you serve, including the location name in the title, headers, and naturally throughout the content—but avoid keyword stuffing by writing for humans first and search engines second.
- Describe why clients in that specific area choose to work with you, reference local landmarks or communities, and explain how you serve that market with relevant details that demonstrate genuine local presence.
- If you work with specific geographic communities—like tech employees in Silicon Valley or retirees in Scottsdale—create content that speaks directly to those audiences and their local context.
3. Leverage Consistent NAP Citations
NAP stands for Name, Address, Phone Number—and consistency across the web is critical for local SEO. Google validates your business information by cross-referencing it across dozens of directories, review sites, and business listings. If your firm is listed as "Smith Wealth Management" on one site and "Smith Wealth Mgmt" on another, Google treats these as potential red flags that can actively hurt your rankings.
Action steps:
- Audit your existing citations by searching for your firm name and checking sites like Yelp, Yellow Pages, Better Business Bureau, and industry-specific directories like NAPFA or CFP Board—ensure your NAP is identical everywhere, down to punctuation and formatting.
- Get listed on reputable local directories, chamber of commerce websites, and community business associations—each citation acts as a vote of confidence in your legitimacy and signals to Google that you're an established, trustworthy business in your area.
- Set a quarterly reminder to review your citations and correct any inconsistencies that may have emerged, as maintaining accuracy over time is just as important as getting it right initially.
4. Get Local Backlinks
Backlinks—links from other websites to yours—remain one of Google's most important ranking factors. But for local SEO, links from locally relevant sources carry far more weight than generic directory listings. A link from your local chamber of commerce, a community nonprofit you sponsor, or a regional business journal is worth exponentially more than a random blog across the country.
Action steps:
- Build relationships with local organizations by sponsoring community events, partnering with complementary professionals like CPAs or estate planning attorneys who might link to your website, and hosting educational workshops at local libraries or community centers that promote the event online with a link back to you.
- Write guest articles for regional publications, local business journals, or community blogs that allow you to demonstrate expertise while earning a valuable backlink from a geographically relevant source.
- Focus on quality over quantity—a handful of links from well-respected local sources will deliver better results than dozens of low-quality directory listings, and these activities simultaneously position you as a trusted resource in your community, both online and offline.
5. Solicit Google Reviews and Client Testimonials
Reviews are currency in local search. Google explicitly uses review quantity, quality, and recency as ranking factors—and prospective clients rely heavily on reviews when evaluating advisors. Yet many firms underutilize reviews, often believing they are a compliance hazard, which is generally not the case.
Action steps:
- Develop a compliance-approved process for soliciting, listing, and updating client reviews. Review state-level regulations, as restrictions vary and may be more or less difficult to navigate.
- Aim for a steady stream of reviews over time rather than a sudden burst, as Google rewards consistency—not every client will respond, but even a handful of thoughtful, detailed reviews can materially impact your rankings and conversion rates.
- Feature client testimonials prominently on your website with specific details about outcomes, ensuring they feel authentic rather than generic or overly polished—while these don't directly impact rankings, they do improve conversion rates once prospects land on your site.