SEO for Banks: Costs, Examples & Strategies to Get More Customers

SEO for banks is a strategy to drive more traffic to banking websites. This can cost you $1,000 to $10,000 per month — well worth it to drive a 250% conversion increase. Learn how our experts get results like this for financial institutions.

Why is SEO (search engine optimization) important for a bank and how do you start implementing an SEO strategy? We’ll cover it all here — from common SEO terms to expert tips that’ll help you grow revenue.

What is SEO for banks?

Search engine optimization for banks is a strategy to increase online visibility for businesses in the banking industry.

Since users rely on search engines to research banking options, SEO can increase online traffic and generate revenue.

SEO for banks involves optimizing website content, mobile friendliness, overall user experience, and local SEO to help businesses rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs) for local search terms.

SEO also helps banks rank in local searches and Google’s local packs to increase walk-ins. With local SEO, you can optimize your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) to get more visibility for local searches.

Why perform SEO for banks?

Here are several ways SEO helps financial institutions:

• Increases brand visibility
• Boosts trust and credibility
• Improves user experience
• Saves money — paid advertising campaigns can be incredibly costly
• Provides a competitive advantage
• Improves keyword rank
• Enhances user experience (UX)
• Helps increase your website traffic
• Offers target marketing
• Helps find more target keywords
• Gives you long-term results
• Grants better insights to data and performance
• Expands into an international market
• Mitigates risk
• Boosts social media engagement and reach
• Presents more focused and keyword-rich quality content
• Generates higher quality backlinks
• Improves conversion rates
• Gives easier adaptability to algorithm changes
• Makes indexing on Google and Bing better
• Helps reach unique potential customers

With hard work and dedicated SEO implementation, your bank’s website can promote financial services in more innovative and data-driven ways. You’ll also proactively build a better brand presence and align more with your target audience.

Average cost of SEO for banks

SEO costs depends on the business needs. For businesses in the banking sector, SEO can cost anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 a month.

More comprehensive SEO packages run anywhere from $3,500 to $10,000 if going with an experienced SEO agency.

An SEO consultant may charge a bit less than an agency, but do your research to find the best option.

On-page SEO services and off-page SEO services are likely included in normal SEO strategy costs. Local SEO services, on the other hand, may cost extra.

10 steps to building an SEO campaign for banks

Crafting an SEO campaign requires being methodical and strategic in your planning. There are numerous routes to take when launching an SEO strategy for banks.

Your SEO campaign may change because of an algorithm change or a trending topic. So use SEO tracking and SEO audit tools to keep an eye on sudden changes.

Now let’s get into these steps and SEO best practices:

1. Understand your audience and objectives
2. Conduct keyword research
3. Perform a competitive analysis
4. Optimize website structure and content
5. Make your website mobile-friendly
6. Invest in quality link building
7. Develop a content marketing strategy
8. Continuously update your SEO and content strategies
9. Align with compliance and security protocols
10. Use tracking and analytics tools

1. Understand your audience and objectives

First, outline your main business objectives (KPIs, benchmarks, etc.). For example, improving local keyword rankings, increasing brand awareness, and generating more foot traffic to a brand in X city.

Identify and fully understand your audience. Focus on all demographics — age, income, location, gender, industry, pain points, needs, and preferences. You may find you have multiple personas, like potential homeowners needing loans or parents of kids needing a savings account.

The more you know about your audience, the easier it is to target your keywords and content.

2. Conduct keyword research

Having a keyword strategy is just one part of an SEO strategy. It provides a roadmap for the topics to cover to attract your target audience. But make sure the search terms you select will deliver the results you want.

Mapping the right keywords and implementing them strategically can place your bank on the first page of Google search results.

Use tools like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Keyword Planner to gather a list of short-tail keywords and long-tail keywords. Short-tail keywords could be “home loans” or “checking accounts,” while long-tail keywords could be “best personal loan rates.”

Local keywords are also ideal if you want to attract nearby patrons. In this case, you could use search terms like “credit union in Fairbanks” or “Free checking account in Dallas.”

Search for keywords with high search volume and low keyword difficulty. Those keywords tend to be the easiest to rank for. As your website grows and you develop better authority, you may have success ranking for keywords with higher difficulty.

3. Perform a competitive analysis

Competitive research and analysis helps you learn about the other bank competitors in your area. Through this analysis, you can identify other banks’ and credit unions’ strategies, strengths, weaknesses, recently posted content, and social media performance.

