Most consumers now search online for banking solutions, insurance products, or investment advice. Hence, making your financial services firm stand out in the crowded digital marketplace is critical to your business strategy.
With the global financial services market expected to grow from $23,319.52 billion in 2021 to a staggering $37,343.95 billion in 2026 at a compound annual growth rate of 9.6-10.8%, financial firms that want to carve out a share of this growth must be easily discoverable online.
This is where SEO, comes into play. A solid SEO strategy can be, in fact, a game-changer in the financial sector, where trust and visibility are paramount and competition fierce.
In this comprehensive guide, I will delve deep into the world of SEO for financial services. Together we’ll explore the importance of SEO in this rapidly expanding sector, and the specific challenges that financial firms face when implementing SEO. I will then offer actionable strategies to overcome these hurdles.
By the end, you’ll have a clear understanding of how to leverage SEO to drive traffic, generate leads, and boost conversions for your financial services firm.
Without further do, let’s get started!
Why Financial Services Need SEO?
SEO for financial services involves a variety of strategies, including keyword optimization, quality content creation, and link building. These strategies aim to make your website more appealing to search engines, improving your ranking.
However, it’s more than attracting traffic. It’s about attracting the right traffic. This means targeting individuals likely to be interested in your financial services.
Having a strong online presence is also crucial for financial services due to the highly competitive nature of the industry. As potential clients often search for financial services online, SEO plays a significant role in improving your website’s visibility.
Ranking on the first page of search engine results can in fact greatly increase the chances of attracting potential clients to your website, boost website traffic and grow your leads and customers base. Additionally, it helps build your brand’s reputation and authority in the financial industry.
Unlike paid advertising, SEO results are enduring, and with consistent updates, your website can maintain high search engine rankings, guaranteeing a steady influx of organic traffic.
In the following sections, we will delve deeper into the critical components of SEO for financial services, current trends, and how to build an effective SEO strategy.
Regulatory Constraints
The financial services industry is one of the most heavily regulated sectors. These regulations often extend to digital marketing practices, including SEO. For instance, there are strict rules about making false or misleading claims, which means that financial firms must be extra cautious about the keywords they use and the content they publish.
High Competition in Keywords
The financial services sector is saturated, with numerous firms vying for market share. This competition extends to SEO, where many companies compete for the same keywords. This drives up the cost of PPC campaigns and makes it harder to rank organically.
Building Trust Online
Trust is a crucial element in the financial industry. Customers need to trust a company before they’ll consider entrusting it with their money. However, building this trust online can be challenging, especially given the impersonal nature of digital interactions and the prevalence of online scams.
Content Quality Requirements
Financial services content is subject to strict quality requirements, as it falls under the “Your Money Or Your Life” (YMYL) category. This encompasses content that could potentially impact a person’s health, safety, happiness, or financial stability. Financial services companies must prioritise high-quality content, as making the wrong decisions based on poor content can have serious consequences. Google recognises this and will hold YMYL pages to a higher standard, ensuring only the best content appears at the top of search engine results pages.
Complex and Diverse Customer Needs
The financial services industry serves a wide array of customers, from individual consumers to large corporations, each with different needs and search habits. Financial firms must implement a multifaceted SEO strategy that caters to various audience segments.
In the following sections, we will dive into how you can navigate these challenges and turn them into SEO success stories for your financial firm
E-E-A-T: A Key SEO Concept for Financial Services
Google’s SEO concept of Expertise, Authority, and Trust (E-A-T) has recently been updated to include an extra E for Experience, forming the acronym E-E-A-T. This update is crucial for YMYL categories like financial services, where information accuracy and reliability significantly impact financial decisions. But what exactly means E-E-A-T? Let me unpack it for you:
Expertise
This shows how extensive is your knowledge of finance-related topics through in-depth, well-researched content. A great way to show expertise can be by highlighting the author’s qualifications and experience.
Experience
New to E-A-T, this concept emphasises the value of first-hand experiences. A great tactic to enhance credibility could be to include case studies, testimonials, and personal experiences.
Authority
This shows how much your brand can be seen as a respected information source. You can gain recognition through high-quality backlinks, positive user reviews, and brand mentions in reputable third-party publications.
