In today’s digital age, it’s more important than ever for financial services businesses to have a strong online presence. High competition means that your business has to do things differently to ensure that your website ranks, brings in traffic and attracts converting customers. That’s why SEO for finance businesses should be an integral part of your digital marketing plan.
By boosting online visibility and attracting traffic to your website at a relatively low overall cost, many finance companies choose SEO because it creates a positive ROI. Overall, SEO is a long-term tactic that leads to more sales, business growth and more.
What is SEO for Finance?
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of improving a website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) in places such as Google or Bing. The aim is to get your business to the top spot where you will have a higher probability of getting traffic. By being in position one the potential click through rate is over 25% according to Search Engine Journal. In the same study, second place is close to 15%, 3rd 11% and then 4th is 8%. Being 10th place on Google – the bottom of the page – sees an avengers CTR of just 2.5%. This is why SEO is so essential to your business.
SEO is broken down into 3 main sections, on page, off page and technical SEO. Trust is so important within the finance industry that your off page SEO needs to be strong. Linking to other websites that discuss the same topics, making you authoritative!
The financial services industry is a highly competitive one and a large proportion of customers are using search engines to find companies, so SEO is essential for your business to stay ahead of the competition. By optimising your website using SEO tactics, you can ensure that your business is visible to potential customers when they’re searching for financial services online.
What Are the Challenges Facing SEO for Finance?
The financial services industry faces a number of unique challenges when it comes to SEO:
Highly Competitive Landscape
The financial services industry is highly competitive and many businesses are competing for the same keywords and search terms. For example, ‘Financial Services’ alone has a search volume of 4.4k and a keyword difficulty of 66%! Add to this that there are also a lot of highly established businesses and it’s not difficult to see why SEO for finance has the potential to be tricky. However, there are quick wins, start looking at keywords around your business with lower volumes and lower difficulty, this is a great way to start building yourself!
Complex Subject Matters
A successful finance company has to explain difficult topics in a way that is accessible and easy to understand. Using SEO you can understand what topics people are searching for to understand and create useful content for them to digest. There are many ways you can do this which will still work for search such as video and image content, it doesn’t always need to be written.
As well as topic complexity, financial businesses are held to high standards of content quality, both by regulators and by consumers.You also have to do so in a trustworthy manner because your users simply won’t convert if they aren’t fully on board with what you have to say. To do this, make sure you are focusing on E-E-A-T and that your content writers have credible experience that you can showcase on your website.
The Effects of Constrained Internal Resources
Financial services businesses often have limited internal resources to devote to SEO, but they have amazing knowledge. By outsourcing your SEO to an agency that understands the finance industry, together you can create a strong SEO strategy.
Why is SEO Important for Finance?
As mentioned, SEO is a valuable tool in the arsenal of businesses looking to succeed in the online world. Ultimately, it helps you rank higher in search engines and brings in more traffic So how does this work…
Increased Visibility
SEO helps financial services businesses to rank higher in SERPs, which means that they are more likely to be seen by potential customers. This is especially important in the highly competitive financial industry where everyone is battling out for the top spot.
Attract Targeted Traffic
By using SEO correctly, you can create a website that can target your users over phrases and searches they are looking for. That way you can attract traffic that is targeted around the services you provide. For example, ‘insurance brokers for retail businesses’, make sure you have a page on your website that discusses the details of this service. You can then create supporting blogs around this too!
Build Credibility
SEO can help financial services businesses to build credibility with potential customers. When a business ranks high in SERPs, it signals to potential customers that it is a reputable and trustworthy source of information. This will help to build trust – something that is integral to success in the finance industry – and confidence to help bring increased conversions.
Provide a Better User Experience
SEO can help financial services businesses to provide a better user experience on their websites. This is important because well thought out UX often directly leads to increased engagement and conversions. For example, SEO means you are providing the right page for the right search, there’s nothing worse than landing on a finance company’s website and it’s nothing about what you are looking for. These customers will likely bounce straight off the page. These finer design details could be what sets you apart from competitors, and many users will opt for the services of a company that have a well designed, simple website.
Stay Ahead of the Competition
The finance industry is constantly evolving and new competitors are entering the market all the time. SEO is essential for helping financial service businesses stay ahead of the competition by ensuring that they are visible in SERPs. By building a strong authority website, it makes it harder for others to enter and disrupt the market.
Determining The Key Focus Areas of SEO for Finance
The key focus areas of SEO for finance are on-page SEO and off-page SEO. Both of these elements are important to building a successful SEO strategy, and they should work together to improve your website’s ranking in search engines.
On-Page SEO for Finance
Do Keyword Research
The first step to any successful SEO strategy is to do keyword research. This is the absolute bedrock and will help you identify the terms that your target audience is using to search for products or services like yours. Once you know what keywords you want to target, you can use them throughout your website, including in your titles, meta descriptions, headers, and body content. This helps users to find your content and creates a far more targeted approach to your overall content strategy.
There are a wealth of tools out there to help you discover relevant keywords – SEMrush and AHrefs are popular choices for example. Both provide essential data such as search volume and competitiveness to ensure you make informed, data-driven choices.
Create High-Quality Content
In addition to using the right keywords, you also need to create high-quality content that will keep your visitors engaged and coming back for more. This means developing a content marketing strategy that produces regular, informative, well-written content that is relevant to your target audience.
The Google algorithm now takes into account an element called E-E-A-T in their ranking process. This stands for experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. The bottom line is that if your content performs well in these areas, it will have a better chance of ranking.
