If you’re not sure what SEO is all about, you could be missing out on a lot of money. When it comes to easy-to-use, low-cost strategies for reliable profitability online, SEO for financial services is hard to beat. In this article, you will learn more about SEO and how you could leverage it for your company.
What is SEO for Financial Services?
Search engine optimization (SEO) in this context, is not referring to “seasoned equity offering”. When it comes to digital marketing, SEO refers to search engine optimization, and its purpose is exactly what the name suggests – making your website and content well-optimized for search engines, especially Google.
There are several steps typically involved in marketing financial services, but you can’t really overlook SEO. But how exactly does SEO work?
By using the right methods, you will be letting Google know that you are a viable and trusted website. You can target certain phrases or keywords, and then build content around these phrases. Whenever people search for these words or phrases on Google, your site will appear on the first page.
SEO could be used on many different pages across your site. Putting the right words in the right places and some links can put you well on your way toward a successful SEO campaign.
How SEO fits into the marketing plan of a financial advisor
The principal steps when it comes to marketing financial services provide a lot of space for SEO to get into. For instance, the first step means building your own site. This is a major hotspot for SEO, and it is where most of your efforts should be directed.
When you build your website with SEO best practices in mind, you will see a major boost in your online presence. You will get more site visitors, and many interactions will eventually lead to a sale. Financial services SEO is an effective way of getting eyes on your site and more money in your pocket.
SEO is a 100% free way of advertising your services. The other alternative would be to pay Google every time a search user clicks on the link to your website. With SEO, you can focus on building a strong web presence and generating unique views on your own.
How to implement financial services SEO into a website
Where exactly will the SEO go? Well, SEO can be implemented almost anywhere and everywhere on your financial services site. You just need to be careful not to overdo it. However, the bottom line is that each page on your site should ideally use SEO best practices.
Google will keep assessing each page before it’s suggested to search users. When all your pages are using the right SEO methods, you will stand a great chance of appearing higher in the search results.
Don’t forget that SEO does not generate an immediate reaction. It usually takes time to build a following and help Google trust you. When implementing SEO, you don’t need to rush or go out of your way waiting around. You can boost your website’s SEO at the pace that feels most comfortable to you.
How to do keyword research
Keyword research is an SEO technique aimed at identifying the best keywords to use for your financial services website. As mentioned earlier, phrases and keywords are used in SEO campaigns. But how exactly are you supposed to find these words? The following are some simple methods to perform keyword research for SEO for financial websites:
Brainstorming your own words
Since you are likely a finance expert, you should know the right kinds of words to use. This is why the first method of doing keyword research is brainstorming your own words or phrases. Consider the kind of words customers would need to use to find or connect with your business.
For instance, when searching for a burger vendor in your area, you could search “good burgers near me”. This same principle applies here. You want to target the words or phrases that your potential customers will use when looking for your services.
This might mean avoiding industry jargon or difficult terms that the everyday person doesn’t know or use often. This is unless you’re targeting finance experts; otherwise, the SEO for financial advisor websites should be entry-level. You would be surprised how often the simple brainstormed words will show up on an SEO list made by a professional.
This is a great opportunity to integrate locational phrases. For instance “best burgers in LA” will only bring up burger joints around Los Angeles. The same applies to financial service providers.
Consider getting some help from Google
If you need help brainstorming, why not check what Google lists as the most searched terms?
As soon as you start to type a word on Google, it will make a few recommendations of commonly searched phrases or words. This is referred to as the “auto-complete feature”, and targeting the phrases or words included here will go a long way in boosting your SEO efforts.
Once you complete the search, ensure that you go to the “related searches” section of the page. This will also contain a list of words that are commonly looked up.
Analyze your rankability
When looking at the rankability of a phrase or keyword, you should pay attention to two main metrics: the competition level and the search volume.
What is “search volume”?
You could make some assumptions here, but search volume is the number of times a phrase is searched for every month. You could filter this result to show the number of searches by state, region, or country. This is the potential number of people that you will bring to your website.
For example, if a phrase is searched 50,000 times every month, this means there’s a huge opportunity. Alternatively, where a phrase is only searched 100 times, then you might be in trouble. The only exception here is when using a very specific term that is only searched a few times every month. This is referred to as a long-tail keyword.
Long-tail phrases and keywords can help you connect with small yet highly specific users. It’s quite a viable option for SEO.
What is “competition level”?
The competition level of a word or phrase is the number of similar companies as yours targeting the same phrase. The more competitive the phrase is, the harder it will be to garner the top SEO spot on the search engine results page.
If the phrase has a high competition level and a high search volume, then this tends to be a very expensive keyword. You can think of SEO as a free alternative to using Google Ads.
How can a financial services company leverage the power of content marketing for SEO?
A financial services company should have content marketing as a core marketing strategy. Considering that the vast majority of search users use Google, SEO can be helpful in a significant way. Content marketing refers to using videos, blogs, infographics, and podcasts to put you in the eyes of more users.
Each of these forms of content can integrate SEO best practices. Targeting the right keywords, using the right key phrases, and using links to build trust can help enhance your SEO efforts. Financial continent marketing goes hand in hand with SEO.
