Facts checked on October 6, 2026. Rules differ for broker-dealers, SEC-registered advisers and state-registered advisers, so confirm which ones apply to your firm.
The contact form is the smallest part of an advisor website, and it carries more weight than it looks. It decides how much a stranger has to tell you before you have spoken, and every field you add changes two things at once. Some people stop filling it in, and the people who finish hand you information your firm then has to protect, review and keep.
So the real decision is which details you truly need before the first reply. For most firms that means a name, a way to reach the person, a short note and a clear choice about calls, texts and emails. Everything else can wait for the first conversation.
This guide walks through the fields worth asking for, the ones to leave off, how to word the consent boxes, and what happens to a message once it arrives. It is general information, not legal or compliance advice. OJay Media Marketing builds client-acquisition systems for advisors, so we have a commercial interest in how prospective clients reach a firm.
Decide what the form is for
A form and a booking calendar do different jobs. A calendar suits someone who already wants a meeting. A form suits the person with a question, the referral who wants to check you out first, and the visitor who is not ready to pick a time. Some advisor sites offer both, side by side, so each visitor can choose.
That choice shapes the form. If the calendar is the main route, the form can be very short, because it only has to start a conversation. Our guide to advisor website design that converts explains why a calendar often works better as the main door, and the form then becomes the quieter second option.
Write down the first reply you would send to a new message before you choose any fields. A field earns its place only if it changes that first reply. If it would not, it can wait for the first call.
Should this field stay on the form?
Run each field on your current form through these questions. Each destination explains what to do with the field.
Routes follow the SEC, FINRA and FCC sources checked on October 6, 2026. Your reviewer decides what applies to your firm.
- Do you need this field to reply?
Think about the first message you would send back.
- Yes, I cannot reply without it
- No, it only helps with preparation
- Could it identify an account or prove who someone is?
Examples include a Social Security number or an account number.
- Yes
- No
- Will you use it for texts or automated calls?
A mobile number often is.
- Yes, we may text or use a dialer
- No, it is only for a reply
- Would a prospect feel it is too personal for a first message?
Asset levels and family details often are.
- No, it is a light question
- Yes, it is too personal for a first message
- Keep it as a required field
Label it clearly and explain the format you expect.
- Keep it with its own consent box
Add an unticked box with the wording your reviewer approves, separate from the send button.
- Move it to onboarding
Gather it during onboarding, inside the secure system your firm already uses.
- Keep it as an optional field
Mark it optional and say in one line why you ask.
- Remove it from the form
Ask about it on the first call, where you can explain why it matters.
The fields worth asking for
A good first form asks for very little. Name, an email address, an optional phone number and a free-text box for the question cover most replies. A preferred contact method helps you avoid calling someone who would rather write. A short question about how they heard of you shows which referral sources and pages actually bring people in.
A state or location field is worth considering because registration is often state by state. Knowing where someone lives tells you early whether your reviewer needs to check that your firm can work with them. Some firms also ask about investable assets. That question helps a firm that only serves certain households. Keep it optional and add one line that explains why you ask.
Labels matter more than they seem. The W3C’s guidance on WCAG labels or instructions is a Level A success criterion, and it asks for labels or instructions whenever content requires user input. Write each label as the question you would ask in person. “Your best number” reads better than “Phone” and tells people what you will use it for.
What to leave off the first form
Some information should never arrive through a website form. Social Security numbers, dates of birth, account numbers and uploaded statements belong in your onboarding process, after the client has agreed to work with you and your firm has its normal safeguards in place.
The reason is the security rule that already covers your firm. The SEC’s Regulation S-P safeguards rule requires written policies and procedures that protect customer information. As amended, its definition of customer information also reaches information about customers of other financial institutions that has been provided to your firm, which describes a prospect who types in details about an account held elsewhere. The rule lists a Social Security number and an account number combined with access information among its examples of sensitive customer information.
The 2024 amendments raised the stakes for that data. According to the SEC’s May 2024 announcement, covered firms need an incident response program, with notice to affected individuals no later than 30 days after becoming aware of unauthorized access. The same rule asks firms to oversee service providers, with procedures designed so a provider notifies the firm no later than 72 hours after becoming aware of a breach affecting a customer information system it maintains. A form tool or CRM that stores submissions is a likely service provider for that oversight. Data you never collect is data you never have to report.
