Unlike most businesses on the web, the financial institutions such as banks and credit unions need to utilize many SEO tactics to their fullest because it's not just keyword ranking that seals the deal. For customers looking for financial advice, considering a new mortgage lender, or simply researching a potential bank they wish to become a customer with, keyword rankings will only lead the customers to the site; a financial institution has to do far more to convince a site visitor to transition to that beloved term "client".
As search engines are constantly changing and adapting to deliver content in a more effective way, it's absolutely essential for financial institutions to maintain a high SEO standard. Below we have some of the best SEO tips for bank institutes and credit unions that not only adhere to all search engine SEO recommendations, but that also will dramatically improve the bounce rate, increase activity on social media pages, and, most importantly, increase conversions and returns on investments overall.
Seven Vital SEO Tips For Financial Institutions
Fine Tune the On Site SEO
Rather than completely focusing off site and worry about everything that can be done to draw more visitors in, first it's essential to fine tune what is on the site itself. Ensuring that there are no broken links, improving the quality and amount of links to other pages within the site itself, and amping up the tags and meta data for the pages and media are all essential to improving the overall SEO rating for a site.
Leverage News and Press Releases
Press releases can be a massive contributor to a bank, asset management group, or credit union because it truly establishes them in the minds of the reader as a reporting authority on financial matters. Press releases can be marketed to a wide number of news sites, and can appear on Google News which generates an extensive amount of traffic towards the post.
While press releases rarely go viral, they do create a lot of buzz and can lead to thousands of hits to a website within a short amount of time.
Mobile Optimization
Mobile searches result in an astoundingly high percentage of traffic for websites, especially those in the financial industry. Studies show that now around forty percent of online searches are done via a mobile device. Banks and credit unions who rely on sites only optimized for desktops will find that bounce rates are far higher than they should be due to a massive amount of their visitors having difficulties navigating the site.
Article Marketing
Article marketing is a key part of any SEO strategy and can dramatically improve a financial institutions standing in the eyes of potential customers. Seeing articles published by the financial institution available on other widely visited websites will increasing brand recognition and instill a sense of trust in a potential site visitor. Should a visitor read a quality post on another site from that someone at that bank or credit union, they will feel as if that person is an authority figure on that matter and will be far more likely to go to that particular business and utilize the products/services there.
Additionally, a key thing to keep in mind is that article marketing isn't just about branding and establishing an institution as an authority figure, it's also about backlinks. Both Do Follow and No Follow links are essential and beneficial to a website's overall SEO score making article marketing one of the most important SEO tips to follow.
Boost the quality of on site content
Another on site SEO tip is to enhance the quality of the content. Long boring posts tend to increase bounce rates, while those filled with images, videos, and more really capture a visitor's interest. Mix up the content with a wide range of media. Many banks are offering video guides to their customers and are even giving How-To's on various financial situations to help a customer and ensure that they make the best financial decision with their money.
Additionally, investing into higher quality media options such as photos and videos can lead to a surprisingly high interest. Many banks have viral videos online that generated millions of hits and dramatically boosted their visibility and brand recognition. It's critical for SEO to really understand how to utilize videos and other media sources to the max with online marketing.
Analyze Visitor Behavior and Readjust
As with any new strategy, once you implement it you need to analyze it and readjust. Certain methods may work better and yield higher results than others, making it essential to consider where you allocate your time and resources. Always check monthly reports on the website to see how various avenues of SEO are paying off!
