$18M AUM Growth and 12 New Clients in One Year: SEO Case Study

Executive Summary

 This case study highlights how long-term strategy, local optimization, and content alignment with their Ideal Client Profile (ICP) led to compounding results.

About the Client

Firm: Colorado Capital Management
Location: Boulder, CO
Structure: Fee-only RIA
Target Clients: Mid-to-late-career professionals and early-retirement families
Core Philosophy: Aligning wealth with purpose through stewardship, fiduciary guidance, and values-based planning and investing.

Colorado Capital Management is a Boulder-based, fee-only RIA and Certified B Corporation. Since 2000, they’ve helped individuals and families manage their wealth with purpose through thoughtful planning, disciplined investing, and values-aligned opportunities for impact.

Their ideal clients are mid-to-late-career professionals and early retirees navigating major transitions like retirement, inheritance, or business sales. CCM’s approach emphasizes clarity, stewardship, and long-term sustainability – helping clients align financial decisions with what matters most.

The Challenge

When CCM began working with our team in April 2022, their digital presence didn’t reflect the strength of their values-driven practice. They had the beginnings of a clear philosophy and well-defined ideal client profile – both of which continue to evolve throughout our engagement – but their digital presence wasn’t yet attracting the right traffic or converting interest into leads.

They faced:

• Modest and inconsistent organic traffic (~230 sessions/month)
• No formal content strategy tied to SEO or search intent
• Low local visibility and limited map pack presence
• Irregular publishing cadence, with months of no new content
• A need to reflect their values and client journey in their digital presence

The Strategy

Colorado Capital Management’s digital growth was driven by foundational SEO execution across four core areas: on-site structure and optimization, content marketing, local visibility, and ongoing collaboration. Rather than relying on quick wins, this was a methodical strategy designed to reflect CCM’s voice while building long-term discoverability.

SEO & Content

We started by optimizing the website for search accessibility and topical depth – then layered in strategic content designed to connect with CCM’s Ideal Client Profile.

• Conducted a full website audit and implemented on-page SEO improvements (metadata, headings, internal linking, schema)
• Identified missing service pages and added keyword-rich content to existing ones to improve topical depth and discoverability
• Built keyword clusters aligned with CCM’s Ideal Client Profile (ICP) and key service themes
• Developed cornerstone content focused on high-intent topics: transition planning, retirement income, impact investing, and legacy
• Established a foundational blog and content hub structure to support search discoverability and internal link equity
• Advised on a consistent (though imperfect) monthly publishing cadence to build momentum and topical authority
• Recently began transitioning into AI-informed search optimization to align with emerging visibility strategies

Local SEO

To strengthen regional discoverability and trust, we implemented a local SEO strategy targeting Boulder-area visibility and review growth. After initial optimizations to their website and Google Business Profile, CCM began ranking in the top 10 for key local terms—but remained just outside the Google Map Pack. It wasn’t until their client review strategy launched in October 2022 that they broke into the top 3 and began gaining consistent visibility in local search.

• Google Business Profile (GBP) optimization
• Local citation building and NAP consistency
• Client review generation strategy launched in October 2022
• Geo-targeted keyword tracking (“financial advisor Boulder”, “wealth management Boulder”)

Collaboration & Cadence

The engagement was built on flexible, shared workflows that balanced our SEO guidance with CCM’s voice and expertise.

• Maintained a shared content calendar and quarterly topic planning rhythm
• Clearly defined roles: CCM owned voice, tone, and compliance alignment; we provided structure, SEO guidance, and performance tracking
• Quarterly performance reviews informed ongoing keyword refinement and internal linking strategy
• Content production was collaborative and flexible—ranging from us drafting articles for CCM’s edits to delivering detailed Content Briefs that enabled their team to write in-house while preserving SEO intent and structure

Over the full 42-month engagement (April 2022–October 2025), we collaborated on approximately 30 content pieces – some newly created, others rewritten or expanded. While this averages less than one per month, the publishing pace significantly improved over time: 18 of those articles were produced in a 22-month span during 2024 and 2025, correlating with the strongest gains in traffic, leads, and local rankings.