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SEO for Financial Services Websites

If you work in the financial services sector (insurance, banking, investment management, mortgages, fintech, financial advisors, wealth managers, stock market analysts) then there are a few extra things to consider when optimizing your website for SEO. Numero Uno Web Solutions can help your financial services website rank higher in search, convert more searchers into customers, and protect your brand while expanding your online presence.

SEO for Financial Services Websites

How Is SEO for the Financial Services Sector Different?

The financial services sector is highly competitive and subject to regulations that don’t apply to other industries. These factors require a different approach when it comes to SEO.

Here are some of the key points on how SEO for financial services is different:

  1. Your website needs to be secure and compliant with finance industry regulators
  2. You need to be extra careful with the content you publish
  3. You need to follow Google’s Quality Guidelines of E-A-T
  4. You need to have a strong link-building strategy
  5. You need to be active on social media
  6. Your website needs to load fast
  7. You need to do an in-depth technical SEO audit of your website
  8. You need to optimize your website for local SEO

SEO Tips for Financial Services Websites to Improve Online Visibility

Secure Your Finance Website

Not only is website security important for financial SEO, but routine security checks done during a regular SEO audit are not enough. Furthermore, you must inspect indexed pages to ensure that any private or confidential information is hidden from public view. To do this, perform a full site crawl and Google SERP analysis.

You may also want to include security service seals and trust logos (for example Authorize.net seal, Trust Pilot Certification, etc.) in your global footer to reassure site visitors that they’re protected.

Data privacy is extremely important in this field. That’s why having an HTTPS-encrypted website is critical. This will safeguard your clients’ data and provide them with peace of mind that their information is secure.

Comply with Industry Regulators

Your website must also comply with industry regulations set by FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) in the United States and IIROC (The Investment Industry Regulatory Organization of Canada) in Canada. Your legal team can assist you with this. They’ll be able to tell you what compliance standards apply to your company and how to make sure your website meets them.

Check the Content You Create and Publish

The first thing you need to remember when publishing content on your financial services website is that it needs to be accurate and compliant. This means no making things up or bending the truth to try and sell a product or service. Not only is this unethical, but it’s also illegal and could get you into serious trouble. To ensure your content is compliant, check with your legal team before publishing anything. Once you have the green light from them, you can start creating content that’s both informative and engaging.

In addition, make sure your contact information, company history, product descriptions, etc. are accurate and updated. Outdated content can not only hurt your SEO rankings, but it can also make you look unprofessional in the eyes of potential customers.

Follow Google’s Quality Guidelines of E-A-T

Google is constantly changing its search engine to ensure that the most relevant and trustworthy results are shown for each search. Websites in the finance industry are held to a higher standard than other websites. Google calls this the “Your Money or Your Life” category (YMYL).

To rank well on Google, your website needs to have “E-A-T.” This stands for Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. In other words, your website needs to be seen as an expert in its field, an authoritative source of information, and trustworthy overall.

Google recommends that people in the YMYL category (meaning, people who create content about things that can affect their money or their lives) ask themselves, “Would I feel comfortable trusting this content for issues relating to my money or my life?”

Invest in High-Quality Content

When it comes to financial services websites, quality is key. Google wants to see content that is well-researched, well-written, and informative. That’s why it’s important to invest in high-quality content when you’re optimizing your website for SEO. You can do this by hiring a professional copywriter or by working with a content marketing agency that specializes in creating quality content for financial services companies.

Optimize Your Website for Page Speed

Google takes page load time into account when ranking a website. This means that it is important for your web pages to load quickly so that people don’t have to wait.

Speed also affects how people trust and use your website. This is especially important for the financial services industry because people are less patient when accessing their bank accounts. If your website is slow and has a poor user experience, it can affect the overall digital customer experience. This, in turn, can also affect how Google ranks your website.

Implement a Strong Link-Building Strategy

Link building is an important part of any SEO strategy, but it’s especially important in the financial services industry. That’s because links from high-quality websites can help you build trust and authority. And when it comes to finances, people want to do business with companies they trust.

Creating content that is well-researched and helpful gives you an advantage when trying to build links. Publishers love to share how-to pieces and informative articles. People are naturally interested in money-saving tips, spending advice, and ways to make money. Creating guides, interactive tools, blogs, and e-books often attracts a lot of backlinks which helps improve your off-page SEO. You can also use directories and other online resources to get links. Ensure the websites you’re targeting are high-quality and relevant to your industry.

Engage on Social Media

Social media is a great way to connect with potential and current customers. It’s also a valuable platform for sharing content and building relationships with other businesses in your industry.

Regarding social media, financial services companies need to be extra careful about sharing content. That’s because anything you post could be misinterpreted and cause problems for your business. So, make sure you only share compliant content that’s been approved by your legal team.

In addition, you need to regularly post content on your social media profiles and engage with your followers. When you do this, you’ll build relationships and trust, which are essential for success in the financial services industry.

Use Local SEO to Your Advantage

If your financial company has local branches, you’ll need to consider local SEO as part of your optimization efforts. You can optimize for local search by including schema in your website and by claiming your business in every location on major platforms like Google Business Profile and Yelp.

Make sure the NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) for each branch is clear and consistent, not just on your website, but across platforms. This will reduce potential search engine confusion over each location.

Monitor Your Progress

SEO is an ongoing process, which means you need to monitor your progress and make sure you’re on track. The best way to do this is to set up Google Analytics on your website. This will allow you to track your website traffic and see how users find your site. Google Analytics is a free tool that’s easy to set up and use.

If you want your financial website to be well-optimized for SEO, it is best to partner with an SEO agency specializing in this industry. They will be familiar with the unique challenges and opportunities of optimizing a website for finance. They will also make sure your website complies with Google’s E-A-T guidelines, which are very important for websites belonging to the YMYL category.

Contact Numero Uno Web Solutions for SEO & a Strong Content Strategy

Contact Numero Uno Web Solutions to build a strong content strategy for your financial business. We have helped businesses like wealth managers, asset management consultants, banks, financial institutions, and stock market analysts dominate Google’s SERP with our SEO services. Our team of SEO experts will help you create and execute a solid content marketing strategy that will improve your website’s ranking and organic traffic. So what are you waiting for? Contact us today to get started!