Blogging is one of the most effective tactics for improving SEO for finance businesses. A beneficial aspect of creating content for this industry is that there is a wealth of topics to cover. It’s also an area where many people want more information, as topics have the potential to be complex and difficult to understand without professional guidance.
Look to create content that targets what your audience is searching for, then provide them with the solutions that will help to overcome their challenge. Generating high quality content regularly shows Google that you know what you’re talking about and acts as a crucial lead generation tactic for the future.
Optimise Your Website for Mobile Devices
More and more people are using their smartphones and tablets to access the internet, especially when it comes to the finance industry. According to data collected from a study conducted by Insider Intelligence, 89% of all respondents stated that they regularly use mobile banking. That percentage is even larger in millennials as a whopping 97% of millennials were said to use it in some way.
These stats highlight the importance of making sure your website is optimised for mobile devices. Mobile optimisation means ensuring your website loads quickly on mobile devices, that it is easy to navigate and that it looks good. Failing to do so means that you’re essentially turning away a huge proportion of potential customers. Use your google analytics account to understand if mobile or desktop optimization should be your first priority.
Focus on User Experience (UX)
User experience (UX) is another important factor when it comes to SEO for finance. A good UX will make it easy for visitors to find what they’re looking for on your website and encourage them to stay on your site longer. Think about it; you probably wouldn’t want to use the services of a business if their site was difficult and awkward to use?
Make your navigation clear and easy to use – Visitors should be able to find what they’re looking for on your website quickly and easily. Use clear and concise labels for your navigation links, and make sure they’re visible and easy to click on.
Use high-quality images and videos – Images and videos can break up text and make your website more visually appealing and engaging. Make sure your images are high-resolution and your videos are clear and concise.
Use a responsive design – Your website should look good and function properly on all devices, including desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. A responsive design will automatically adjust your website’s layout to fit the screen size of the device it’s being viewed on.
Use clear and concise language – Your website’s content should be easy to understand. Accountancy can be a complicated industry, so use clear and concise language that is free of jargon.
Consider the user journey – Tell visitors what you want them to do, such as contact you for more information or sign up for your newsletter. Make the journey to conversion as quick and straightforward as possible.
Off-Page SEO for Finance
Build Backlinks
Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. It shows that other websites deem your content to be useful in some way, and Google uses them as a valuable signal that your website is trustworthy and authoritative. There are a number of ways to build backlinks, such as guest blogging, social media sharing, and outreach.
The finance industry is huge and there are a wealth of finance related directories and guest blogging opportunities to choose from. The latter of the two – guest blogging – is especially effective as it provides essential exposure as well as the all important backlink. This helps to grow your brand and can act as another potential lead generation channel.
Use Social Media
Social media marketing is a great way to promote your website and attract new visitors. It also helps to build trust with your audience and acts as a valuable channel where you can interact with your customers. The key with social media is to go easy on the ‘salesy’ style posts – providing helpful information and providing solutions to your audience is often far more effective. Social media is also an off page link building tactic if you link back to your website.
Track Your Progress
SEO is an ongoing process and it’s important to track your progress so that you can see what’s working and what’s not. By tracking your SEO progress, you can make adjustments to your strategy and improve your results over time.
There are a number of SEO tools that can help you track your progress, such as Google Analytics, SEMrush, and Google Search Console. These tools can provide you with information about your website’s key KPI’s, such as traffic, conversions, rankings, and backlinks. This information will help you to identify problem areas, as well as which SEO strategies are effective and which ones need to be adjusted to bring further success.
It’s best to use a mixture of tools to get the best results when tracking your SEO strategy. For example, Google Analytics can tell you which pages on your website are getting the most traffic, and which keywords people are using to find your website. Ahrefs will tell you how many backlinks your website has, and which websites are linking to you. On the other hand, Google Search Console shows how your website is performing in Google Search and which keywords your website is ranking for.
By tracking your SEO progress, you can make adjustments to your strategy and improve your results over time. This will help you to attract more customers, help to grow your business and provide a better foundation to receive a positive ROI.
Get Affordable and Effective SEO for Finance With Loop Digital
SEO for finance businesses should be an important part of your digital marketing strategy. It’s one of the most effective ways to attract new customers and grow your business.
We can help you with all aspects of your SEO, from keyword research and content creation to backlink building and technical SEO. We’ll work with you to develop a customised SEO strategy that will help you achieve your unique business goals. Contact Loop Digital today to learn more about how we can help you improve the SEO for your finance business and take your company to new heights.
Emir is an invaluable member of our team, serving as one of our esteemed Account Managers. With a profound passion for on-page SEO, he possesses an exceptional talent for discovering innovative ways to optimise websites and enhance their rankings. Joining our organisation, Loop, in 2022, Emir brought with him a wealth of expertise gained from his Bachelor’s degree in Marketing Management and Advertising. Currently, he is eagerly pursuing his Master’s degree in International Marketing Strategy, further enhancing his comprehensive understanding of the global marketing landscape. Emir thrives on challenges and continuously seeks fresh opportunities to elevate our clients’ businesses to new heights. Aside from his professional endeavours, Emir has an unwavering passion for culinary arts and loves to cook up a storm. This ardour for cooking exemplifies his drive, creativity, and meticulous attention to detail, qualities that seamlessly translate into his work as a Digital Marketing Executive. His commitment to delivering exceptional results and his genuine enthusiasm for each project make him a trusted and highly sought-after professional. Emir’s profound expertise in on-page SEO, combined with his ambitious pursuit of knowledge and dedication to his clients, make him an invaluable asset to our team. His passion, both in and out of the office, reflects his commitment to excellence, leaving an indelible mark on our clients’ businesses.
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