In 2023 businesses need to have an online presence to reach their target audience effectively, which makes SEO for financial services a must-do rather than just an option.
However, just having a website is not enough; businesses need to ensure that their website is optimised for search engines to rank well in search engine results pages (SERPs).
This is where search engine optimisation (SEO) comes into play.
A well-optimised website can help financial services businesses attract more qualified leads, build trust, and establish authority within their industry.
What is SEO for Financial Services?
SEO involves the optimisation of a financial services website to improve its ranking on search engines such as Google, Bing, and Yahoo.
SEO involves several different strategies, including keyword research, on-page optimisation, link building, and technical optimisation.
The goal of SEO is to improve the visibility and authority of a financial services website in search engine results pages, which can lead to increased traffic and ultimately more business.
Why is SEO Important for Financial Services?
Financial services companies operate in a highly competitive and regulated environment, and SEO is particularly important for them to establish trust with their customers.
By ranking high in search results, they can be seen as authoritative and trustworthy sources. Online searches for financial services have increased, with 89% of consumers using search engines for research before making a purchase.
Ranking well in search results can significantly impact a financial services business’s bottom line. SEO is cost-effective compared to other marketing channels and can establish a long-term online presence for stable leads and revenue over time.
Key Concepts of SEO
To effectively optimise a financial services website for search engines, it is essential to understand the key concepts of SEO.
SEO involves several different strategies, including keyword research, on-page optimisation, link building, and technical optimisation.
Keywords and Search Intent
Keywords are words or phrases that users type into search engines when looking for information, products, or services. Keyword research involves identifying the keywords and phrases that users are searching for related to a financial services business.
Understanding search intent is also critical for effective keyword research. Search intent refers to the reason why a user is searching for a particular keyword or phrase. There are four types of search intent:
- Informational: Users are looking for information about a particular topic.
- Navigational: Users are looking for a particular website or page.
- Commercial: Users are looking for information about a product or service to purchase.
- Transactional: Users are ready to make a purchase.
By understanding the different types of search intent, financial services businesses can identify the keywords and phrases that are most likely to attract qualified leads and develop an effective SEO strategy.
On-Page Optimisation
On-page optimisation involves optimising individual pages on a website to improve their visibility and ranking in search engine results pages. The key elements of on-page optimisation include:
- Title tags: The title tag is a brief description of the page’s content that appears in search engine results in pages. It should include the primary keyword and be no more than 60 characters.
- Meta descriptions: The meta description is a summary of the page’s content that appears in search engine results in pages. It should be no more than 155 characters and include the primary keyword.
- Header tags: Header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) are used to organise the content on a page and help search engines understand the page’s structure. The H1 tag should include the primary keyword, and other header tags can be used to organise subheadings.
- Content optimisation: Content optimisation involves ensuring that the content on a page is high-quality, informative, and relevant to the primary keyword. It should also include secondary keywords and be formatted with bullet points, lists, and other elements that make it easy to read.
- Image optimisation: Image optimisation involves ensuring that images on a page are properly sized, compressed, and include descriptive alt text that includes the primary keyword.
Link Building
Link building involves getting other websites to link to a financial services website. Links from other websites to a financial services website are known as backlinks and are one of the most important ranking factors for search engines.
The key elements of link building include:
- Content creation: Creating high-quality, informative content that is valuable to other websites and their audiences is one of the most effective link-building strategies.
- Outreach: Reaching out to other websites and asking them to link to a financial services website is another effective link-building strategy. It is important to approach relevant websites and offer them something of value in exchange for the link.
- Guest posting: Guest posting involves creating content for other websites and including a link back to a financial services website. This is an effective way to build backlinks and establish authority within an industry.
Technical SEO
Technical SEO involves optimising the technical elements of a website to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages. The key elements of technical SEO include:
- Site speed: Site speed is a critical ranking factor for search engines. Financial services businesses should ensure that their website loads quickly and is optimised for mobile devices.
- Site structure: Site structure refers to the organisation of a website’s content and pages. It should be easy for users and search engines to navigate.
- URL structure: URL structure refers to the format
Keyword Research
Keyword research is the process of identifying the keywords and phrases that users are searching for related to a financial services business.
Identifying Target Keywords
The first step is to identify the target keywords that are most relevant to the business.
Financial services marketers should consider the services they offer, think like a customer, and use keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner to identify relevant keywords and provide data on search volume and competition.
Analysing Search Intent
Understanding search intent is critical for effective keyword research. Search intent refers to the reason why a user is searching for a particular keyword or phrase. There are four types of search intent:
- Informational: Users are looking for information about a particular topic.
- Navigational: Users are looking for a particular website or page.
- Commercial: Users are looking for information about a product or service to purchase.
