
Recherche avancée
Autres articles (96)
-
Contribute to a better visual interface
13 avril 2011MediaSPIP is based on a system of themes and templates. Templates define the placement of information on the page, and can be adapted to a wide range of uses. Themes define the overall graphic appearance of the site.
Anyone can submit a new graphic theme or template and make it available to the MediaSPIP community. -
Supporting all media types
13 avril 2011, par kent1Unlike most software and media-sharing platforms, MediaSPIP aims to manage as many different media types as possible. The following are just a few examples from an ever-expanding list of supported formats : images : png, gif, jpg, bmp and more audio : MP3, Ogg, Wav and more video : AVI, MP4, OGV, mpg, mov, wmv and more text, code and other data : OpenOffice, Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint, Excel), web (html, CSS), LaTeX, Google Earth and (...)
-
Des sites réalisés avec MediaSPIP
2 mai 2011, par kent1Cette page présente quelques-uns des sites fonctionnant sous MediaSPIP.
Vous pouvez bien entendu ajouter le votre grâce au formulaire en bas de page.
Sur d’autres sites (9769)
-
SEO for Financial Services : The Ultimate Guide
26 juin 2024, par ErinYou know that having a digital marketing strategy is crucial for helping your financial services business capture the attention and trust of potential customers and thrive in an increasingly competitive digital landscape.
The question is — what’s the best way to go about improving your ranking in SERPs and driving organic traffic to your website ?
That’s where SEO strategies for financial services come into play.
This article will cover everything your company needs to know about SEO for financial services — from the unique challenges you’ll face to the proven tips and strategies you can implement to boost your ranking in SERPs.
What is SEO for financial services ?
SEO — short for search engine optimisation — refers to optimising your content and website for search engines, particularly Google.
The main goal of an SEO strategy is to make your site search-engine-friendly, show that you’re a trusted source and increase the likelihood of appearing in SERPs when potential customers look up relevant keywords — ultimately driving organic visibility and traffic.
Now, when it comes to evaluating the success of your financial services SEO strategy, there are certain key performance indicators (KPIs) you should keep track of — including :
- SEO ranking, or the position your web pages show up in SERPs for specific search terms (the terms and phrases identified during keyword research)
- SEO Score, which shows a website’s overall SEO health and indicates how well it will rank in SERPs
- Impressions, or the number of times users saw your pages when they looked up relevant search terms
- Organic traffic, or the number of people that visit your website via search engines
- Engagement metrics, such as time on page, pages per session, and bounce rate
- Conversion rates from website traffic, including both “hard” conversions (lead generation and purchases) and “soft” conversions (such as newsletter subscriptions)
It’s important to note that the financial services industry is incredibly competitive — especially given the large-scale digital transformations in the financial sector and the rise of fintech companies.
According to a 2022 report, the global market for financial services was valued at $25.51 trillion. Moreover, it’s expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.7%, reaching $58.69 trillion by 2031.
Importance and challenges of financial services SEO
The financial services industry is changing rapidly, mainly driven by globalisation, innovation, shifting economies, and compliance risks. It’s crucial for financial service companies to develop effective SEO strategies that align with the opportunities and challenges unique to this sector.
Certain benefits of a well-executed SEO strategy, namely, better search engine rankings, driving more search traffic, delivering a better user experience, and maximising ROI and promoting business growth, are “universal.”
Financial services SEO efforts can provide a number of benefits. It can help you :
- Improve lead generation and customer acquisition ; the more search traffic you get, the higher the chances of converting visitors into potential clients
- Build a strong online presence and brand awareness, which comes as a result of increased visibility in organic search results and reaching a wider audience
- Increase your credibility and authority within the industry, primarily through high-quality content that shows your expertise and backlinks from authoritative websites
- Gain a competitive edge by analysing and outranking your main competitors
That said, financial services companies face some unique challenges :
High competition : The digital arena for financial services is highly competitive, with numerous companies vying for the same business.
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) content : Google’s YMYL framework places higher scrutiny on financial content, demanding higher standards for experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness. We’ll cover this topic in greater detail shortly.
Regulatory changes and compliance : The financial services sector is characterised by constant regulatory changes and new compliance requirements that businesses must navigate. Sometimes this makes it difficult to gather insights and market to your audience.
As a privacy-fist, compliant web analytics solution Matomo can provide valuable insights to support your SEO efforts. Matomo ensures compliance with privacy laws — including GDPR, CCPA and more — and provides 20-40% more comprehensive data than Google Analytics.
Try Matomo for Free
Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.
8 proven strategies for implementing SEO for financial services
SEO for financial services involves a wide range of strategies — including keyword optimisation, technical SEO, content marketing, link building and other off-page SEO activities — that can help your website rank higher in SERPs.
