Financial Advisor Website Redesign Tips & Guide

Think of your website as your digital storefront and 24-hour greeter. It should communicate the same professionalism and trust as an in-person meeting. 

Unfortunately, many advisors underestimate the impact of a poor online presence. COVID was a great example, as financial advisors could not meet with clients face-to-face for some time, so they had to rely on their websites and online presence to start direct conversations with prospects. 

In many instances, independent RIAs and IARs quickly realized their sites were outdated, had confusing navigation, or were missing compliance elements that sent a message to visitors: “We’re behind the times.” 

For affluent investors, trust is everything. They want to see your fiduciary commitment, professional credentials, and a financial advisor website that conveys stability. 

The experience a user has navigating your site is significant. Why? Because Google Analytics benchmarks show that when a site is difficult to navigate, bounce rates spike above 70%, and most visitors never return.

A clean, modern-designed financial advisor website can improve the user experience, directly affecting how long visitors stay on your site, and potentially, how Google gives your site ranking credit for search results.

When you think about how much time, money, and effort you invest in client acquisition, redesigning your financial advisor website can be one of the most efficient ways to make every interaction count.

One of the most frequently searched questions about advisor websites is, "How much does it cost to redesign a financial advisor website" The answer depends on your goals, site complexity, and the approach you choose.

Here are some examples:

• Template-based websites: $4,000–$8,000/year (may include a one-time set-up or onboarding fee)
  • Best for advisors with simple needs and a limited budget.
  • Pros: Lower upfront cost, faster setup.
  • The cons are limited customization, a “curated” content library that thousands of advisors can access, and compliance oversight often falling on the advisor.
• Custom builds: $12,000–$25,000++
  • Designed from the ground up, often with integrations like CRMs, video, and podcasting features.
  • Pros: Tailored to your brand, flexible design.
  • Cons: Longer development timelines, higher costs.
• AI-driven website builders for financial advisors: starting around $950/month (Paladin’s Advantage platform is a prime example).

• • Best for advisors looking for a customized website on a limited budget.

• Pros: Fast setup (1–2 weeks), original, AI-driven content, automatic archiving, integrated compliance review, cost-effective monthly model, and built-in SEO tools.
  
• Cons: Less freedom than a fully custom design, though sufficient for most independent advisors.
  

When budgeting, remember to factor in ongoing costs such as hosting, maintenance, compliance access, archiving, audits, and SEO marketing.

As you go through a redesign of your financial advisor website, it can be easy to get distracted by flashy design trends. What matters most are the features that build trust, educate visitors, and encourage action.

Here are some must-have features for a high-performing advisor site:

1. Clear calls to action (CTAs): Prompts like “Schedule a Consultation” can start an online conversation (vs. a phone call).
2. Lead capture tools, such as Checklists, eBooks, and Guides, can be used as lead magnets and turn visitors into new contacts with whom you can engage.
3. Tools like Calendly allow prospects to book meetings directly with you.
4. Make sure your site is fully responsive to mobile devices.  More than 60% of financial services searches are now mobile.
5. Include essential compliance elements, such as SEC/FINRA disclosures, Form ADV, Broker/Check logos, and privacy policies.
6. Trust signals, such as displaying your credentials or including client testimonials or case studies, can serve as social proof statements for your firm.
7. Provide a link for your clients to a secure client portal for access to reports or documents.

Another consideration when redesigning your site is to look at your branding standards. 

Ask yourself these questions:

• Does my current website have an outdated font that makes the site look old?

Fonts are a subtle but essential part of financial advisor website design. The goal is to project professionalism, trust, and readability without looking outdated or “flashy.” Most financial advisor websites today stick with modern, clean sans-serifs for body copy and pair them with either a serif or bolder sans-serif for headings.

Also, be sure to use a font large enough for visitors to read your content easily. This is especially true if you target pre-retirees and retirees, who may be more comfortable reading a slightly larger font.

• Am I using colors that resonate with today’s more modern investor?  

Color plays a huge role in how prospects perceive your firm. You want colors that project trust, stability, professionalism, and confidence without looking flashy or overly trendy.

Here are the colors that resonate most on financial advisor websites today:

1. Blue (Trust, Stability, Security)

• Why it works: Blue is the most common color in financial services because it communicates trustworthiness and professionalism.
• Best use: Primary brand color for headers, navigation bars, and CTAs.
• Examples: Navy blue for authority, lighter blues for approachability.