Trust
This last letter of the acronym refers to how reliable is your business. Ensuring website security, being transparent about business practices, and providing clear and honest service information are key to build trust. A professional, user-friendly website design will also help you look more reliable.
Remember, Google’s guidelines highlight trust as the most critical E-E-A-T component. So, maintaining high trust levels is key to achieving high search engine rankings. By focusing on E-E-A-T, you can improve rankings, establish your brand as a trusted leader, attract more organic traffic, and increase customer conversions.
A 10-Step SEO Strategy for Financial Services
1. Segment Your Audience and Develop User Personas
Any successful SEO strategy starts with a deep understanding of your audience.
In the financial services sector, your audience could range from individual consumers looking for personal banking solutions to corporations seeking investment advice.
The key here is to identify the different categories of customers you serve and develop detailed personas for each segment. These personas should include characteristics like age, income level, financial goals, search habits, and types of content they prefer. For instance, younger audiences might be interested in “mobile banking solutions”, while a small business owner might search for “small business loan requirements.”
2. Run Comprehensive Keyword Research
With a clear understanding of your audience, you can now start your keyword research.
Utilise popular SEO tools like Google’s Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs to identify high-volume and long-tail keywords relevant to your services and audience. For example, if you’re a mortgage lender, keywords could range from broad terms like “mortgage loans” to more specific long-tail keywords like “first-time home buyer mortgage.”
Don’t forget to identify question-based searches with tools like AnswerThePublic or AlsoAsked. These questions represent your audience’s queries and concerns, offering valuable insights into the type of content you should produce.
3. Plan Content and Build Topical Authority
Writing about anything that comes to your mind is not a smart SEO strategy. You might want to plan your content in order to build what in SEO is often referred to as topical authority.
Topical Authority
Topical authority is a website’s recognised expertise and credibility on a specific subject, as determined by its depth and quality of content in that area.
To build topical authority, start by choosing a specific topic related to your financial services. This could be an area where you already have expertise or a service you want to promote. For instance, if you specialise in retirement planning, this could be your chosen topic.
Content Strategy
Next, plan a series of content pieces around this topic. You could start with a comprehensive pillar page that provides an overview of retirement planning. This should be a long-form piece of content that covers the topic broadly and serves as a central hub of information.
Following the pillar content, develop a series of cluster content. These are shorter, more specific pieces that delve into subtopics related to retirement planning. For example, you could have blog posts on “retirement planning for self-employed individuals,” “how to choose a retirement plan,” “understanding 401(k) contributions,” and so on.
Ensure each cluster content piece links back to your pillar page, and the pillar page links to each cluster content. This internal linking structure signals to search engines that you have depth of content in this area, helping to build your topical authority.
4. Create High-Quality Content
Content is the backbone of your SEO strategy. Once your audience personas and keyword research has been tackled, it’s time to start creating highly-relevant content.
When it comes to the financial services industry, some formats will be more suitable than others. Here are a few particularly effective ones:
Instructional: "How to X"
Finance is a complex field that many people find confusing or intimidating. Instructional content like “How to Create a Retirement Savings Plan” or “How to Choose the Right Insurance Policy” can provide valuable guidance and help build trust with your audience.
Comparison: "X vs. X"
Financial services often involve making important decisions between different options. Comparison pieces like “Term Life Insurance vs. Whole Life Insurance: Which is Better for You?” can help consumers make informed decisions.
Guides: "The Ultimate Guide to X"
Detailed guides like “The Ultimate Guide to Understanding Your Credit Score” or “The Ultimate Guide to Small Business Loans” can position you as an authority in your field and keep users on your site for longer periods of time, which can positively impact SEO.
Roundup: "X Experts Share Their Opinions on Y"
Financial matters often involve diverse opinions. Roundups like “10 Financial Advisors Share Their Top Investment Tips” can offer your audience a range of perspectives, which can boost engagement and shares.
FAQ: "All Your Questions About X Answered"
An FAQ format can help you directly answer the questions that your audience is typing into search engines, like “All Your Questions About Mortgage Refinancing, Answered.”
Case Study: "How X Achieved Y"
Case studies can provide real-life examples of how your services have benefited customers, adding credibility and trustworthiness to your brand. An example could be “How John Achieved Financial Freedom with Strategic Investment Planning.”
