4 Reasons Every Financial Advisor and Insurance Agent Needs a Website

People everywhere are using AI platforms and AI search engines to get direct answers to their personal, nuanced, financial questions:

• “Should I contribute more than the company match minimum to my 401(k)?”
• “Best portfolio mix for retirees in a volatile economy”
• “Should my mom get a reverse mortgage?”
• "Financial advice for DINKs in their 30s"
• “I’m embarrassed by my debt. What are my best options for paying it down?”

Having an advisor’s name, photo, and email address on a corporate website isn’t enough to make a financial expert (or your brand) stand out or earn trust. Nor does it help you keep existing clients engaged, transacting with, and referring your brand. But that’s how many advisors are represented online.

Spoiler: Individual website pages can be a game-changer for landing new clients and enriching relationships with existing ones. It gives you a leg up in a very competitive digital environment, especially now that AI search is on the rise.

If you’re charged with helping agents or advisors raise their professional profiles and driving discoverability, here are four tips you can share with your team to help them stand out:

1. Build your own brand to elevate your reputation

Having your own website gives you a “home base” where you can show up as an industry expert, not just a corporate employee. Use it as a dedicated space to highlight your expertise and share your perspectives on the topics your clients and prospects care about. A personal website also makes it easy for clients to contact you directly. Don’t forget to link to your social media posts!

When you build a site and keep it up to date with your insights, you make it easier for both humans and AI search engines to notice you. (And you can’t leave AI out of the equation. AI is quickly becoming your new client)

2. Market your services with authority and authenticity

Every prospective client has specific goals and a unique profile. With your website, you can “speak their language” and become their single source of truth.

• Build meaningful connections with details about how you approach services and relationships. Design pages around specific services and the value you bring.

• Showcase success stories your corporate brand doesn’t have time to tell. Share educational resources to make it easy for clients, new and old, to find the information that meets their distinct needs.

• Offer personal details, like where you earned your first dollar, what’s at the top of your bucket list, or your favorite hobby.

As a bonus, having a well-defined brand and digital presence can help you establish yourself as a thought leader, building your reputation both locally and industry-wide. This kind of presence can prime you to build a following with niche clientele and do more of the work you love most.

Just make sure you’re using marketing best practices while meeting compliance and regulatory standards set by consumer protection agencies like the FTC, SEC, and FINRA.

3. Generate more leads and land new clients

A well-designed website can serve as a powerful lead generation and conversion tool. Test different strategies to see what works best for your business.

That thought leadership you’re sharing can (and should) be incorporated into your social media presence, calls-to-action, newsletter capture forms, and event registration (if events are your thing). A thoughtfully designed website can serve as a lead generation engine that gives you space to focus on serving existing clients while cultivating new relationships.

Be sure to keep it up-to-date at a cadence that works for you (monthly or quarterly is a good goal).

4. Gain more visibility in traditional and AI search

SEO used to mean search engine optimization. Now it means search everywhere optimization. So, the table stakes have changed.

Marketers once focused on incorporating specific keywords into website pages, but now FAQs and schema markup are getting their due. Clients used to primarily search Google for answers, but now they’re starting their search on social media, review sites, AI search platforms, and more.

The more relevant content you publish on your website (and publish listings and post on social media), the better your chances are of improving your traditional and AI search visibility. And the more likely clients are to keep coming back for trusted insights.

Curious to see how (or if) you show up in traditional and AI search results? Check here.

Ultimately, creating your own space in the digital world gives you a secret weapon that makes it easier to attract prospects, convert sales, and retain clients.

Your brand voice is your currency

AI search is changing everything, and it’s important for agents and advisors to keep up. Having a personal website that serves as a dedicated digital landing spot helps clients learn about and choose an ideal financial services partner, no matter where they search.

Learn how Yext Pages makes it easy.