2. Green (Growth, Wealth, Balance)

• Why it works: Green is linked to money, growth, and stability, making it ideal for financial advisors.
• Best use: Accent color for buttons (Schedule a Consultation, Download Guide) or section dividers.
• Examples: Deep greens for sophistication, fresh green tones for modern appeal.

3. Gray / Charcoal (Professionalism, Neutrality)

• Why it works: A strong neutral base keeps a site polished and contemporary.
• Best use: Backgrounds, body text, or balancing brighter brand accents.
• Examples: Light gray for clean minimalism, charcoal gray for strength.

4. Gold / Accent Metallics (Prestige, Success)

• Why it works: Subtle use of gold communicates high-net-worth focus and prestige.
• Best use: Highlights, icons, divider lines, or secondary CTAs.
• Note: Use sparingly, as too much gold can look flashy, and getting an exact gold color to look correct online can be difficult.

5. White (Clarity, Simplicity, Openness)

• Why it works: White space gives breathing room, improves readability, and conveys transparency.
• Best use: Backgrounds, negative space around text and visuals.

Colors to Avoid

• Too much red: Conveys risk and urgency (not ideal for financial planning).
• Neon or bright palettes: Can feel unprofessional or “salesy.”
• Too many colors: Confuses the eye; stick to two or three primary brand colors with one accent.

The last design consideration relates to white space, graphics, and text. Many older-style financial advisor websites use white space sparingly, which can cause the site to look cluttered. Today’s modern financial advisor websites use plenty of white space and high-quality images (either personalized for your firm or stock images that represent your firm).

          Watch our video: What Makes a Great Financial Advisor Website.

One frequently asked question we receive from independent RIAs and IARs considering a website redesign is, “How long will it take?” 

The answer varies, based on your approach and objectives:

Custom builds: The typical WordPress custom-themed website can take two to four months to build. Can it be done faster?  Absolutely, but all of these tasks will need to be fast-tracked.  Can it take longer?  Yes, especially if your compliance review process has many layers of review. 

This involves:

• Deep discovery sessions about your target audience
• Understanding your firm’s voice
• Developing custom graphics and design
• Creating original website copy
• Integrating third-party applications into the site when applicable
• Reviewing and approving content through compliance
• Final user testing.  
• Template redesigns: Two to six weeks. While this option is faster, you are responsible for designing your site and creating your own content unless you pay extra to have this done for you separately. It can be quicker, but it is often less flexible.
• AI-driven financial advisor website platforms: One to two weeks. Paladin’s Advantage platform, for example, can launch a site in under two weeks with original, AI-generated content, fully customizable design elements, and one-click compliance reviews, all tailored to financial advisors.

When redesigning your financial advisor website, you must consider protecting two critical elements: search rankings and regulatory compliance. What you don’t want to happen is to lose any SEO traction you may already have in place while ensuring your site is compliant. 

SEO Essentials:

• Preserve your existing URL structure and set up 301 redirects whenever new pages replace old ones. Broken links create a poor user experience, and Google penalizes sites for them, so having a clear linking strategy is essential during a site redesign.
• Audit existing content; update and optimize high-performing blogs.
  
• Target local keywords like “financial advisors in [Your City]” or “fee-only planner [Your City].”
  
• Improve site speed, mobile performance, and user experience, which Google factors in for ranking and search results purposes.

Compliance Essentials:

• Include disclosures on every page discussing investments.
  
• Publish Form ADV, Broker/Check logos (when applicable), and privacy policies.
  
• Use SSL encryption to secure data.
  
• Archive content updates for compliance review.
  

Platforms like Paladin’s Advantage simplify compliance by routing updates through approval workflows and automatically archiving changes.

AI-driven website builders are transforming how advisors approach redesigns. Instead of months of back-and-forth with developers and copywriters, AI platforms streamline the process with easy-to-use designs, content generation, SEO integration, and compliance workflows.

Benefits of AI-driven websites for financial advisors:

• Speed: Launch in weeks, not months.
  
• Affordability: Lower upfront cost, predictable monthly fees.
  
• Compliance integration: Content review and archiving are built into the platform (Paladin’s Advantage platform). However, not all AI-driven website builders have this component built in, so check with the provider before creating an account.
  
• Scalability: Add your own blogs or use AI-based content outlines to create original, SEO-targeted content and post videos.