Data Research or Survey: "A Comprehensive Study on X"
In the financial industry, data-driven insights are particularly important. Data Research, studies, or surveys such as “A Comprehensive Study on the Impacts of Inflation on Retirement Savings” can help you stand out as a thought leader in your industry.
It’s useful to experiment with different formats to see what resonates most with your audience and generates the best SEO results, but the key here is to provide valuable, actionable advice that addresses your audience’s needs and concerns.
5. Optimise for Search Intent and Include Keywords
Once you’ve identified your target keywords and built a solid content plan, it’s important to strategically incorporate your target keywords into the content you are going to be write.
But it’s not all about writing content that just has your keywords here and there. Everything you publish on your site must incluse target search terms and phrases people search online and, above all, answer search intent.
For example, if the search intent for a keyword is primarily informational (e.g. “what is a mortgage”, “how to apply for a loan”), your page should provide valuable information on that topic to be ranked for those specific keywords. If the search intent is transactional (“buy travel insurance”, “apply for credit card”), your page should make it easy for visitors to make a purchase or sign up for that financial service.
If you get the search intent wrong, the article you are writing about could be the best in terms of quality of writing and information, but search engines won’t consider it anyway as it doesn’t match what users are looking for when searching for that specific keyword you chose to target.
Once you analysed and understood the search intent, it’s time to place your key terms and phrases in your title tag, headers (H1, H2s, H3s, etc.), meta descriptions, and throughout the content. For instance, if your target keyword is “auto insurance quotes,” make sure to include this keyword in a natural way in your page title, H1, meta description, and in the body of your content.
If you follow these few essential SEO notions, you will maximise your chances to write content that actually rank in search engines.
6. Adopt Compliance and Transparency Measures
In the financial services industry, compliance with regulations is crucial for maintaining a trustworthy reputation and avoiding legal issues.
It is important to ensure that all SEO strategies implemented are compliant with industry regulations. This includes staying up-to-date with any changes in the regulatory environment and making necessary adjustments to your SEO tactics. Additionally, it is highly recommended to maintain transparency in your services, costs, and business practices.
For instance, if you are advertising a loan service, it’s essential to provide clear disclosure of interest rates and terms, as well as any additional fees or charges that may apply. This not only helps build trust with potential customers but also ensures that they are fully informed before making any financial decisions.
Ultimately, a compliant and transparent approach to content creation can help establish your business as a reliable and trustworthy player in the financial services industry, which in turn will strengthen your trust in Google’s eyes and improve your rankings.
7. Earn Trust with Link Building and Digital PR
Backlinks are another significant factor in how search engines rank your financial services website.
You should make sure to write high-quality, shareable content that naturally gains backlinks from other sources and strengthen the authority in your financial niche.
Here are a few ideas:
Create and promote informative content
Writing blog posts, white papers, ebooks, or guides that offer valuable information on financial services-related topics is a great way to engage your audience. For instance, you could create a guide on how to save money for retirement or a white paper on the current trends in digital banking. You can then promote your content on social media, email newsletters, or even guest posts on relevant websites. This approach can help you attract links from authoritative sources who are keen on sharing your content with their audience.
Leverage data and research
Another way to demonstrate your knowledge and abilities is by generating engaging content through conducting your own research or utilising available third-party data. You can opt to produce infographics, charts, or interactive tools that present financial data, such as consumer spending patterns, inflation rates, or investment profits. Then, you can offer this content to journalists, bloggers, or Subject Matter Experts (SME) who focus on financial news or topics. This will allow you to obtaining links from credible media sources and specialised publications which will be highly relevant to your target audience.
Partner with Influencers
One last effective strategy to build your credibility and reach in the financial sector is to partner with influential people who have a large and dedicated following in the financial sector. You can collaborate with them to create engaging content like podcasts, webinars, or interviews. Additionally, you can request them to review your products or services and even offer them exclusive discounts or incentives. This approach can help you gain exposure and credibility among their followers, which, in turn, can drive traffic to your website and credibility around your business.
This are just a few ideas and there are really a ton of things you can do to earn backlinks that will be useful to generate referral traffic to your site and earn higher credibility for search engines and users.
8. Enhance Crawlability and UX with Technical SEO
Another element of a strong SEO strategy for financial services is Technical SEO. It’s, in fact, key to ensure that your website meets the technical requirements of modern search engines with the goal of improving organic rankings.