Learning about your competitors can give you ideas to differentiate. For example, competing banks may charge a monthly fee for having a checking account. So you nix the fee and offer a free checking account to attract clicks.

4. Optimize website structure and content

In the banking industry, a well-structured and content-rich website aids user engagement and search engine optimization (SEO). Here are several tips for optimizing your bank’s website:

• Use clear navigation: Make your website’s navigation straightforward, so users can find information as effortlessly. A well-organized menu with direct links to important pages, such as personal banking, business services, and customer support is essential.
• Implement content hierarchy: Use headings to structure your content — similar to how you’d organize financial reports. This helps search engines and users understand the context and relevance of your content.
• Don’t forget about Alt text and meta descriptions: Treat alt text for images as brief descriptions that convey the essence of the image, aiding both SEO and accessibility. Craft meta descriptions so they’re concise and informative, within 160 characters.
• Prioritize security: You’re a bank, so security is always a priority. Offer the same level of protection for your website to safeguard customer data and build trust. And ensure your bank doesn’t land in hot legal water.
• Optimize for keywords: Integrate relevant banking keywords into your content naturally. This is akin to financial planning — strategic and calculated. Avoid overstuffing; place keywords where they make sense contextually.

5. Make your website mobile-friendly

Most online users conduct search queries on mobile devices. This means:

• Bigger text and legible fonts
• Images scaled down
• Intuitive touch screen navigation
• Accessible menus
• Loading speed
• Optimized forms

Over forty-three percent of banking customers use mobile to access their online banking. Whether by website link or banking app, be sure each website or platform is fully enhanced so your veteran and new customers remain happy.

6. Invest in quality link building

If you’re still wondering if link building is worth it, it is. But ensure the links you acquire are high-quality to improve your domain authority, ranking, and other on-page SEO factors. So find relevant backlink opportunities in the finance sector.

For example, getting backlinks from Nerdwallet could give your bank site an authority boost.

Tools like Semrush can reveal link-building opportunities by analyzing backlinks your competitors received. If sites are liking to them, they may link to your bank website as well.

7. Develop a content marketing strategy

An SEO strategy isn’t complete without a content marketing strategy. SEO provides the search terms and direction, while the content marketing campaign executes it. For instance, you’ll need an onsite blog to publish content using the keywords you discovered during the SEO phase.

You’ll create content for each stage of the funnel — top, middle, and bottom — to engage your audience. This is your opportunity to provide financial advice, industry insights, and other resources to encourage more visits.

For example, you may create infographics on how to apply for a loan, blog posts on finding the perfect mortgage rate, or videos on how to save for the future.

8. Continuously update your SEO and content strategies

SEO doesn’t stop when you implement it. It’s an ongoing pursuit — Google algorithm and parameters of good SEO practices are always changing.

Plus, your website will grow and evolve in drastic ways that require new methods entirely. For example, marketing trends could change, or you could one day compete with bigger banks. In such instances, you’ll need a fresh strategy with campaigns targeting new growth opportunities.

Remember, Google loves updated content and prioritizes the newest content on a topic. So regularly perform content audits to find content that needs refreshing.

9. Align with compliance and security protocols

Banking institutions must take extra steps to ensure the security of their users when they bank online or access the website. Since banks house sensitive and personal information, they must ensure their SEO isn’t interfering with security and compliance.

Pay attention to things like:

• Regulatory compliance
• Data security standards
• Privacy policies
• User consent for cookies
• Secure website infrastructure
• Risk management in content
• Regular audits
• Training and awareness

Avoid misleading or false content that may harm your bank’s reputation or violate regulatory standards.

10. Use tracking and analytics tools

You can definitely build an SEO strategy manually, but why make more effort? There’s an endless list of useful SEO tracking and analytics tools across the internet.

Some of the best ones out there include:

• Semrush or Ahrefs: SEO toolkits that help with competitive analysis, keyword research, link building and local SEO
• BuzzSumo: Gives you insights on content topics
• Screaming Frog: Performs SEO site audits
• Google Analytics and Google Search Console: Tracks your website’s performance

“Tracking is an essential part of any SEO campaign, especially for banks,” says Sam Yadegar, CEO of HawkSEM. “For example, we use ConversionIQ (CIQ) to granularly track every single step of the buyer journey so we can understand what aspects of a campaign are working and where we should trim the fat. This allows us to optimize towards a higher ROI YoY. “

3 Examples of top-ranking banking websites

Bank websites across the internet use SEO to help their business skyrocket. Although these three examples below are some of the biggest banks in the industry, they no doubt have a marketing team pulling massive weight in the SEO department.