- Transactional: Users are ready to make a purchase.
Conducting Competitor Research
Competitor research can provide valuable insights into the keywords and phrases that are most relevant to a financial services business.
By analysing the keywords that competitors are targeting, financial services marketers can identify new keyword opportunities and develop a strategy to outrank competitors in search engine results in pages.
To conduct competitor research, financial services marketers should:
- Identify competitors: Financial services businesses should identify their main competitors in the industry and analyse their websites and SEO strategies.
- Analyse keyword usage: Financial services marketers should analyse the keywords and phrases that competitors are targeting on their websites, in their content, and their metadata.
- Identify keyword gaps: Financial services marketers should identify keywords that competitors are not targeting but are relevant to their business and develop a strategy to target those keywords.
On-Page Optimisation
On-page optimisation is the process of optimising individual web pages to rank higher and earn more relevant traffic in search engines.
On-page optimisation involves optimising the content, structure, and HTML source code of a webpage.
Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are two of the most important on-page SEO elements. A title tag is an HTML element that specifies the title of a webpage.
A meta description is an HTML element that provides a summary of the content on a webpage.
To optimise title tags and meta descriptions for financial services websites, financial services marketers should:
- Include relevant keywords: Financial services marketers should include relevant keywords in the title tag and meta description to help search engines understand the content of the webpage.
- Keep it concise: Title tags should be no longer than 60 characters, and meta descriptions should be no longer than 155 characters.
- Write compelling copy: Title tags and meta descriptions should be written to attract clicks from search engine users. They should be clear, concise, and compelling.
Header Tags
Header tags are HTML elements used to define headings and subheadings on a webpage. Header tags range from H1 to H6, with H1 being the most important heading and H6 being the least important.
To optimise header tags for financial services websites, financial services marketers should:
- Use one H1 tag per page: Each page on a financial services website should have one H1 tag that accurately describes the content of the page.
- Use H2 and H3 tags for subheadings: H2 and H3 tags should be used for subheadings on a webpage.
- Include relevant keywords: Header tags should include relevant keywords to help search engines understand the content of the webpage.
Content Optimisation
Content optimisation involves optimising the content on a webpage to make it more relevant to search engines and users.
To optimise content for financial services websites, financial services marketers should:
- Include relevant keywords: Financial services marketers should include relevant keywords throughout the content on a webpage, including in the page title, header tags, and body text.
- Write high-quality content: High-quality content is important for both search engines and users. Financial services marketers should aim to create informative, engaging, and original content that provides value to users.
- Use descriptive URLs: URLs should be descriptive and include relevant keywords.
Image Optimisation
When optimizing images for a website, there are a few best practices to keep in mind. First, it’s important to compress images in order to reduce their file size and improve page load speed.
This can be done using image compression tools or plugins. In addition to compressing images, it’s also helpful to use descriptive file names. File names should include relevant keywords that accurately describe the content of the image.
This not only helps with SEO, but also makes it easier for users to understand what the image is about. Another important aspect of optimizing images is including alt text. Alt text is a description of the image that is displayed when the image cannot be loaded, as well as for users with visual impairments who use screen readers to navigate the web.
Alt text should be descriptive and accurately reflect the content of the image. This also helps search engines understand the content of the webpage and improve its overall ranking.
Link Building
Link building is the process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own.
Link building is an important component of SEO for websites because it helps to improve search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your website.
Why Link Building is Important
Link building is important for financial services websites for several reasons, including:
- Search engine rankings: Search engines use links as a way to measure the authority and relevance of a website. Websites with more high-quality links tend to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).
- Referral traffic: Links from other websites can drive referral traffic to your website, which can lead to increased brand awareness and customer acquisition.
- Brand visibility: Link building can increase your brand’s visibility by exposing your website to a wider audience.
Types of Backlinks
There are several types of links that financial services websites can acquire, including:
- Editorial links: Editorial links are links that are earned naturally as a result of creating high-quality content that other websites want to link to.
- Guest post links: Guest post links are links that are earned by writing content for another website in exchange for a link back to your website.
- Directory links: Directory links are links that are earned by submitting your website to a directory.
- Social media links: Social media links are links that are earned by sharing content on social media platforms and having other users link to your content.
Finding Link Opportunities
To find link-building opportunities for financial services websites, financial services marketers should:
- Conduct competitor research: Identify the websites that are linking to your competitors and try to get links from those websites.
- Utilise link analysis tools: Use link analysis tools such as Ahrefs and Moz to identify websites that are linking to your competitors and find new link-building opportunities.
- Monitor brand mentions: Monitor brand mentions on social media and other websites and reach out to the website owners to ask for a link back to your website.
- Look for broken link opportunities: Look for broken links on other websites and offer to replace the broken link with a link to your website.
