Backlinks are valuable lead-generation tools for asset managers and wealth management firms today. Over 80 percent of financial services firms consider backlinks crucial in their digital marketing mix.
This article explains why you need backlinks in your lead-generation strategy, how they work, and how you can leverage them to achieve long-term success.
What Are Backlinks?
A backlink is a link from one website to another. Think of a backlink as a digital referral; someone is sending a reader, an investor, or a prospect directly to you. When a respected asset manager or wealth manager links to your website, search engines see that as a vote of confidence in your expertise.
Backlinks have been essential to search engine optimization (SEO) for more than two decades. Google built its search engine on the principle that the number and quality of links pointing at a website determined its relevance and trustworthiness.
Most backlinks look like ordinary hyperlinked text. When the highlighted text links to your site, that’s a backlink.
Early SEO was akin to the American Wild West of the late 19th century, with few clear rules in place. Businesses sought to get as many links as possible, regardless of quality. Currently, the best links come from authoritative and relevant sites. Google now punishes low-value or spam-like links. Quality now rules over quantity.
Backlinks, External Links, and Internal Links
The terminology can be confusing. Not to worry, you’ve got this:
Internal links. Links that you place on your own website and direct to other pages on your website are called internal links.
External links. Links on your site that direct visitors to other websites, not yours, are external links. Both internal and external links help visitors and search engines navigate your site, making your content easier to find and understand.
Backlinks. Incoming links from other websites, known as backlinks, point users to your site from other sites.
Why Backlinks Matter for Lead Generation in Financial Services
Backlinks are one of the top three ranking factors in Google’s search algorithm in 2025 for their role in building website authority and trust. (The two other major factors are high-quality content and engagement.)
Backlinks are essential for SEO because they tell search engines that your content is trustworthy and valuable. These links drive new visitors and search engine authority to you. Here are four primary reasons why backlinks help build leads.
Boost search rankings
Backlinks can drive organic traffic by improving your search engine rankings. Think of backlinks as reputation boosters. When Google sees that respected finance sites link to you, your pages move up in search results.
A strong backlink strategy can mean the difference between struggling with online lead generation and thriving. Over 65 percent of web traffic for financial services comes from organic search, and higher rankings mean more potential clients see your firm.
Increase referral traffic
Referral traffic can play a big role in building a successful backlink strategy. When other great sites link to you, their readers can click directly through to your website. High-quality backlinks have historically boosted organic search traffic by up to 73 percent within twelve months.
Build brand authority and awareness
Getting links from respected websites will boost your credibility. 80 percent of investors said they trust financial brands seen on industry-leading websites. Quality backlinks, which attract leads for many months, may also have a longer-lasting impact than paid advertising campaigns with a finite time span.
Lower cost per lead
Organic (or free) leads are typically more cost-effective than paid advertising (also known as Pay-Per-Click, or PPC) for financial services firms. The average cost per lead for paid channels in the financial services industry is $653, while the cost of an SEO-generated lead is about $20-$35 per lead. Asset managers may see improvement in organic traffic and keyword rankings within the first 2 to 3 months of launching an SEO strategy. However, generating actual leads typically takes 12 to 18 months.
How to Earn Backlinks
To build high-quality backlinks, focus on creating ideas that people want to link to and share. Consider these proven tactics:
Create free tools
Interactive financial tools are one of the most effective methods to build backlinks for asset management firms. Many journalists, influencers, and investors love sharing useful and fun calculators, quizzes, and surveys. They can quickly provide answers to timely issues. Do you have an investment allocation calculator, risk analyzer, or tax estimator on your website? If not, consider creating one or several.
Write guest blogs
Writing articles for other sites, with your byline, is another way to get more links coming back to your website. Nearly 65 percent of business-to-business firms regard guest blogging as the most popular link-building tactic.
Publish original research
In-depth industry research reports can be big backlink builders for asset managers. Financial sites routinely cite original research and unique data as authoritative proof in their own content. Publishing fresh, data-driven insights can attract links from major financial outlets, fueling organic traffic and keyword growth.
Note that PDF whitepapers are less effective for backlink building because they cannot be easily found in search results or linked to by other websites compared to web-based blog posts.
Partner with influencers
Partnering with social media and academic influencers can also help build a strong backlink strategy. When trusted voices share your insights or collaborate on content, you may gain high-authority links back to your website. According to a 2019 study by Edelman Financial Engines, more than six in ten investors trusted recommendations from influencers more than conventional brand advertisements.
Do digital public relations
Wealth managers can use digital-based public relations campaigns to build connections with journalists and financial editors. Offer your firm up as an expert resource for insight and commentary. When you get quoted in an interview or featured in a story, the publication typically includes a backlink to your website.
Participate in forums
Join conversations where your audience spends time, particularly on LinkedIn groups. When you share helpful tips and answer questions, people notice. This builds your reputation as an expert and boosts your visibility.
How Not to Do a Backlink Strategy
Don’t buy links
Yes, you can buy backlinks from firms that sell them in bulk. However, this strategy can put your business at risk and can damage your reputation with both clients and search engines. When discovered, Google can penalize your use of paid backlinks by de-indexing specific pages or your entire website.
