Financial advisors
Local SEO for financial advisors.
Everything you publish is an advertisement in the eyes of your regulator, including the blog post. That is the real constraint here, and it rules out most of what agencies will suggest to you.
- 0.96%
- average AUM fee, 2026 fees study
- 0.75 to 1.5%
- typical annual range
- about 1%
- typical charge on $500K to $1M portfolios
- 62%
- of surveyed advisors using the AUM model
Why the standard content playbook does not apply here
In most markets, communications from a licensed advisory firm to the public are regulated as advertising, and that generally includes the website, the blog, social posts and anything a third party writes on your behalf. Testimonials, performance figures and anything implying a guaranteed outcome are all restricted, and the rules have changed in several jurisdictions in recent years.
The consequence is that a lot of standard search advice is unusable. Case studies with returns, client success stories, comparison claims against named competitors, and outsourced content published without review are all either prohibited or require a level of documentation most firms do not have.
What remains is education, and it is genuinely effective because the field is so short of it. Explaining how a fee actually works, what a rollover involves, what happens to a portfolio in a downturn, or how retirement income is structured, written by a named adviser and reviewed before publication, ranks well and converts well. It is slower than the alternatives and it is the version that does not create a compliance file.
Life events and specific decisions, rarely the job title
| Search type | What they type | Where their head is at | Priority |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life event | what to do with a 401k after leaving a job, inheritance what to do next, retiring in two years checklist, divorce and superannuation | A specific event with a decision attached. The most convertible search in the field. | Highest |
| Fee and structure | how do financial advisors get paid, is 1% too much to pay an advisor, fee only vs commission | Deciding whether to engage anyone. Where most firms refuse to compete. | Highest |
| Niche and situation | financial advisor for doctors, advisor for business owners selling, equity compensation planning | A defined situation. Least competition, highest account values. | Highest |
| Direct | financial advisor near me, fee only advisor [city], fiduciary advisor [suburb] | Ready to shortlist. Contested and worth holding, but a small share of the volume. | High |
Six things a prospective client checks before making contact
Every one of these can be published inside the advertising rules, and most firms do none of them.
- 01
How you are paid, stated in plain terms
Percentage of assets, flat fee, hourly, commission, or a combination, with the actual numbers. The average AUM fee is publicly documented at 0.96%, so a firm that will not say invites the least favourable assumption.
- 02
Your minimum, if you have one
It saves both sides a meeting. A client below your minimum who discovers it in the room leaves with a poor impression of the profession, and the ones above it are reassured by seeing it.
- 03
Registration details, checkable
Licence and registration numbers, with a link to the public register. Serious prospects check, and a firm that makes it easy is telling them something before they read a word of copy.
- 04
Who the adviser actually is
Named, with credentials, tenure and the type of client they work with. People choose an individual in this field, and stock imagery of a boardroom conveys nothing.
- 05
A stated specialism
Doctors, business owners approaching a sale, teachers, recently divorced clients, equity compensation. A specialism is the only durable competitive position available to a small firm and it is also the least contested search.
- 06
Content reviewed before publication
Every page, including the blog, with the review recorded. This is not a search consideration but it determines whether the search work is safe to do at all.
Why one client changes the arithmetic completely
Published 2026 fee data. The last row is the one that makes patient content worthwhile.
| Average AUM fee | 0.96% | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical range | 0.75 to 1.5% annually | falling as assets rise |
| A $1M client at 1% | $10,000 a year, recurring | |
| The same client over ten years | $100,000 or more | before any growth in the portfolio |
Two clients a year justifies almost any reasonable effort.
This is why the slow, compliant, educational approach works in a field where it would be too slow elsewhere. You are not trying to generate volume. Two or three well-matched relationships a year, each recurring for a decade, is a materially different firm, and that is achievable through content that answers real questions properly rather than through anything that would trouble a compliance review.
Fee data is from the 2026 State of Financial Planning Fees Study. The client value figures are arithmetic from it, not a promise of results.
Six months, with review built into every step
- Weeks 1 to 4
Fees, registration and the adviser profiles
Publish how you are paid, your minimum, your registration details and who the advisers are. These are the checks prospective clients run and they are all compliant to state.
- Weeks 4 to 12
Six life event pages
Leaving a job, receiving an inheritance, five years from retirement, selling a business, divorce, a first serious income. Written by a named adviser and reviewed before publication.
- Months 3 to 5
The specialism, made explicit
Pick the client type you actually serve best and build the section properly. It is the least contested search in the field and it attracts the accounts worth having.
- Months 4 to 6
The fee question, answered head on
How advisory fees work, what one percent buys, when it is not worth paying. High volume, avoided by nearly every firm, and it converts the people already sceptical enough to be searching it.
What advisory firms ask us
Can we publish client testimonials?
It depends on your jurisdiction and the rules have changed recently in several markets. Where they are permitted there are usually disclosure requirements attached. Check current guidance before publishing anything, and do not let an agency publish on your behalf without review. Google reviews on your listing are a separate question, and how you ask for them should go through the same review.
Should we publish our fees?
Yes. The average AUM fee is publicly documented and prospective clients search the question directly. A firm that will not state its structure invites the least favourable assumption, and stating it is compliant almost everywhere.
What content actually produces clients?
Life event content. Leaving a job with a retirement account, receiving an inheritance, approaching retirement, selling a business. Those searches come from people with a decision in front of them and money in motion.
Is a niche worth committing to?
It is the strongest position available to a small firm. Doctors, business owners, equity compensation, recently divorced clients. The searches are far less contested and the accounts are usually larger, and it starts with a page title that names the client rather than the firm.
How long before this produces anything?
Six to twelve months, which sounds discouraging until you consider that two well-matched relationships a year, each recurring for a decade, is a materially different business.
Local SEO for nearby trades
What a customer is worth, and which searches actually convert, change by trade. These are the closest neighbours to this one.
See what prospective clients find before they contact you.
The free audit shows which life event and fee searches you appear for, how visible your advisers are individually, and which specialism searches are open in your market.