The FA Amplifier Vol 7: Future-Proof Your SEO Strategy as a Financial Advisor in 2025

Welcome to the December edition of The Financial Advisor Amplifier: a newsletter curated by Advisors Growing As a Community?, where valuable insights from within our community are clipped and shared with all financial advisors.

Our aim is to provide you with actionable strategies and resources to help you thrive in your advisory practice and serve your clients with excellence.

Ready to grow personally and professionally alongside your peers in a safe, collaborative community? Let's chat! Send me a note or schedule a 1:1 call and learn why 160+ financial advisors choose The AGC? to elevate their game.

- Haley Marx, AGC? Community Manager ([email protected])

What's Inside:

• Why SEO Matters for Financial Advisors
• Defining Your Target Market
• Keyword Research: The Cornerstone of SEO
• How AI is Changing Search Journeys
• On-Site Optimization
• Ongoing SEO Strategies: Keeping Your Website Visible and Valuable
• Join The AGC before enrollment closes on Jan. 6!

Why SEO Matters for Financial Advisors

Imagine the last time you needed a product or service...chances are, you started with a Google search. Your potential clients are doing the same. SEO ensures that your name, services, and expertise appear exactly where your audience is looking. And with the rise of AI in our search engines, it's imperative to make sure your SEO strategies are up-to-date and fine-tuned for 2025.

For financial advisors, a well-executed SEO strategy achieves three critical goals:

• Visibility: A higher ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs) means your website is easier for prospects to find.
• Credibility: A prominent online presence signals authority and professionalism in the financial advising space.
• Efficiency: Unlike traditional marketing efforts, SEO works for you 24/7, consistently driving leads with minimal ongoing effort.

Defining Your Target Market

Before you do anything, you need to make sure you have a clear definition of your target market and ideal client. Who are you trying to reach, and what problems are they searching to solve?

• Local focus: Are you targeting clients within your geographic area?
• Nation-wide niche specialization: Do you serve a specific group, such as physicians or small business owners, regardless of location?
• Broad appeal: Are you aiming to attract a wide audience across the nation?

Clearly defining your target market is the key to a successful SEO strategy. Once you know who you’re targeting, you can begin researching keywords and crafting content that resonates with their unique needs.

Keyword Research: The Cornerstone of SEO

Keyword research is how you align your online presence with what your audience is actively searching for. Tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Ubersuggest are essential for uncovering high-value keywords.

The AGC brought in SEO expert and Co-Founder of Zephyr, Michael Reynolds, CFP? , who shared tons of SEO best practices to help our AGC advisors thrive in their efforts. He highlighted the importance of tailoring keywords to your target market, and shared real examples of effective keywords for different audiences:

• Local focus: Keyword example: “Orlando financial advisors”
• Nation-wide niche specialization: Keyword example: “Retirement planning for business owners”

• Broad appeal: Keyword example: “How do I set up a solo 401k?”

Michael Reynolds, CFP? also advised balancing keyword selection. While some terms may have high search volume, they might also face stiff competition from large firms with substantial SEO budgets. Instead, prioritize terms that resonate with your audience’s specific needs while offering a realistic chance to rank.

Now, where does AI come in to this?

How AI is Changing Search Journeys

The rise of AI is transforming how people search for and find information online. AI tools like Google’s generative search now prioritize context, relevance, and user intent over simple keyword matching. Google Search now provides curated answers drawn from credible sources rather than just a list of website links.

For financial advisors, staying visible and relevant means adapting to this evolving landscape. So, how you can adjust your strategy to stay ahead?

?? Optimize for Conversational Queries: AI-driven search relies on understanding natural language, so put yourself in your ideal client's shoes to write content.

What You Can Do:

• Write content that answers common client questions in a natural, conversational tone.
• Use tools like AnswerThePublic or SEMrush to find conversational search terms related to financial advising.

2?? Bring the Value: AI rewards content that provides real value. This means that simply stuffing your content with keywords won’t be enough. To succeed, you need to create content that delivers meaningful answers and real solutions to user queries. so focus on creating content that provides real solutions to user queries. Include content optimized for long-tail keywords and FAQs.

