What should a financial advisor website include?

Financial planning websites tend to say the same things: a photo of a couple on a beach, language about goals, and an invitation to schedule. A prospective client cannot distinguish between three of those, so they default to whoever was recommended.

What separates a site here is specificity and honesty about how the relationship works, both of which are also easier to keep within advertising rules than persuasion is.

• Who the practice serves. "Individuals and families" says nothing. A defined group does: people approaching retirement from a particular industry, households navigating equity compensation, business owners planning an exit.
• How you are compensated. The most searched and least answered question in this category.
• Any minimum. Stating it prevents conversations that cannot proceed.
• Professional background and credentials, with real photographs.
• What the first meeting involves. Length, cost, what will be discussed, what to bring. This is the highest-value section on most advisory sites and it is almost always missing.
• The ongoing relationship. Meeting frequency, what gets reviewed, how to reach you between meetings.
• Required disclosures, easy to find rather than buried.

This is general marketing information, not compliance guidance. Requirements differ by registration type, firm and jurisdiction, and change over time. Confirm anything in this area with your compliance function before acting on it.