Takeaway: We keep identity and account details out of the website form and collect them later through the secure onboarding process.
Consent boxes for calls, texts and emails
A phone number on a form is not permission to text. The FCC’s guide to robocalls and robotexts explains that its rules require prior written consent, which can be given electronically through a website form, before a prerecorded telemarketing call. The same FCC guide states that commercial texts require written consent. The guide adds that people may opt out of any robocall or robotext at any time and in any reasonable manner.
The wording of that consent is set out in the FCC’s telephone consumer protection rule. Its definition of prior express written consent requires a clear and conspicuous disclosure, and it treats an electronic signature as valid when federal or state law recognizes it. Your reviewer should approve the exact sentence next to the box. Your text platform’s carrier registration has its own opt-in expectations, which our guide to 10DLC for financial advisors covers.
In practice, use a separate box for each channel. One unticked box covers texts, another covers a newsletter or marketing emails, and neither one is required to send the message. Store each consent choice with the date and the exact wording shown. Marketing emails also follow the FTC’s CAN-SPAM compliance guide, which asks for a valid physical postal address, a clear way to opt out, and opt-outs honored within 10 business days.
What happens after someone presses send
A submission is a written message to your firm, and the recordkeeping rules treat it that way. For broker-dealers, Exchange Act Rule 17a-4 requires firms to keep originals of communications received that relate to the business. FINRA Rule 3110 requires supervisory procedures for reviewing incoming written correspondence, with the review conducted by a registered principal and evidenced in writing.
Registered investment advisers work from Advisers Act Rule 204-2. It requires advisers to keep originals of written communications received that relate to recommendations or advice, among other subjects. A message asking for a call may fall outside that list, while one asking what to do with a rollover may not. Many firms simply archive every submission rather than sort them one by one.
Either way, the form should deliver into a system your firm controls and archives, such as your CRM or a monitored firm mailbox. Never route form submissions to a personal inbox. Decide who answers, how quickly your team aims to reply, and what the automatic acknowledgment contains. Keep that acknowledgment to a thank-you, the next step and a phone number, with no advice in it.
Takeaway: We send every form submission into the firm’s CRM or archived mailbox, where the normal review process can see it.
Tick each item once you have a written answer. Progress is saved in this browser when supported; nothing is sent.
- Which fields are required, and which are marked optional?
- Does any field ask for an account number, a Social Security number or a document upload?
- Who approved the wording next to each consent box?
- Where is each consent choice stored, with the date and the wording shown?
- Which system receives submissions, and is that system covered by our archiving?
- Who reviews incoming messages, and how is that review recorded?
- Is the form tool or CRM covered by our service-provider oversight?
- Does the privacy policy link work from the form page?
The words around the button
The text near the send button does quiet but useful work. Link to your privacy policy, say in one line what you will do with the information, and tell people which details not to include. A short line can also explain that the reply will come from a person at the firm.
That text is part of your website, so it goes through the same review as the rest of it. For broker-dealers, FINRA Rule 2210 governs communications with the public, and a public website is generally reviewed as a retail communication. Our guides to FINRA marketing compliance and the SEC marketing rule for financial advisors go further on review.
A few common questions
Should the form use spam protection?
Usually, yes, because open forms attract automated junk that buries real messages. Choose a method that does not block people using screen readers, and send a test message every month to confirm that genuine submissions still arrive.
What should the page after the form say?
Thank the person, say who will reply and through which channel, and offer the calendar link for anyone who would rather book a time now. Leave market views and service descriptions off this page.
Should existing clients use the same form?
It is better to point existing clients to their advisor, the client portal or the main office line. Instructions about money or trades should never arrive through a public contact form.
Related reading
- Website design for financial advisors
- Appointment setting for financial advisors
- Text message marketing for financial advisors
- 10DLC for financial advisors
- Lead nurturing for financial advisors
If you are also rethinking how prospective clients find your firm before they reach the form, we explain the OJay Media Marketing process separately.
OJay Media Marketing is a marketing agency for wealth advisors. This page is general information for advisory firms. It is not investment, legal, or compliance advice. Have your reviewer approve your own materials before you use them.
