SEO for the financial sector

The financial sector is one of the most competitive and regulated industries in the world. For companies in this sector – from banks and insurers to financial advisory firms and fintech startups – it is essential to be visible online. SEO helps stay ahead of the competition by being more findable in search engines, which can lead to more leads, customers and ultimately revenue. In this article, I discuss how to SEO optimization for companies in the financial industry.

The challenges of SEO in the financial sector

The financial industry has a number of unique challenges when it comes to SEO:

  • High competition: Financial terms such as “loan,” “mortgage” or “investment advice” often face a lot of competition from big players with huge budgets.
  • Strict regulation: The financial industry is strictly regulated, which means that all content must fully comply with legal requirements such as GDPR in Europe or FTC guidelines in the US.
  • Your money your life (YMYL) content: Google is adopting stricter standards for content that deals with money and health. This means that websites in the financial sector must meet high quality standards to rank well.

Despite these challenges, SEO offers numerous opportunities for financial companies that want to excel in search engines. This is because the average conversion on a Web site is relatively high for a business.

EEAT: Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness

The most important thing I discuss first for these websites. The E-E-A-T piece as discussed, everything within finance falls in the middle of YMYL. For this reason, this section must be handled tightly. For more on this, read this article.

  • Expertise: This means that the content on your website should be written by people with in-depth knowledge of financial matters. This can be demonstrated by showing who the authors are, highlighting their experience and qualifications, and possibly providing links to other sources that reinforce their credibility. It is also important to ensure that all information is current and accurate.
  • Authority: Authority means that your website and company are recognized as a leading resource within the financial industry. This can be achieved by obtaining quality backlinks from other reputable websites, such as leading financial publications or industry associations. In addition, it helps to have an active presence on relevant platforms, such as news websites or influential blogs in the financial world.
  • Trust: Trust is all about transparency and reliability. Make sure your website uses HTTPS, has clear contact information and offers a well-developed privacy policy. Customer reviews and case studies can also help build your visitors’ trust, which ultimately also contributes to better search results.

An elaborate strategy for this usually has a huge impact on the SEO of websites within this market. I have fully rolled this out for about 15-20 companies with a 100% success rate. Especially in the long run, you will find that Google begins to pick up and rank new articles much better and faster than before.

Keyword research focused on the customer journey

Effective keyword research is essential for attracting the right audience. In the financial industry, searches can vary greatly depending on where the user is in the customer journey (from awareness to purchase decision).

  • Informational searches: People exploring financial products often use questions such as “what is a personal loan?” or “how does a mortgage work?” Optimizing content for these questions can help attract people early in the customer journey.
  • Commercial Searches: Searches such as “best mortgage deals” or “compare loans” indicate that the user is ready to make a choice. Target these search terms to attract customers at a later stage of the customer journey.
  • Local keywords: For businesses that offer regional or local financial services, such as local banks or insurance companies, it is important to use local keywords, such as “mortgage broker in [stad]”.

In many of the cases (and many of the projects I have worked for within this market), the targeting was very broad and the possibilities were almost endless. A great way to address this is to start with a broad keyword research focused on the entire customer journey.

Optimize for mobile devices

More and more people are searching for financial information via their smartphones. So it is essential that your website is optimized for mobile devices. Today, Google uses a mobile-first index, meaning that the mobile version of your website is the primary version indexed. Make sure your website loads quickly on mobile devices, is easy to read, and easy to navigate.

What I would do for this, however, is to first use GA4 to see what portion of visitors are coming from mobile and what portion are coming from desktop. From there you can draw conclusions about how much you want to invest in the desktop part and how much you want to invest in the mobile part.

Content strategy for the financial industry

Content is still king, especially in the financial sector where trust and education are key (E-E-A-T). Here are some strategies for creating valuable content:

  • Write in-depth guides on complex financial topics, such as tax planning, retirement options or investment strategies. These guides can both attract new clients and help existing clients better understand financial products.
  • Publish regular news and updates to show that your company is knowledgeable and stays abreast of changes in the industry.
  • Show how you have helped clients through case studies and testimonials. This builds trust and shows potential clients that you are capable of delivering results.

I also sometimes tell clients in the financial industry: write for topics that don’t have volume. This sounds contradictory, but you don’t want to write just for SEO if you want to meet E-E-A-T. Rather, you want to write about topics that visitors are interested in, not just what Google is interested in. The most commonly used keywords within the accountancy market are:

Technical SEO for financial websites

In addition to content optimization, technical SEO is an important aspect for financial websites. Here are some of the steps:

  • Security: Make sure your Web site is secured with HTTPS. Financial information is sensitive, and users need to feel safe when visiting your website. Google also prefers secure websites.
  • Speed: Website performance is crucial. A slow website can not only put off potential customers, but also negatively affect your rankings in Google. Optimize images, reduce unnecessary scripts and use caching to make your website faster.
  • Core Web Vitals: Focus on Google’s Core Web Vitals, such as loading speed, interactivity and visual stability. These factors are now important ranking factors for search engines and play a role in the user experience.

I don’t think technical SEO plays a particularly big role (or not specifically a bigger role) for financial websites. In particular, B2B websites within finance are slightly smaller and often have slightly fewer technical issues. Of course, this depends on the website and the company, but generally speaking.

Link building and off-page SEO

For companies in the financial industry, link building is a powerful way to increase the authority of their website. Building quality backlinks from reputable websites, such as financial publications, news organizations and industry associations, helps you rank higher in search engines.

In addition, consider working with industry partners, such as accounting firms, legal advisors or fintech companies, to exchange guest blogs or articles to earn backlinks. This not only strengthens your SEO, but also builds your network.

A great opportunity to get lots of links naturally is by creating an accreditation for financial websites to put on their website. This can be done in the form of an iFrame that includes a link to their own website. A big project, but with a lot of long-term impact.

Conclusion

SEO for the financial industry requires a careful approach that focuses on trust, authority and usability. By focusing on EEAT, good keyword research, valuable content, technical optimizations and a strong link building strategy, financial companies can increase their online visibility and attract more customers. The key is to always balance SEO performance with regulatory compliance to build a sustainable and successful online presence.

Senior SEO-specialist

Ralf van Veen

Senior SEO-specialist
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My clients give me a 5.0 on Google out of 78 reviews

I have been working for 12 years as an independent SEO specialist for companies (in the Netherlands and abroad) that want to rank higher in Google in a sustainable manner. During this period I have consulted A-brands, set up large-scale international SEO campaigns and coached global development teams in the field of search engine optimization.

With this broad experience within SEO, I have developed the SEO course and helped hundreds of companies with improved findability in Google in a sustainable and transparent way. For this you can consult my portfolio, references and collaborations.

This article was originally published on 16 August 2024. The last update of this article was on 14 January 2025. The content of this page was written and approved by Ralf van Veen. Learn more about the creation of my articles in my editorial guidelines.