Did you know that the top three Google search results get over 54 per cent of all clicks? If you want more people clicking on your financial services business’s website, you need to focus on search engine optimisation (SEO).

If you’re new to SEO or simply don’t know how to improve your strategy, this guide is for you. It features essential information business owners like you should know about SEO for financial services.

Why SEO for Financial Services Businesses Matters

Focusing on search engine optimisation offers numerous benefits for financial services businesses like yours, including the following:

• More website traffic: SEO helps you improve your ranking on search engine results pages (or SERPs) and get closer to the coveted top three spots. The closer you are to the top of the page, the more website visits you’ll get.
• More conversions: Increased website traffic often leads to more leads and conversions for your business.
• Increased brand awareness: If your business’s website consistently shows up near the top of the SERP when people search for services like those you offer, they’ll start to become more aware of your brand. Increased brand awareness and recognition can eventually increase the likelihood that people will want to check out your services.
• Increase trustworthiness: People generally trust businesses that have a higher search engine ranking. The closer you get to the top, the more likely they are to see you as a legitimate service provider.

If any of these benefits sound appealing to you, it’s time to start focusing on your SEO strategy.

Common SEO Challenges for Financial Services Businesses

SEO is critical for financial services businesses that want to succeed in 2023 and beyond. However, these businesses also experience some unique challenges, including those listed below:

• Fast-growing industry with lots of competition, meaning many companies are vying for the top spot
• High level of topic complexity, meaning it takes longer to create quality content that benefits your target audience
• Stricter content requirements since financial services business content falls under the Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) category

It might be trickier to land the top spot when promoting your financial services business. It can be done, though, with the right SEO strategy.

How to Optimize Your Website Content

Do you need help improving your financial services website content to boost your search engine ranking? Start with these tactics:

Incorporate Better Keywords

Including the right keywords and phrases in your content will help your website reach the top when people conduct searches that contain those words or phrases. For example, if you run a tax preparation agency, you’ll want to include tax-related keywords and phrases in your content.

When choosing specific keywords, focus on these two factors:

• Search volume: A higher search volume means more people are using that search term each month
• Competition level: A higher competition level means lots of businesses are trying to rank for a particular search term

Strive to strike a balance between search volume and competition level. Many high-volume keywords are also highly competitive, meaning it’ll be difficult for you to rank highly for them.

In some cases, it’s better to stick to long-tail keywords with a lower search volume and less competition.

These keywords aren’t searched as often. However, the people who do search for them are likely highly motivated to find a website that offers a solution to their problem. If your website shows up first, your chances of winning their business go up.

Focus on In-Depth, Long-Form Content

There is no specific prescription for the number of words a piece of content needs to have to rank highly on search engine results pages. However, longer content (over 1,000 words) tends to perform better.

One reason for this is that writing longer content gives you more opportunities to share valuable information with your readers and demonstrate your expertise.

Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (or EAT) are essential when you’re trying to improve your financial services business’s search engine ranking. Google rewards websites that provide all three of these things with a higher position.

Incorporate More Video Content

Websites that contain video content often rank higher than websites without videos.

Videos help you engage a larger audience (such as people who aren’t interested in reading blog posts) and provide new opportunities to share valuable content. They also keep people on your website longer, which sends a positive signal to search engines and can push you closer to the top spot.

Grow Your Financial Services Business with SEO

It doesn’t matter if you run a local accounting firm or are a financial consultant for major corporations. SEO can help you get more attention on your website and grow your business.

Use the tips discussed above to improve your search engine ranking and attract more clients. For more SEO assistance, get in touch today to learn more about our content marketing services.