How to Measure the Success of Your Financial Firm’s SEO Strategy
February 14th 2023 | By Steve Grant
In the financial services sector, an online presence has never been so important. Clients are increasingly turning to the web to discover the solutions they need to their financial problems and goals, and are researching – in detail – who they should be approaching to obtain the advice they need. If you’re toying with the idea of investing in SEO for financial services, you’ll no doubt be acutely aware of the concept of ROI.
And that’s just what we’re looking at in this post, specifically, how to measure the success of a financial services SEO campaign.
Why is SEO for finance companies so important?
According to the Local Consumer Review Survey 2022, 99% of consumers used the internet to find information about a local business in the year leading up to the survey.
KPMG says that 55% of people will search online for reviews and recommendations before making a purchase. 47% will visit the company website.
A well-planned financial services SEO strategy will help differentiate you from your competitors.
The financial services market is undeniably crowded, but with a strong online presence, top rankings for relevant keywords that align with what your target clients are searching for, and an online profile that showcases your firm as a knowledgeable industry leader, an authority within your financial services niche, a trusted source of advice and a team that people will be comfortable to work with, you will stand out and attract more new client leads, which will in turn support your ultimate goal of more long term clients.
A key aim of SEO for financial services firms is to boost online visibility. To do this, we follow SEO best practice guidelines. These include ensuring experience, expertise, authority and trust factors (E-E-A-T) are clearly communicated throughout every page of a firm’s website and across all their content, from blogs to e-books.
Example: Why SEO benefits financial services firms
One of our most successful finance SEO strategies is to create location-based landing pages. These are pages written around researched keywords which align with the core service offering of the firm, and the geographical areas in which it wishes to create a new presence, or expand an existing one.
Location landing pages show Google that a business is an authority in its local area. We always design and write them to ensure E-E-A-T factors are woven in. For example, ensuring Google reviews are fed in, testimonials are featured, memberships and awards are showcased and clear physical contact details are provided.
Video content also helps, so we’ll encourage the inclusion of this on financial services SEO landing pages too. Video is a good way of engaging website visitors and helps them retain messages more effectively. It also helps establish a firm as a trusted source of information and industry thought leader. Even better, video on a webpage provides more opportunities to appear in Google’s ‘rich results’ in search, which enhances visibility and is more likely to result in click-throughs.
We also include frequently asked questions, which help provide a more in-depth understanding of the services offered.
An example of a financial services SEO landing page
Getting back to the point in hand, in making sure E-E-A-T factors are covered, as well as ticking a hugely important box for Google, we are also making sure potential clients see the best qualities of a financial services firm, which ensures they stand out amongst competitors. So it’s a double-effect strategy.
How to measure the success of your financial services SEO campaign?
Now we’ve ascertained why a finance SEO campaign plays an important role in attracting new clients, it’s time to explore how to measure the success of your campaign.
There are three common measures of SEO success…
1. Search rankings
Your position in the search engine results. Financial services firms that appear on the first page of the search results have more credibility in clients’ eyes.
Potential clients are more likely to make an enquiry with a firm that appears on page one, and the closer to the top of the results, the better. What’s more, a good search results position will boost brand awareness.
This is why a financial services SEO strategy that improves website ranking or maintaining an already established ranking are popular SEO objectives.
Our SEO work for Partridge Muir & Warren, a chartered financial planning firm, saw top rankings coming thick and fast, reaching 69 Page One listings in just a few months.
Our financial services SEO strategy resulted in improved search rankings for PMW.
2. Organic traffic
Improvements in rankings tend to lead to increased organic traffic, so this is another way to measure the success of SEO for financial services firms.
When you get more traffic, you are more likely to receive more leads. Providing your website is doing a good job of communicating trust and expertise, is providing a positive user experience and is making it easy for visitors to make enquiries, this theory should play out. If however your organic traffic has increased but your leads haven’t, then it will be time to take action, looking at reasons why this might be, and rectifying any issues identified.
Our client, Partridge Muir & Warren, experienced outstanding growth in organic traffic following our SEO campaign, an increase of 37% year on year. The good news is that the firm continues to receive a steady flow of new clients from its website as a result, which is the ultimate aim. They were also able to switch off their paid online advertising campaign, which resulted in considerable savings.
Organic traffic saw a 37% growth following our finance SEO campaign for PMW.
3. Conversions
Conversions don’t just mean enquiries and sales. In the world of financial services, there can be multiple conversion channels that ultimately lead to a sale, and it is important to track those as well as the sales themselves.
For example, a user may find themselves on a financial services website having been searching for advice on how much they need to retire at a certain age. At this point, they are looking for information, so it might be that you provide them with a free guide or e-book on the subject. If they download this guide or e-book, you can consider that a conversion.
Other examples of non-sales conversions include signing up to receive a newsletter or subscribing to a blog or booking a place on a webinar.
All of these conversions play the long game and can ultimately contribute to a new client making an enquiry, once trust has been established.
Here’s how we achieved SEO success for financial services firm Partridge Muir & Warren
Ready to explore the benefits of SEO for financial services success?
Since 2006, Figment has been supporting the online success of financial services professionals with award-winning strategies that drive results.
So, whether your expertise lies in wealth management, insurance, pensions, investment, financial planning, tax consulting, banking, bookkeeping or foreign exchange, or any other financial services niche, with Figment, you can rely on a specialist financial services SEO service that delivers.
To learn more and to discuss your goals, you are welcome to get in touch with Figment.