Running a CFA practice already means managing client portfolios, analyzing market trends, and staying compliant with strict financial regulations. The last thing you want to worry about is whether potential clients can find you online or how to run an SEO audit for CFAs.
But here is the truth. If competing advisors appear on Google for searches like “CFA near me,” “investment advisor,” or “wealth management services” and you are not showing up, you are missing out on highly qualified leads who are actively looking for expert financial guidance.
SEO has many moving parts, but when these parts work together, your practice gains stronger search visibility, builds credibility, and attracts more ideal clients. If you are unsure where to start, this audit outlines the essential checks you need to improve your rankings in search engine results pages and strengthen your digital presence.
What Is SEO for CFAs?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making your CFA website more visible when people search for financial guidance on Google and other search engines.
When someone looks for investment advice, portfolio management, or answers to financial questions, your website should appear as the trusted resource.
When Google sees that your site provides valuable and relevant information about financial services, it is more likely to show your pages to people who are searching for those solutions.
Here are the main benefits of SEO for CFAs:
- Consistent lead generation: Qualified prospects find you when they are actively searching for financial advisors.
- Builds credibility: Higher search rankings signal expertise and trust to potential clients.
- 24/7 visibility: Your website attracts organic traffic at all times, even when you are not online.
CFA SEO services also deliver strong ROI. Research shows that SEO drives more than 1,000 percent more traffic than organic social media, and SEO leads convert at about 14.6 percent, making it one of the most effective digital marketing strategies for financial professionals.
Search Engine Optimization Essentials
Getting SEO right for CFAs means focusing on several important areas that help search engines understand your expertise and improve your visibility online.
- High quality, relevant content: Generic finance articles are not enough. You need content that speaks directly to the investment challenges your ideal clients face, using the same language they use when searching online.
- Technical website health: Slow page speed, broken links, poor mobile friendliness, and other technical SEO issues will hurt your rankings. Your backend must be clean, fast, and easy for search engines to crawl.
- Local SEO optimization: Your Google Business Profile, local citations, and location based content must be accurate and complete so you show up for searches like “CFA near me.”
- Keyword research: Focus on specific financial services and topics where you can compete, such as portfolio management, investment planning, or risk analysis.
- Trust signals and authority: Client reviews, case studies, certifications, and consistent NAP details across the web help build credibility with search engines and potential clients.
Learn more about how to attract more clients as a CFA.
How Do I Do an SEO Audit for CFAs?
An SEO audit is a detailed check of your website to see what is working and what needs improvement. It reviews your technical SEO, page speed, and site structure, along with how relevant and compelling your content is for potential clients.
1. Check Your Website Speed
Slow websites hurt both conversions and search rankings. If your site takes more than three seconds to load, potential clients will likely leave before they read about your financial services. Google also lowers the visibility of slow sites in search results.
You can test your page speed using free tools like:
- Google PageSpeed Insights: Shows speed scores and improvement recommendations.
- GTmetrix: Provides detailed performance reports and identifies what’s slowing you down.
- Pingdom: Tests load times from different locations.
Common speed issues for CFA websites include large images, too many plugins, and low quality hosting. Most problems can be fixed by compressing images, removing unnecessary plugins, and upgrading to reliable hosting.
2. Identify Relevant Keywords
Keywords are the search terms your potential clients type into Google. Knowing which ones matter for your CFA practice helps you optimize your website for the right audience.
Start by thinking about what clients search for when they need investment guidance or portfolio support. Then use keyword research tools to check search volume and competition. Our SEO team uses Ahrefs, but free SEO audit tools like Ubersuggest work well too.
Avoid broad terms such as “financial advisor.” These are too competitive and rarely bring qualified leads. Focus instead on long tail keywords, which are more specific searches like “retirement investment planning CFA” or “portfolio management services for professionals.”