Even the best still need marketing strategies to outdo their competitors. We Googled the keyword “banks” to see who showed up first and then searched their metrics in Semrush.

Let’s take a look at their SEO performance.

Bank of America

Bank of America had over 24 million in organic traffic and ranks for 2.2 million keywords. And has over 91 thousand referring domains that produce over 11.5 million backlinks.

Judging by its 83 authority score, it’s clear whoever is manning its organic search and link building is doing it very right.

Wells Fargo

Not far behind Bank of America is Wells Fargo, another major bank in the US. It ranks for 18 million keywords, which brings in 22 million in organic search traffic. It’s also spending far less on paid search than Bank of America, but still acquires 12 million backlinks and an authority score of 82.

Wells Fargo made a huge jump in its strategy around 2013 and plateaued for a bit before making another huge jump. Given its stats, it’s safe to say, it has a good SEO strategy in place.

US Bank

Our third and final bank, US Bank, is keeping up with the many large banking competitors ranking on the first page. It ranks for 1.3 million keywords, producing over 8 million in organic search traffic. It has over 44 thousand referring domains generating an impressive 12.6 million backlinks.

Of the three bank examples, US Bank has the steadiest and most even growth so far, showing very few dips in traffic since 2013. It wouldn’t be surprising if its marketing efforts helped it surpass competitors in the coming years.

How to take advantage of local SEO for banks

Since your bank is a local business, you’ll likely spend more time speaking to the local crowd. So having a sturdy local SEO strategy in place is a good idea.

If you’re a local bank, use these local SEO tips to drive more traffic:

• Optimize your Google Business Profile: Claim update, and manage your Google business listing. Your business information (name, address, phone number, hours of operation) should be consistent across the internet.
• Research local keywords: Location-specific keywords can go directly into your website content, meta descriptions, and title tags. Local keywords could be “banks in Colorado Springs, CO” or “average mortgage rates in New York City.”
• Create local content: Create blog posts about local events, news, or community activities. Or start your stories with references to things only your community knows about.
• Engage with online reviews: Encourage happy customers to leave reviews on Google profile and other online directories. Use templates to respond to positive and negative reviews. This shows potential customers you’re an actively involved business.
• Build local links: Banks can gather backlinks from other local businesses and organizations. Your financial institution can acquire these backlinks through partnerships, local sponsorships, or participation in community events.
• Have an active social media presence: Your activity on social media can directly correlate to local business rankings. So post frequently and regularly engage with followers on social media.
• Create a localized URL structure: For banks with multiple locations, consider creating location-specific pages with URLs corresponding to each location.

Focusing on these SEO aspects can help a local bank business improve its online presence, search rankings, and better target the local audience. If new customers can find your bank in local search and see you’re invested in building positive customer relationships, you increase the chances of generating more revenue.

18 quick tips for finding a bank SEO agency

If you’re going to hire an SEO agency — there are ways t measure the trustworthiness of the agency before signing any contracts.

Here are quick tips to help you decide:

1. Know your SEO goals
2. Make sure they specialize in banking
3. Assess the agency’s own performance
4. Look at their client retention rates
5. Ensure their SEO practices are legitimate
6. Make sure they have the time commitment
7. Inquire about a bank seo services list
8. Above all, look for experience and expertise
9. Reference this case studies and testimonials
10. Ask a lot of questions about their strategies
11. Request data that supports their success
12. Ask how they do reporting
13. Avoid agencies guaranteeing overnight success
14. Make sure they align with your culture and vision
15. Request a website audit
16. Make sure they offer local SEO services
17. Always get a contract and terms of the service
18. How do they host your site, if at all

Prepare a lot of questions and interview each agency to ensure they’re a proper fit. They should show data that demonstrates their ability to help you.

For example, HawkSEM helped Wyndham Capital increase its conversions by 250% while reducing the cost per lead by 45%. This is an ideal metric to provide to a potential client.

If you’re not careful, you can lose money by choosing a bank SEO firm that cares more about profit than the success of your business.

