Case Study

Financial Services Company Nets High Value Leads With SEO and Content Updates

The Challenge

Our financial services client needed to increase the number of leads and ensure these leads were of high quality.

The Outcome

On-page and technical SEO audits showed us where and how to create content that is attracting audiences that are more likely to convert, and the client is 80% of the way to their annual lead goal just 7 months into the year.

Forms that don't get the needed info to vet leads

In addition to needing more traffic for a larger potential lead pool, the client's commitment to offering custom solutions meant that their lead-generation form couldn't utilize drop-down menus for optimal user experience (UX) and SEO. This posed a conflict between maintaining brand value and optimizing UX for lead acquisition. As a company with a brand promise that includes top-notch service, the client did not want to start relationships off with prospective new clients by asking them to share too much information, and we agreed that this was both what was right for their business and adhered to our best practices.

There was still room to improve, however, especially to ensure the client was getting the most possible value from their forms, and that the leads those forms were generating were more likely to align with their internal targets of a qualified lead. This meant we needed to find the right balance between messaging that was going to be universally appealing to attract attention, with a final conversion step that helped further vet the audiences filling out and submitting forms.

Get the same type of info that led to these great results

Every SEO strategy we create for our clients starts with a comprehensive audit to identify what is working, and where time and budget will yield the best return on investment. Get your free version of the SEO Scorecard, and you can start making the same types of improvements that helped this client see major month-over-month and year-over-year gains.

Auditing SEO to find the best ways to appeal to the right financial customers

Our strategy began with a comprehensive audit of all blog content, followed by ongoing audits of all service pages. The core content's primary aim was to enhance the authority of the pages available on their site. We provided all necessary updates, with a significant focus on speed optimization.

We observed that content focusing on specific topics, especially financial definitions for kids and young adults, was gaining traction. Our theory was that this content demystified financial jargon, allowing readers to engage in financial discussions with greater confidence. This insight led to the creation of a new blog series catering to this 101-level content.

Our UX analysis was also a hit with the client, as it validated some of their anecdotal observations, such as data issues on specific pages and high traffic volumes on a particular service page. We capitalized on these insights by increasing CTAs on both the Service and Team pages to engage audiences that were visiting these high-intent areas of the website.

Outpacing lead goals, with higher quality candidates

The client experienced a consistent growth in traffic, accompanied by an improvement in lead quality. Their consistent achievement of goals fostered a relaxed environment, making them more receptive to our recommendations.

By the end of July, the client had already secured 80% of their annual lead targets. This achievement was not just about numbers; the quality of the leads improved significantly. We introduced an engagement event view, providing insights into the factors that contributed to lead acquisition.

Another benefit of this work has been strong year-over-year and month-over-month growth in relevant, non-branded terms. For example, the term “fpqp,” a designation in the financial service space, recorded a 995% increase in impressions, with another 54% increase in impressions for other key terms and 10% increase in organic sessions to core pages. New users to this content increased by 17% year-over-year, indicating audience growth and new customers coming to the brand.

The quality of form submissions continues to improve, and our technical backend efforts ensured continued smooth operations. Our collaboration with the client, who was proactive in seeking improvements, was an important factor in these outcomes.

The client's collaborative attitude continues to be a big part of the success of this program. Their "you recommend it, and we'll discuss and figure it out” approach has made it easy to apply new ways of collecting and analyzing data to get to the solutions we need to attract more leads.

All our solutions are based on our ability to adapt and collaborate to help clients achieve measurable results. This client’s evolution, from facing challenges to achieving their goals, is the product of our data-driven approach to SEO and UX integration, which allowed us to identify where and how to make the most impact in the shortest period of time.

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