3. Analyze Local SEO
A local SEO strategy helps you appear when people search for financial advisors in their area. Even if your CFA services are offered virtually, many clients still prefer an advisor who is nearby.
Check these key local SEO elements:
- Google Business Profile: Make sure it is claimed, complete, and updated with posts and reviews.
- NAP consistency: Your Name, Address, and Phone number must be identical on your website, Google, and directory listings.
- Local citations: Your CFA practice should appear in trusted directories such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, and local business listings.
- Location pages: If you serve multiple cities, create a dedicated page for each location.
Search for your main services along with your city name to see where you rank. If competitors consistently appear above you, your local SEO needs improvement.
4. Check Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are the clickable headlines and short previews that appear in Google search results. They help search engines understand your page and also influence whether people choose to click.
Every important page on your CFA website needs unique and compelling title tags and meta descriptions that include relevant keywords. For example, your homepage title might look like: “Anderson Financial Services CFA | Investment Planning in Chicago.”
Common mistakes include:
- Missing or duplicate titles: Each page needs its own title tag.
- Too long or too short: Keep titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 160 characters.
- No keywords: Add your target keyword so Google can match your page to the right search.
- Not compelling: Weak descriptions may not get clicks even if you rank well.
Review your top pages and rewrite any title tags or meta descriptions that are missing, duplicated, or low quality. Then explore more CFA marketing strategies to improve your online visibility.
5. Audit Your Content
Content is what brings potential clients to your website and helps them decide if you are the right CFA for their financial needs. Your content must be helpful, relevant, and easy for both visitors and search engines to find.
Review your existing pages and blog posts. Ask whether they answer real client questions and whether they clearly explain the financial services you offer. Thin or outdated content hurts your search engine rankings and weakens your overall SEO performance.
Focus on improving these areas:
- Service pages: Clear descriptions of each CFA service and who it is for.
- Blog articles: Helpful content that covers common investment or financial planning questions.
- Local content: Information tailored to clients in your geographic area.
Remove or update outdated or irrelevant content. Strong copywriting also plays a key role here, since clear and persuasive messaging helps turn website visitors into qualified leads while supporting your overall SEO strategy.
Google lowers visibility when a site has too much low quality content, so keeping your content strategy clean and optimized helps improve your SEO audit for CFAs.
6. Analyze Your Competition
Your competitors are trying to attract the same clients you want. Understanding what they do online helps you find opportunities to outrank them and improve your own SEO strategy.
Start by searching your main CFA keywords and note which financial advisors appear at the top. Review their websites and content to see what they are doing well and where you can improve. Look for things like:
- Keywords they target: Are they ranking for valuable terms you are not using?
- Content strategy: Are they covering financial topics or client questions that you have not addressed yet?
- Local SEO: How many reviews do they have, and which directories list their business?
- Website quality: Is their site faster, more professional, or easier to navigate than yours?
You do not need to copy competing CFAs, but you can use their strengths to guide your own improvements and build a stronger SEO presence.
7. Check Internal Links
Internal links connect the different pages on your website and help both visitors and search engines understand your content. They also pass authority between pages, which improves your overall SEO performance.
Review how your pages link to each other. Your homepage should link to your main CFA service pages, and related content should connect naturally. For example, a blog post about investment planning should link to your portfolio management service page.
Common internal linking issues include:
- Orphaned pages: Important pages that are not linked from anywhere else.
- Broken links: Links that point to pages that no longer exist.
- Weak anchor text: Using phrases like “click here” instead of descriptive text such as “investment planning services.”
- Missed opportunities: Not linking related content together.
A strong internal linking strategy helps visitors find the information they need and signals to Google which pages on your site carry the most value.
8. Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
About 72 percent of Google’s visitors use mobile devices. If your website is not mobile friendly, you are losing potential clients and hurting your overall SEO performance.
Common mobile issues for CFA websites include:
- Text that is too small: Visitors should be able to read your content without zooming.