Common mistakes to avoid with SEO for banks

Given the long list of action items, it’s easy to make mistakes along the way. To avoid them, here’s a short list of the common SEO mistakes marketers make when getting started:

• Duplicate content or plagiarism
• Ignoring local SEO
• Not engaging with customer reviews
• Overlooking mobile optimization
• Using irrelevant keywords and phrases
• Low-quality user experience
• Inconsistent listing directories
• Poor and rushed content
• Neglecting use of analytics and audit tools
• Ignoring Technical SEO, on-page SEO, and off-page SEO
• Keyword stuffing
• Low-quality backlinks
• Never running content audits
• Not utilizing schema markup

Avoiding these common mistakes can keep the pace with online growth. If you’re dealing with these common mistakes, or don’t want to risk the health and progress of your website, hire an SEO agency for banks, like HawkSEM.

Contact us to learn more about our bank SEO services.

Common SEO terms to know

To start building up the credibility of your bank, you’ll need to know the ins and outs of SEO. Knowing some of the most common digital marketing terms can inform your research as you navigate building an SEO strategy.

Here are the common terms you’ll need to know to get your SEO plan going:

1. Search engine optimization (SEO): The process of improving website elements to help create better online visibility in search results
2. Organic traffic: The quantity of visitors, whether organic or paid, visiting your website
3. Search volume: Average number of monthly searches for a keyword each month — you’ll see this term a lot during keyword research
4. Search engine results pages (SERPs): Web pages listed in search results after performing a search query
5. Local search: A strategy that allows you to optimize a local citation to help them show up in online search queries
6. On-page SEO: A way of optimizing website content for SERPs
7. Off-page SEO: External optimization tactics including, link building or guest posting, which helps a website grow
8. Backlink: A link created once you link from one website to another and a very important ranking factor
9. Conversion rate: The percentage of online visitors who have completed an action on your website
10. Link building: A part of SEO strategy that involves getting links from other websites to link back your website
11. Page rank: Google’s determined value for each web page which contributes to ranking in search engine results
12. Domain authority: A page and website scoring system developed by Moz which determines ranking in search engines
13. Keyword: the search term or phrase a user types into a search engine
14. Keyword difficulty: The percentage of difficulty to rank for a keyword on a scale from 0-100
15. Meta tag: Snippets of text that describe what your page is about to a user
16. Anchor text: The text attached to your hyperlink
17. Alt text: Add to an on-page image to describe to a user what the image is about

If you’d like to avoid learning these terms altogether (although we highly recommend it) you can hire an SEO agency like HawkSEM. With their help, you won’t have to learn too much about the SEO process. Experts will be able to do it for you.

Free SEO Checklist for a bank SEO campaign

Steps for building an SEO campaign

• Clearly outline and understand your audience
• Identify your objectives
• Conduct comprehensive keyword research
• Perform a competitive analysis
• Optimize website structure and content
• Ensure the website is mobile-friendly
• Invest in quality link building
• Develop a content marketing strategy
• Continuously update your SEO and content strategies
• Align with compliance and security protocols

Local SEO tips

• Optimize your Google Business Profile
• Research local keywords
• Create content focused on local events and news
• Engage actively with online reviews
• Build links with local businesses and organizations
• Update local business listings
• Actively post on social media presence
• Create a localized URL structure

Common mistakes to avoid

• Avoid duplicate content and plagiarism
• Do not ignore local SEO
• Engage with customer reviews regularly
• Focus on mobile optimization
• Use relevant keywords and phrases
• Ensure high-quality user experience
• Keep listing directories consistent
• Avoid poor and rushed content creation
• Utilize analytics and audit tools effectively
• Technical SEO
• On-page SEO
• Off-page SEO
• Avoid keyword stuffing
• Avoid low-quality backlinks
• Regularly run content audits
• Utilize schema markup

Finding a bank SEO agency

• Clearly define your SEO goals
• Research agencies specializing in banks
• Evaluate the agency’s performance
• Examine client retention rates
• Ensure practices are ethical and legitimate
• Assess their commitment level and service list
• Look for experience and expertise
• Review case studies and testimonials
• Discuss their strategies
• Request success data
• Request a website or SEO audit
• Confirm they offer local SEO services
• Review contract and service terms
• Ensure alignment with your bank’s culture and vision

The takeaway

In the competitive banking world, establishing a credible online presence is a necessity.

From understanding the audience to performing keyword research this guide helps create a strategic route for improving online visibility that attracts new potential customers.

But you don’t have to do it all on your own.

If you’re ready to see your website grow, get in touch with us.