HTTPS Security and Mobile Friendliness
For financial services, the basic technical needs you need to fulfill are having a secure (HTTPS) website, and ensuring your site is mobile-friendly, as studies show that 70% of consumers now access financial information via mobile devices.
Site Architecture
Your website’s architecture should be also logical and straightforward, ensuring a seamless user experience and easy crawling and indexing by search engines. Implement structured data markup to enhance your search listings with rich snippets, improving visibility.
Page Load and Site Speed
Page load speed is another crucial factor; a slow website can cause users to leave, increasing your bounce rate and negatively affecting your rankings. Use tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights to identify any issues that might be slowing down your site and then take steps to address them.
Structured Data and Schema Markup for Financial Services
Implementing schema markup and structured data can also significantly boost your SEO efforts by helping search engines better understand your content and providing users with more informative search results. For financial services, using specific schemas like “FinancialService”, “InvestmentOrDeposit”, “PaymentService”, or “CurrencyConversionService” can enhance your visibility in Google.
For instance, if you’re an investment firm, you can use the “InvestmentOrDeposit” schema to provide details about investment plans. A bank might use the “BankOrCreditUnion” schema to provide more information about its services.
Structured data for reviews and ratings can be beneficial as well. By using the “Review” schema, positive customer testimonials can appear directly in search results, improving click-through rates.
Whatever schema markup you will decide to implement remember, schema markup requires careful handling. Use Google’s Structured Data Testing Tool to validate your markup and ensure it’s correctly implemented.
Fix Broken Links
Lastly, fix any broken links or 404 errors, as these can impact user experience and your site’s ranking. Regularly audit your website to detect and rectify such issues.
The ones I just listed are only some essential technical SEO requirements you might want to implement, but there are many other technical SEO considerations to keep in mind.
And remember, while technical SEO might not be immediately visible to users, it’s a critical component of SEO that ensures your site is search engine-friendly and provides a good user experience, so it shouldn’t be ignored.
9. Get Found Locally with Local SEO
For financial firms with a physical location, local SEO is another crucial aspect.
Financial services like banking, insurance, and financial advisory are often location-dependent, as customers prefer to work with local providers they can meet in person. So, ranking in local search results can directly impact customer acquisition.
Local SEO is also often less competitive than trying to rank for broader search terms, as you’re only competing with other businesses in the same geographical area. This is why a strong local SEO strategy can provide another competitive advantage.
Some best practices here are listing your financial services business on online directories like Google My Business, and ensuring your business’s name, address, and phone number (NAP) are consistent across all platforms.
And don’t forget to encourage customers to leave reviews, as this can massively improve your local search ranking.
10. Track Your Performance and Keep Optimising
SEO is not a one-time task but an ongoing process that requires continuous optimisation.
Financial trends, market conditions, search engine algorithms, and consumer behaviours all change over time. That’s why it’s crucial to continually monitor your website’s performance and make necessary adjustments. Here are a few tips to do so:
Use Analytics and Keyword Tracking Tools
Use Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track your site’s traffic, user behaviour, and search performance. Keep a close eye on your keyword rankings and watch out for any significant changes. If a keyword’s ranking drops, investigate and address the issue. It could be due to updated search engine algorithms, increased competition, or changes in search behavior.
Regularly Update and Refresh Your Content
If a piece of content is outdated or no longer accurate, update it with the most recent information. This not only helps maintain your site’s credibility and authority but can also improve rankings. For instance, a blog post about investment strategies might need to be updated to reflect the current market conditions.
Be on the Lookout for New Keyword Opportunities
If a piece of content is outdated or no longer accurate, update it with the most recent information. This not only helps maintain your site’s credibility and authority but can also improve rankings. For instance, a blog post about investment strategies might need to be updated to reflect the current market conditions. As financial trends and consumer interests evolve, new keywords may emerge that you can target. Tools like SEMrush can help identify these opportunities.
Remember, SEO is a long-term strategy. Consistency, patience, and continuous optimisation are key to achieving and maintaining high search engine rankings. It’s about staying relevant, providing value, and keeping up with the ever-changing digital landscape.
SEO KPIs for Financial Services
In order to implement this successful SEO strategy in financial services, it’s critical to measure certain KPIs that provide insights into your performance.
