SEO for Banks: Why Banking Websites Need to Focus on SEO?

Quick Summary:

These days, people increasingly learn and do banking online. As a banker, it is high time for you to establish your digital footprint and follow SEO practices to be easily discoverable online.

• Identify top-performing keywords in the banking sector and place them contextually in your website content.
• Create new content that provides users with valuable information and helps them have a hassle-free banking experience.
• Include images, videos and infographics to help visitors understand and follow the information easily.
• Make sure your website has a responsive web design that is supported on both desktop and mobile devices.
• Build backlinks from other banking-related sites to increase your site’s credibility and authority.

Introduction

Securing a top position on the first page of Google organic search is vital for the success of any banking websites.

90% of users click on the results that appear on the first fold of the SERP, which makes SEO for banks very important. Read on to know more about how banking websites can use SEO to drive more customers by opting SEO services for banks.

The success of any banking institution depends on adding a new customer base and keeping the existing banking customers happy. Banking has become a highly competitive industry, and people are identifying banks as service providers.

Banks now focus on providing customized banking practices, increased transparency, and multiple ad-hoc services for the customers. This makes digital marketing all too important as several banks are vying for the same customer base.

SEO and other digital marketing strategies must be considered as your top marketing arsenal to ensure the audience becomes aware of the benefits of your services.

Awareness about the plans, services, and offers must be considered as the initial step to help banking customers make an informed decision.

Is SEO Important for Banking Websites?

SEO for Banks is the right choice because it can generate more leads and give you a more favorable result as compared to any other standard marketing tactics.

If your banking website is not featuring online or if it’s not securing the top ranks on Google, then you need to rethink your SEO strategies and figure out ways to achieve your goals.

Doing proper SEO for banking websites involves charting out plans and strategies that can help in boosting the rankings on Google’s search result pages (SERP).

Securing the top ranks on Google is essential for your website because 90% of users click on the results that appear on the first fold of the SERP.

It also signifies that you’re gaining much traffic, and you have optimal online visibility. Going through the Yellow pages is an outdated way, and banking customers tend to look for answers on the internet to spread the word about your business, and now it’s all about digital marketing.

Why banking websites need SEO?

Step into the shoes of one of your prospective customers. In the current technologically advanced world ruled by the internet, your prospects start searching for banks on Google. The user may type a keyword “banks around me” and click the one that shows up on the first page.

If you are not ranking for the particular keyword, which has a search volume of over 5,000 per month, you’re missing out on that many prospects. As a banker, you don’t want these many leads to skip you and choose competitors instead.

Such a dire situation can be warded off if you take up SEO practices as one of the top marketing strategies for your banking website.

If you think adding SEO experts to your financial institution is not an affordable option, you can always get the help of SEO service providers.

An SEO agency comes with expertise in several aspects of optimization, and this can help in the overall SEO strategy of your bank. Hiring SEO professionals for each of these specialties may hamper the scalability.

Any user who searches for keywords such as “best banks,” “banks with the best interest rate,” etc., near your location can be a potential customer.

You need to understand that there are thousands of bank websites on the internet. You have to ensure that your services are unique and the content written on the site addresses the needs of the prospective users. This will help your site stand out from the crowd.

This is where effective SEO techniques come in. If you execute effective digital marketing techniques, then your potential customers will easily find your site at the top ranks on Google.

If your bank’s website does not make it to the top rank positions on Google, then chances are only 10% of them will make it to the second or third page of the search. Therefore, it’s vital that your SEO strategies aim to hit the first page of the search engines.

Various SEO Strategies for Banks

Optimizing your Keywords:

Before you start on any other marketing strategy for your website, you need to think about the keywords that will put your bank on top of Google’s search page.

This means you need to do a good amount of audience research to come up with a definitive keyword strategy. A well-thought-out keyword strategy will provide you with the long tail keywords that prospective customers are searching online.

You can use tools like Ubersuggest, Ahrefs or SEMRush to perform keyword research. These tools will give you keyword ideas and also show you the keywords that your competitors are using to rank on Google.

When you select the keywords, ensure that they have a good search volume and low competition. It may be challenging to narrow down this window, but with the right amount of patience and effort, you will come up with a substantial list of keywords that will work for you.

Once you come up with a list of keywords that will work for your website, it’s time to include them on your page. However, this doesn’t mean that you go overboard with your keywords.

Avoid stuffing keywords in the website content because it can get you blacklisted by Google, and the only thing worse than not getting ranked is getting blacklisted.

Add the keywords in places where they make sense and don’t use them for SEO benefits. Make the keywords gel into your content.

Creating Unique and Exciting Content:

If you want to secure the top ranks on Google and drive targeted traffic to your site, it’s vital to include high-quality content that adds informational value to the user.

You can publish finance tips on your banking website blog and also include the benefits of using your bank’s services.

Posting Frequently Asked Questions makes it useful for readers who are new to your site and the ones who want access to additional information that they may not find on your blog page.

Your content should be unique, creative, and useful to the readers. The more pages and content you include on your website, the more traffic you will generate.

Mobile Adaptability:

Responsive websites are a norm and Google considers it as one of the pillars while ranking websites. Google has confirmed that it’s crawlers now use the mobile version of a website for indexing.

This essentially means that sites that are not responsive to different devices such as smartphones and tablets may end up in the inner pages of the Google search.

Now, many users use their smartphones for everything, from ordering a cab to searching for their local bank. So, you need to take advantage of this technology and put your website on the mobile platform.

Ensuring that your website adapts for a smartphone display will also make sure that it ranks well on Google’s search results.

Infographics

Banking customers love striking visuals, and they will come to your website if you post multimedia resources such as images, videos, and witty infographics.

It’s known that people respond to infographics better than text. It makes it easy for them to follow the information and understand challenging topics. This will result in improved online presence and increase in traffic.

Infographics can also be shared on various online platforms easily, hence, they bring in a broader audience to your site.

Look for Backlinks to Your Site:

Creating and requesting backlinks for your page is another popular SEO strategy. You will have to find reputed and credible sites that agree to give you backlinks on their site.

This will work in your favor because if popular websites give links to your site, it means that your site’s credibility will increase as well.

Genuine backlink building will also help Google track down your pages quickly because you’re linking them to better websites.