Beating out the millions of websites that are your direct competitors can be difficult. Without understanding search engine optimization (SEO), it is virtually impossible. A business owner offering products and services in the finance industry must know how their website can rank highly in search engines. Without knowing SEO for the financial industry and how it works, having customers find and access your site becomes a hit and miss process, with more misses than hits. Here are seven tips for financial SEO that can help you place your website in front of more customers:
Promoting your financial services in a local market first is one strategy to SEO. When customers begin to view you as a highly reputable local business that appears in their searches, it is possible to dominate the local markets. Many customers perform searches by tying their locations into their searches. For these customers, your business will be more visible and they are more likely to use your services.
After building a strong local following, you can then tackle branching out further. However, you should understand that attempting to take a larger slice of the financial services pie will cost much more and require more time. It might be more feasible and productive to maintain your business holding in the local arena.
Maintaining social media profiles can help your business in various ways. In regards to SEO, having these accounts will provide you with search engine rankings just as blogging and other internet activities. Also, having an online presence in social media will help customers locate you and give your business an opportunity to interact with existing and potential customers.
Some people might ask how social media can help with SEO? While Google and other major search engines currently claim not to use social media signals in their algorithms there are other benefits. When your business is active on social media you have given your content a better chance for visibility. Many people look to social media for inspiration for articles. This will increase your chances of getting mentioned on blogs and website. People may reference your content and link to it as well.
Create content and lots of it but don’t do it willy-nilly. Don’t limit the content to just blog posts, if your budget allows create videos, infographics and interactive web pages. Start with planning out what your customers are searching for. What topics they have questions about. Then plan how to make the most epic piece of content around those topics. You need content that stands out, answers all the questions on the topic, and above all isn’t boring. Planning and creating the content is the 1st big step. After this, you will need to promote the content.
Before you even publish the content piece you should start deciding which bloggers have an audience that matches the content. You will want to start the outreach process early. Contact the bloggers and see if you can provide them with an article about the subject. Don’t get discouraged if some of the bloggers ignore your emails or have late replies. Popular bloggers are inundated with outreach request. It helps if you already have a relationship with the blogger and your likelihood of getting your article published on their blog goes up tremendously.
For many businesses, the entire process can be time-consuming and the learning curve can be large. This is why main business owners turn to a content marketing agency. Some of the best content marketing agencies have the experienced staff and relationships in place to make this entire process smoother and more effective.
Writing that is simple and yet informative fares better in helping sites rank higher in search engines. Confusing terminology and word choices make it more difficult not only for customers to read but also for the search engines to pick up and rank. Also, content should be concise and factual so that customers trust your business and what you have to say about your industry. If the customer cannot trust your services or your knowledge in the financial world, they are unlikely to use your services or to refer your business to anyone else.
Resist the urge to have links to your site coming from paid sources that may not have the type of reputation you are working to build for your company. Your business will be linked to these sources, literally, and if they are not trustworthy, the customer will believe your business is not, either. Some bloggers will also try and sell you links on blogs that a worthless. In fact, some of the blogs might even cause your website harm.
Do not simply guess at what keywords customers are using when they search for financial services and advice. Use an online analytics tool or keyword research service to pin down the exact keywords that are most used in customer searches so you can optimize your site with these words.
Making sure the site that comes up as a result of SEO gets new customers is more than having relevant content and reputable links. The website as a whole must be professional and easy for the customer to use. Once they arrive on your site, you still have to convince them that your company is the one they should choose for their financial needs. If your web pages are confusing or look to be amateurish, customers will return to their searches and select a company that has a more polished online presence.
The website must also function well for your business, and should include features such as lead capturing through requesting customers to leave email addresses to receive something from your company. The item you offer should be more about helping or educating the customer than about selling them your services. You will have a later opportunity to discuss your services with them if they appreciate what you have given them, or if you send out a newsletter that they have agreed to receive through leaving their email address.
If you are in the insurance industry please feel free to check out our article on increasing your online insurance leads.
