Top Tips For Financial Services SEO

Intro

When it comes to SEO for financial services people tend to fall into two camps. Perhaps they think SEO isn’t that important because their business is mostly based on referrals. Or maybe they realize that the financial world is rapidly moving online and that SEO is vital for generating leads.

This research has found that millennials like to do their own research when it comes to managing their finances. And where do they do this research? You guessed it, online. Let’s take a look at some ways that financial services can build good SEO.

Make Your Website Fast, Secure, And Mobile Friendly

In the modern day, if your website doesn’t load within two seconds, it will be considered slow, and you could immediately lose a potential customer. Consumers are spending long hours on their smartphones. 57% of all online traffic comes from tablets or smartphones.

There is a cyber-attack every 39 seconds. 43% of cyber-attacks are targeted at small businesses. All of this should make you realize the importance of speed, security, and making your website mobile-friendly.

If your website is lacking in any of these fundamentals, your online traffic is going to drastically suffer.

Find Your Top Keywords

Google’s algorithm is called RankBrain. This AI system helps to improve search results. It will test and tweak new search results. Depending on how users interact with the new results, RankBrain will either stick with it or go back to the old results.

If you aren’t using SEO software, such as Ranktracker, you will be at a major disadvantage. Ranktracker can help you to find the keywords that will drive traffic to your website. The top keywords for financial advisors would be “financial advisor”, “wealth management” and “financial planning”.

(Photo made by Caio from Pexels)

Optimize Titles, Headings, And Content

When you flick through a newspaper, it’s likely that you scan the headlines and see if it interests you. In the same way, people browsing the internet will quickly scan titles, headings, and web page descriptions.

Make sure that your titles and your headings include keyword phrases. Make sure that they accurately describe the content. Don’t stuff too many keywords, it has to seem natural, and these practices can be picked up by the search engine algorithms.

Be sure to format your content so it includes headings. Most content management platforms will allow you to do this easily.

Optimize Your Google “My Business Page”

You will need local SEO. If financial companies want local customers they need to make themselves available. I’m sure you’ve seen the list of companies and services that come up when you use Google Maps.

These local listings come from companies adding a My Business Page to Google. Google My Business will make sure that you come up on local searches. It can also include your phone number, address, business hours, company reviews, and any important updates.

For optimization, make sure you choose the appropriate business category. Write a long and rich business description and include keywords. Make sure the name, address, and phone number are all correct. Add a link to your company's website. Connect your social media and be sure to add a ton of good quality photos.

Complete All Social Media And Directory Listings

Google will pull information from all of your directory listings, whether you are aware of them or not. Try to find and complete all of your online profiles.

This could include LinkedIn, Yellow Pages, Yelp, Wallet Hub, Wealth Management, Insider Media, Financial Service Directory, Wiser Advisor, and CPA Directory.

Create A Blog With High-Quality Content

Having a blog will massively increase your search engine ranking. It’s also great for enhancing the customer experience. Many people like to spend time reading articles and blogs online. They can be informative and entertaining. You could write articles about trade alerts, saving for retirement, crypto, budgeting, or taxes.

You can also include videos about your products and services. Including high-quality content on your website means that it could be shared on social media. In this way, you can expand your reach. Create blogs based on keywords that your target audience is using.

Search engines scrutinize some websites a lot more than others. If it is a service that has the capacity to radically affect a person's wellbeing then it is classified as a YMYL website. This stands for Your Money, Your Life.

Financial services obviously fall within this category. This means that it is more difficult for financial services to rank well.

Quality content should be made primarily for users. It shouldn’t be deceptive. It should stand out from the crowd and offer unique advice and perspectives. Automatically generated content, hidden links, unoriginal content, and keyword stuffing will all negatively impact your SEO.

Use Optimized Images And Videos

Images and videos help to create an enjoyable experience for people browsing your website. Search crawlers won’t actually see the images or videos until they click on your website. They will rely on additional information to understand what the image or video is about.

Make sure that you think about and optimize your image file name, image title, image alt tag, and image description.

Benefits of SEO For Financial Services

If you carefully optimize your website you will undoubtedly see a big return on investment. It will increase your authority and levels of trust. Ranking high on search engines makes you seem like a legitimate business.

Working on SEO will increase organic traffic to your website. You can point users to web pages that are going to generate sales and help to promote your services.

Working on SEO will help you to beat the competition. The financial services industry is highly saturated. Good SEO will help you to stand out from the crowd. Financial SEO will help you to dominate the online space and overtake the competition.

In Summary

If you want solid SEO for your company that offers financial services, first make sure that your website is fast, secure, and mobile-friendly. Use software such as Ranktracker to find your top keywords. Make sure you optimize your headings, titles, and your content.

Optimize your Google “My Business Page” and make sure that all of your online profiles and listings are up to date. Create a blog with high-quality content and optimize your images and videos. Follow these tips and you will be on your way to success.