- Buttons too close together: Navigation, contact, and phone buttons need proper spacing.
- Slow mobile loading: Mobile users expect fast page speed and will leave quickly.
- Hard to use forms: Your contact forms should be simple and easy to complete on a phone.
If you are struggling with mobile friendliness, a professional designer can help you create a clean and responsive layout. If you work with us for your SEO needs, we can connect you with a trusted designer who understands financial websites.
9. Fix Technical SEO
Technical SEO helps search engines crawl, understand, and index your website. If technical issues are present, Google may not be able to access your pages correctly, and your organic traffic and search performance can drop.
Common technical SEO problems for CFAs include broken links, slow loading speeds, duplicate title tags, and crawl errors. Make sure to check the following:
- SSL certificate: Your website should use HTTPS for security.
- XML sitemap: This file helps search engines find your important pages during a site crawl.
- Robots.txt: Tells search engines which pages to crawl and which to ignore.
- 404 errors: Broken pages that need to be fixed or redirected.
- Duplicate content: Multiple pages with similar content can confuse search engines and weaken your rankings.
Google Search Console is a free tool that can help you identify many of these issues. However, most CFA practices benefit from a professional SEO audit for CFAs to fix more complex technical SEO problems and improve long-term search visibility.
10. Track Your SEO Progress
Even the strongest SEO strategies take time to show results, so you need a reliable tracking system to measure your progress. Google Analytics and Google Search Console are free tools that give you important SEO metrics, and you can use a paid tool like Ahrefs for deeper insights.
Monitor these key SEO metrics:
- Organic traffic: How many visitors find you through search engines.
- Keyword rankings: Where your CFA website appears for your target keywords.
- Click through rates: How often users click your listing in search results.
- Lead generation: How many form submissions or inquiries come from organic search. You can also track how many new subscribers come from organic search, since SEO and email marketing work together to convert website visitors into long-term clients.
Rankings naturally rise and fall, and real improvements from an SEO audit for CFAs usually take three to six months. If you are unsure where to begin, you can start with a free SEO checklist to guide your next steps.
Are SEO Audits Worth It?
Yes, an SEO audit for CFAs is worth the investment if you want stronger search visibility and more qualified clients. An audit reveals the technical SEO issues, on page SEO gaps, and keyword ranking problems that weaken your current SEO performance.
Instead of guessing why your SEO efforts are not working, you get a clear and prioritized list of fixes to focus on. This saves time and helps you avoid spending energy on tasks that do not improve your rankings. A professional SEO audit also gives you a solid foundation if you want to manage parts of your search engine optimization on your own.
SEO Audit Service for CFAs
At SJ Digital Solutions, we provide a comprehensive SEO audit for CFAs through our SEO Health Check service. This audit reviews your technical SEO, on page SEO, keyword targeting, and content gaps that may be limiting your search visibility.
You will receive a detailed report that shows exactly what is affecting your SEO performance and a prioritized action plan to help you fix those issues. This gives you a clear path to improve your rankings and attract more qualified clients online.
–> Order your SEO Health Check today!
FAQs
How Long Does an SEO Audit Take?
Our SEO Health Check takes three business days to complete. We review your entire website, analyze your local CFA competitors, and create a detailed report with clear recommendations to improve your SEO performance.
How Often Should You Do an SEO Audit?
It depends on who manages your SEO efforts. If you work with a professional who handles your search engine optimization strategy, you may not need frequent audits because you will receive regular reports showing your progress.
If you manage your own SEO, getting a professional SEO audit for CFAs once a year is a smart idea. This helps you catch technical SEO issues early and stay aligned with new Google updates and best practices.
Do You Offer Retainer SEO Services for CFAs?
Yes, we offer ongoing SEO retainer services for CFAs and other financial professionals. This includes keyword research, content marketing, local SEO management, technical SEO improvements, and more.
Learn more about our content + SEO services for CFAs and financial businesses.