Outreach Strategies
Once you have identified potential link-building opportunities, the next step is to reach out to the website owners and ask for a link back to your website.
To do this, financial services marketers should:
- Personalise their outreach: Personalise outreach emails to the website owners and explain why a link to your website would be valuable to their audience.
- Follow up: Follow up with website owners who haven’t responded to your initial outreach email.
- Provide value: Provide value to website owners by offering to create new content or provide expert insights in exchange for a link back to your website.
- Be persistent: Link building can be a time-consuming process, but it is important to be persistent and continue to reach out to new websites to build a strong backlink profile.
Link building is an important component of SEO. By acquiring high-quality links from other websites, financial services marketers can improve search engine rankings, drive more referral traffic, and increase brand visibility.
Technical SEO
In addition to on-page optimisation and link building, technical SEO is another important component of SEO. Technical SEO refers to the process of optimising a website’s structure and backend to improve search engine visibility and user experience.
Site Structure
The structure of a financial services website is an important aspect of technical SEO. A well-structured website makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your website, which can lead to improved search engine visibility. To optimise the structure of your financial services website, consider the following:
- Use a clear hierarchy: Organise your website into a clear hierarchy, with the homepage at the top, followed by category pages and subcategory pages.
- Use descriptive URLs: Use descriptive URLs that include relevant keywords and accurately describe the content on the page.
- Create a sitemap: Create a sitemap that lists all of the pages on your website to help search engines crawl and index your website more efficiently.
- Use internal linking: Use internal linking to help search engines understand the structure of your website and the relationship between different pages.
Mobile Optimisation
With the majority of web traffic now coming from mobile devices, it’s important to ensure that your website is optimised for mobile users. To optimise your financial services website for mobile devices, consider the following:
- Use a responsive design: Use a responsive design that adjusts to the size of the user’s screen to ensure that your website is accessible on all devices.
- Optimise page speed: Optimise page speed for mobile users by reducing file sizes, compressing images, and minimising the use of scripts.
- Ensure readability: Ensure that your website is readable on mobile devices by using legible fonts, avoiding small font sizes, and using sufficient contrast between text and background.
Site Speed
A slow-loading website can negatively impact user experience and search engine visibility. To optimise your financial services website for speed, consider the following:
- Compress images: Compress images to reduce file sizes and improve page load times.
- Minimise the use of scripts: Minimise the use of scripts to reduce the amount of time it takes for your website to load.
- Use a content delivery network (CDN): Use a CDN to deliver content to users more quickly by caching content on servers located closer to the user.
Site Security
Financial services websites handle sensitive information, such as personal and financial data, and it’s important to ensure that this information is protected. To optimise your financial services website for security, consider the following:
- Use HTTPS: Use HTTPS to encrypt data transmitted between your website and users to prevent unauthorised access.
- Use strong passwords: Use strong passwords to protect your website from unauthorised access.
- Install security software: Install security software to protect your website from malware and other security threats.
By optimising your website’s structure, mobile optimisation, site speed, and site security, you can improve search engine visibility and user experience.
Analytics and Reporting of SEO Results
When it comes to SEO for financial services, measuring success is crucial. That’s where analytics and reporting come into play.
Setting up Google Analytics
Google Analytics is a free tool provided by Google that allows you to track website traffic and user behaviour. Here’s how to set it up for your financial services website:
- Create a Google Analytics account and sign in to the platform.
- Set up a property for your website by following the prompts.
- Install the Google Analytics tracking code on your website.
- Verify that your tracking code is working properly.
Once you have Google Analytics set up, you can start tracking data and using it to make informed decisions about your SEO strategy.
Key performance indicators (KPIs) for financial services
When it comes to measuring the success of your SEO efforts, there are a few key performance indicators (KPIs) that you should pay attention to:
- Organic traffic: This refers to the number of visitors to your website that comes from organic search results.
- Conversion rate: This is the percentage of visitors to your website that take a desired action, such as filling out a contact form or making a purchase.
- Time on site: This is the amount of time that visitors spend on your website.
- Bounce rate: This is the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page.
- By tracking these KPIs over time, you can get a sense of how your SEO strategy is performing and make adjustments as needed.
Measuring SEO success
To measure the success of your SEO efforts, you’ll want to keep an eye on the following metrics:
- Keyword rankings: Use a tool like Google Search Console or SEMrush to track your website’s ranking for target keywords over time.
- Backlinks: Keep track of the number and quality of backlinks pointing to your website.
- On-page optimisation: Use a tool like Screaming Frog or Moz to audit your website’s on-page optimisation and make improvements as needed.
- Technical SEO: Use a tool like Google PageSpeed Insights to measure your website’s page speed and identify areas for improvement.