What You Can Do:

• Craft detailed, actionable blog posts, guides, and resources tailored to your audience’s needs, to improve your chances of ranking well in AI-driven search results.
• Optimize your content for long-tail keywords and FAQs.

AGC Chief Evangelist Diana Cabrices, and Lauren Hong from Out and About Communications, shared in detail about how AI is reshaping search engine algorithms and strategies in a recent webinar. If you're interested in hearing more of that, check out the full webinar here!

In the next sections, we’ll take a deeper dive into specific SEO strategies that can help you stay ahead of the curve, especially in an AI-driven search environment.

On-Site Optimization

Your website serves as the foundation of your SEO strategy. This is all about making sure that every element on your website is fine-tuned to not only meet Google’s standards but also provide an exceptional experience for your visitors.

With AI driving search results, these on-site optimizations matter more than ever in improving your SEO:

?? Homepage and Header Tag

These elements should clearly communicate who you are and who you serve. Avoid generic phrases here, focus on relevant keywords that will truly resonate with your target market.

What You Can Do:

• Use relevant, descriptive keywords that reflect your target market and services. For example, instead of “Welcome to XYZ Firm,” use “Financial Planning for People in Tech"
• Follow a logical hierarchy with clear H1, H2, and H3 tags to make content easy to navigate.

?? Implement Schema Markup: Implementing schema markup helps search engines understand and display your content in a richer, more informative way in the search results (e.g. rich snippets like reviews, business information, and other specifications can show directly in the search results for your business.)

What You Can Do:

• Schema.org offers a variety of schema types you can use to mark up different types of content.
• Add structured data to your site and use tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper to ensure it is done correctly.

?? Site Speed Optimization

Time is money! Search engines prioritize user experience, and a slow website will frustrate users and negatively impact your SEO. You only have a few seconds to grab user's attention, so make sure that you've optimized your site speed to load during that time.

What You Can Do:

• Compress Images: Use tools like TinyPNG to reduce image file sizes without sacrificing quality.
• Test your site speed with tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix, and address flagged issues.
• Enable Browser Caching: Store static resources locally to reduce loading times.
• Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): Distribute your site’s content across multiple servers for faster access.
• Minimize Code: Remove unnecessary CSS, JavaScript, and HTML to streamline your site.

?? User Experience (UX) and Navigation

A well-organized, intuitive website helps search engines crawl your website and it encourages visitors to explore and engage, signaling to search engines that your site is valuable.

What You Can Do:

• Readable Design: Use consistent and cohesive typography, clean layouts, and well-spaced paragraphs for a professional look. Keep the font simple.
• Obvious Navigation: Ensure your buttons, menus, links, and labels are logically organized to make it simple for search engines to crawl your site and for users to find information quickly and engage with your site.
• Mobile Friendly: With most searches happening on mobile devices, having a mobile-friendly site is non-negotiable.
• Fix Broken Links and Duplicate Content: Broken links can frustrate users and disrupt their journey, while duplicate content can confuse search engines and impact your rankings.
• Search Bar: Add a search feature to help users find content quickly.
• Link to Other Relevant Content: Internal linking (linking to other pages on your website) improves the user experience and helps search engines better understand your site structure. Also, external links to authoritative sources should be included to establish credibility further.

While on-page optimization lays the groundwork, SEO success doesn’t end there. To maintain and grow your rankings, you need an ongoing strategy that adapts to changes in search algorithms and continually adds value to your site.

Ongoing SEO Strategies: Keeping Your Website Visible and Valuable

SEO is not a one-time deal (but that would be nice, right?) It’s an ongoing process that requires consistent effort to keep your website relevant, visible, and valuable to your target audience. As a financial advisor, your SEO strategy needs to evolve over time to stay ahead of the competition and continue attracting new clients.

Here are some ongoing strategies to help you maintain and enhance your SEO performance:

1?? Regularly Publish Consistent, Intent-Focused Content

Fresh, high-quality content is one of the most effective ways to keep your website active and attract relevant traffic. Publishing blog posts, guides, and FAQs that address your target audience's unique needs will provide valuable information and improve your authority in the financial advising space.