Don’t fix broken links
Broken links—also called dead links—are web addresses that lead to pages that don’t exist. Instead of the information they expected, your visitor will get a “404 error” message, get frustrated, bounce, and, worst of all, may go to your competitor’s website. Google views frequent broken links as a sign of neglect. Google Search Console and Ahrefs are among the many good tools to spot broken links.
Don’t use irrelevant backlinks
Getting backlinks from websites that have nothing to do with your target market weakens your SEO. Search engines see these links as unnatural, and they don’t help build trust or authority for your brand. Building too many irrelevant links can result in penalties and reduced search visibility.
Frequently Asked Questions About Backlinks
1. How long does it take to see results from backlinks?
Firms may notice improved SEO in three to six months, with the effect of backlinks becoming more pronounced after six months. On average, however, it takes about 10 weeks for a backlink to impact Google rankings.
2. What types of backlinks work best for asset managers?
A high-quality backlink typically comes from an authoritative industry source, such as a respected financial publication, news site, asset or wealth management firm, or influential blog platform. Contributing articles to LinkedIn and to strategic partner websites may also help direct backlinks to your website.
3. How can asset manager firms earn more backlinks?
A proven strategy for creating effective backlinks centers around publishing fresh and insightful market commentary, comprehensive guides, and blog posts to your website.
How to Measure Backlink Success
Focus on these five key metrics to evaluate how effective your backlink strategy is:
- Referral traffic. Referral traffic shows how many other websites, and which ones, are linking their content to you. Check for referral visits using Google Analytics, Ahrefs, or SimilarWeb.
- Organic search traffic. How many people visit your website through search engines? Search engines trust sites linked by respected industry sources far more than ones with lots of low-value links. You’ll see stronger ranking gains from a handful of authoritative endorsements than from many irrelevant ones. More organic visits mean your backlink strategy is broadening your audience. Use Google Analytics to find out more.
- Keyword rankings. Keyword ranking tools help you measure if your backlinks help you rank for the most valuable search terms. Strong rankings show your site has authority. Track keyword positions with Google Search Console, SEMrush, or Search Atlas.
- Number of referring domains. Tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, or Moz let you track how many unique websites have linked to your pages.
- Conversion rate. Conversion metrics show whether referral visitors take actions that matter, like signing up for a podcast or scheduling calls. Analyze conversions with Kissmetrics or ChartMogul.
To Follow or Not to Follow
Now for some technical information. You can designate your backlinks as either a “dofollow” “or a “nofollow.” Your choice impacts how search engines treat links pointing to your website.
A dofollow backlink is a link that search engines can follow from another website to yours. For example, when a trusted finance blog links to your site with a dofollow link, Google sees this as proof that your content is valuable. You want most of your backlinks to be dofollow links.
By contrast, a nofollow link tells search engines to ignore the link and not count it toward your ranking. These links may bring visitors to your site, but they won’t help your SEO. You’ll usually find nofollow links in blog comments, forums, and social media posts, where website owners don’t want to vouch for every link that users share.
The Impact of AI on Backlinks
AI is changing the world, and how backlinks are valued is no exception. However, even as AI reshapes how people discover content, backlinks may be more valuable than ever.
AI search prioritizes accuracy, expertise, and reliability over traditional SEO metrics like backlinks. Here are three strategies you need to consider in enhancing your AI search profile:
1. Focus on expert content. Creating valuable and authoritative content is as important to being found via AI search as it is to Google search. AI search favors unique articles over generic articles anyone could write, whatever the industry. Original research may rank high in AI search. As will in-depth posts with verifiable citations.
2. Structure content specifically for AI. AI search engines love well-organized articles. Content that’s easy for humans to understand should also be easy for AI searches to find, too. In articles, use headlines that say what you mean, sub-heads that summarize your key points, bullet points that quickly inform, and callouts that highlight key takeaways that AI can find. Q&A and infographic formats also are relative easy for AI engines to find.
Under the hood, use something called “schema markup,” a special code that labels what your content means, such as a “how-to guide” or “investment process.” This markup tool helps AI understand your material’s purpose and context, and can increase your chances of being cited by AI-created responses.
3. Prioritize podcasts and video. Create different types of content beyond just written articles, especially videos and podcasts. Video may outperform traditional text posts because they keep visitors on your site longer, which may generate more backlinks from other websites.
The Back-End: Why Backlinks Matter for Asset Managers
Backlinks are a must-have for asset managers serious about generating impactful leads. But do they have the right strategy? Firms without a backlink strategy face adverse outcomes. Without backlinks, you may suffer from low search rankings. You may have weaker brand authority. Competitors with stronger links may dominate search results for key financial issues that you should be known for.
Quality backlinks can boost your search rankings, drive targeted traffic to your website, establish your authority, and increase brand awareness.
In financial services, where trust and credibility drive client decisions, backlinks help prove your expertise is worth paying attention to. In other words, backlinks power lead generation.
Schedule a complimentary strategy session with Dan Sondhelm, CEO of Sondhelm Partners, to learn more about how backlinks can support your marketing efforts.
Frank Serebrin is the Content Marketing Director for Sondhelm Partners. He leads strategic and creative content and marketing services for our asset management and wealth management clients.
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