These metrics will provide a comprehensive view of your SEO strategy’s effectiveness and guide future optimisations. They include:
- Organic Traffic: Track the number of visitors who find your website through search engine results.
- Keyword Rankings: Monitor the position of your targeted keywords in search engine results pages (SERPs) to gauge your visibility.
- Conversion Rate: Measure the percentage of users who take a desired action on your website, like filling out a form or signing up for a newsletter.
- Bounce Rate: Evaluate the percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page; a high bounce rate may indicate irrelevant content or poor user experience.
- Page Load Time: Analyse how quickly your web pages load as this can impact your SERP rankings and user experience.
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): Determine the percentage of people who click on your website’s link in the SERPs.
- Backlinks: Count the number of quality backlinks to your site, as they enhance your site’s authority and can improve rankings.
- Local Visibility: For financial firms with physical locations, it’s crucial to measure local visibility, such as ranking in local search queries and Google Maps.
A Successful Case Study in the Financial Services Industry - The Fry Group
As a leading UK and international financial advisory firm, The Fry Group provides an exemplary illustration of a robust SEO strategy within the financial services sector. Let’s take a closer look at the various facets of their approach.
Website Structure and Navigation
The Fry Group’s website is structured clearly, making it easy for both users and search engines to navigate. The main services – Tax Planning, Financial Planning, and Estate Planning – are prominently displayed on the homepage.
Each service section is also further broken down into specific topics, such as Inheritance Tax Planning and Expat Tax Advice under Tax Planning.
This structure not only enhances user experience by making information easy to find but also allows the site to rank for a wider range of specific, relevant keywords.
Strategic Keyword Targeting
The Fry Group excels in strategic keyword targeting. They’ve meticulously researched the search behaviour of their potential clients, especially those seeking international financial planning, tax advice, and estate planning services.
This detailed understanding has guided their content creation, helping them rank number 1 for highly targeted keywords like “expat tax advice”, “international financial advisor” and “tax mitigation”.
Demonstrating E-E-A-T
The Fry Group’s website effectively demonstrates the principles of Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trust (E-E-A-T), which is a key concept in the YMYL category as I mentioned many times throughout this guide.
Expertise and Experience: The detailed service descriptions and informative blog posts showcase the company’s deep knowledge and first-hand experience in the financial services sector of their authors.
Authority: The ‘About Us’ section provides information about the company’s history and team, establishing its authority in the field.
Trust: The inclusion of client testimonials and information about the company’s corporate responsibility initiatives add to the site’s trust factor.
High-Quality Content Creation
High-quality, value-driven content is a cornerstone of The Fry Group’s SEO strategy. They consistently deliver comprehensive guides, articles, and expert insights through their ‘News & Insights’ and ‘Resources’ section.
For example, articles like “Navigating Inheritance Tax as an Expat” and “Financial Planning for International Residents” not only cater to their audience’s needs but also enhance their topical authority, contributing to better search engine rankings.
Local SEO Implementation
Despite being an international company, The Fry Group recognises the power of local SEO. They’ve customised their online presence to cater to specific geographic locations where they operate, such as the UK, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
They’ve leveraged Google My Business to optimise their local listings, making it easy for potential clients in these regions to find them when they search for local financial advisory services.
The Fry Group’s success demonstrates the power of a well-rounded and thoughtfully executed SEO strategy in the financial services industry. It serves as a potent reminder that understanding your audience, creating high-quality content, optimising for E-E-A-T, and leveraging local SEO can collectively lead to significant improvements in search engine rankings and online visibility.
Ready To Implement an SEO Strategy For Your Financial Service?
Having unpacked the complexity of SEO for financial services, it’s clear that achieving top rankings requires a strategic, knowledgeable, and persistent approach. But you don’t have to navigate this journey alone. If you’re a financial services brand looking to enhance your online visibility, increase organic traffic, and capture more potential customers, I’m here to help.
As an experienced finance SEO consultant, I specialise in creating tailored, comprehensive SEO strategies that align with your unique business goals of financial companies. Together, we can propel your brand to the forefront of search engine results and achieve sustained success in your financial niche.
Ready to take your online presence to new heights? Don’t hesitate – contact me today to schedule a consultation and embark on your journey to SEO success. Your top spot on Google awaits.