Tips for Content Creation:

• Focus on Relevant Topics: Write about topics that resonate with your audience’s concerns. For example, blog posts like “Tax Planning Tips for Small Business Owners” or “How to Choose the Best Retirement Plan” can help address common client questions.
• Target the Right Keywords: Use tools like SEMrush or Ahrefs can help find keywords with good traffic potential but manageable competition. This helps you target phrases your audience is searching for while avoiding overly competitive terms.
• Don't Overwhelm Yourself: Easier said than done, but if you're an advisor operating with a small team (or solo!) try to find a scalable content creation process that is manageable for you. It's better to put out well-executed, thoughtful content when you can, rather than push out loads of content that may not be well-suited for your goals or your site.

2?? Build Backlinks from High-Authority Websites

Backlinks (links to your website from other sites) remain one of the most important ranking factors in SEO. High-quality backlinks signal trust and credibility to search engines, helping to boost your rankings.

How to Build Backlinks:

• Join Relevant Directories: High-authority directories offer an excellent opportunity for financial advisors to gain backlinks.
• Leverage Media Coverage: Seek opportunities to get quoted or featured in media outlets relevant to your industry. These mentions often come with valuable backlinks, improving your site’s authority.

? Wealthtender is an SEC compliant, high-authority directory which helps you get quoted in the media, improve your testimonial marketing and SEO efforts, and ultimately converts more prospects into clients. If this is something you've been curious about, I recommend checking it out! ?

• Guest Blogging: Collaborate with other financial advisors or niche bloggers to write guest posts. This not only helps build backlinks but also broadens your reach and exposure to new audiences.

3?? Utilize Your Social Media for Increased Visibility

While social media doesn’t directly impact your SEO rankings, it plays a significant role in driving traffic to your site and increasing brand visibility—both of which support your SEO efforts. Platforms like LinkedIn are especially powerful for financial advisors, helping you engage with your audience and expand your network.

Tips for Social Media and SEO:

• Share Content: Post your blog articles, insights, and financial tips on LinkedIn, Twitter, and other social platforms. Include links to your website to drive traffic back. When others share your content, it can result in backlinks, further boosting your site’s authority.

?? Pro tip: The LinkedIn algorithm favors posts that keep users in their platform, so an effective approach is to share a lot of the "juice" of your content in the LinkedIn post itself, and then link out to your website/blog in the comments. That way, you get visibility on your content and not get as hurt by the algorithm.

• Engage with Your Audience: Respond to comments and participate in conversations on social platforms. This helps build your credibility and establishes you as an expert in your field.

• Check out our November Newsletter "How to Master LinkedIn in 2025 ?? Strategies for Financial Advisors" for more tips!

Engaging actively on social media increases your online presence and helps establish your authority, which indirectly supports your SEO strategy.

4?? Monitor and Analyze SEO Performance with Analytics Tools

In order to improve and refine your SEO strategy, it’s essential to regularly monitor your website’s performance. Tools like Google Search Console and Google Analytics provide valuable insights into how your website is performing in search results.

What to Monitor:

• Indexing Issues: Regularly check Google Search Console for indexing issues that may prevent your pages from appearing in search results. Fixing these issues promptly ensures your content remains visible.
• Click-Through Rates (CTR): Google Analytics helps track how often users click through to your site from search results. This can help you identify which content is performing well and which may need improvement.
• Traffic Trends: Keep an eye on overall traffic trends to see how your SEO efforts are impacting your website’s visibility. If traffic is declining, it’s time to reassess your strategies.

As you continue to implement these SEO strategies, keep in mind that you're not alone in this journey. If you're looking for more support, resources, or insights from industry experts, consider joining our advisor community: The AGC. It offers a wealth of resources, including guest speakers who specialize in SEO and marketing—key areas of focus for many of our members.

Enrollment for our community closes on January 6th (and after that, prices raise!) so there's still time to join and take advantage of all the resources and support we offer.

If you'd like to chat more about the group, feel free to schedule a call with me or send me an email at [email protected] to learn more about how we can support you in your practice. We’d love to have you on board!

Thank you for reading our December Newsletter ?? See you next month!