Of course, it’s not just about better search rankings. It’s about attracting the right search traffic to your website — potential clients interested in your financial services.
Here are some proven financial services SEO strategies you should implement :
1. Build trust and topical authority
Financial services content typically covers more complex topics that could impact the reader’s financial stability and well-being — or, as Google calls them, “Your Money or Your Life” topics (YMYL). As such, it’s subject to much stricter quality standards.
To improve your YMYL content, you’ll need to apply the E-E-A-T framework — short for “Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trust”.
This is a key part of Google’s search rater guidelines for evaluating a website’s quality and credibility.
The E-E-A-T standards become even more relevant to financial topics such as investment strategies, financial advice, taxes, and retirement planning.
In that sense, the overarching goal of your content strategy should be to build customer trust by demonstrating real expertise and topical authority through in-depth educational content.
2. Earn reputable external links through link-building
You also need to monitor your off-page SEO—factors outside your website that can’t be directly controlled but can still build trust and contribute to better ranking in SERPs.
These include everything from social media engagement and unlinked brand mentions in blog posts, news articles, user reviews and social media discussions — to inbound links from other reputable websites in the finance industry.
That brings us to high-quality backlinks as a significant factor for YMYL content that can improve your financial services website’s SEO performance :
Earning external links can improve your domain authority and reinforce your brand’s position as a reliable source in the financial services niche — which, in turn, can contribute to better search engine rankings and drive more website traffic.
Here are a few link-building strategies you can try :
- Use tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to look for reputable websites and then request for them to link to your site
- Demonstrate your expertise and get backlinks from reputable media outlets through Help a Reporter Out (HARO)
- Reach out to authoritative websites that mention your company without linking to you directly and ask them to include a link to your websit
3. Conduct an SEO audit
An SEO audit is a key step in developing and implementing a successful financial SEO strategy. It sets the foundation for all your future efforts — and allows you to measure progress further down the line.
You’ll need to perform a comprehensive SEO audit, covering both the existing content and technical aspects of your website — including :
- Indexing issues
- Internal linking and site architecture
- Duplicate content
- Backlink profile
- Broken links
- Page titles and metadata
It’s possible to do this manually, third-party tools will allow you to dig deeper and speed up the process. Ahrefs and Screaming Frog — to name a few — can help you evaluate your website’s overall health and structure. And, with a web analytics platform like Matomo you can easily measure the success of your SEO efforts.
But this shouldn’t be a one-time thing ; be sure to perform audits regularly — ideally every six months.
4. Understand your target audience
You can’t create helpful content without learning about your customers’ needs, pain points and preferences.
For example, a financial service provider focusing on individuals nearing retirement would prioritise content that educates on retirement planning strategies, investment options for seniors, and tax-efficient withdrawal strategies, aiming to guide clients through the transition from saving to managing retirement funds effectively.
In contrast, a provider targeting small business owners would emphasise content related to small business loans, funding options, and financial management advice tailored to entrepreneurs seeking to expand their businesses and navigate financial challenges effectively.
So, before you dive into keyword research and content creation, ensure you have a deep understanding of your target audience.
Identifying different audience categories and developing detailed customer personas for each segment is crucial for creating content that resonates with them and aligns with their search intent.
Matomo’s Segmentation tool can be of huge help here. It allows you to divide your audience into smaller groups based on factors like demographics and website interactions :
In addition to that, you can :
- Engage with your frontline teams that interact directly with clients to gain deeper insights into prospects’ needs and concerns
- Track social media channels and other online discussions related to the financial world and your audience
- Gather qualitative insights from your site visitors through the Matomo Surveys plugin (questions like “What financial services are you most interested in ?” or “Are there any specific financial topics you would like us to cover in more detail ?” will help you understand your visitors better)
- Watch out for financial trends and developments that could directly impact your audience’s needs and preferences
5. Identify new opportunities through keyword research
Comprehensive keyword research can help you identify key search terms — specific phrases that potential customers may use when looking up things related to their finances.
It’s best to start with a brainstorming session and assemble a list of relevant topics and core keywords. Once you have an initial list, use tools like Ahrefs and Semrush to get more keyword ideas based on your seed keywords, including :
- More specific long-tail keywords — and often less competitive — indicate a clearer intent to convert. For example :
- “low-risk investment options for retirees”
- “financial planning for freelancers”
- “small business loan requirements”
- Keywords that your competitors already rank for. For instance :
- If a competing investment firm ranks for “best investment strategies for beginners,” targeting similar keywords can attract novice investors.
- A competitor’s high ranking for “life insurance quotes online” suggests potential to optimise your own content around similar terms.
- Location-specific keywords (if you have physical store locations)
Google Search Console can provide information about the search terms you’re already ranking for — including underperforming content that may benefit from further optimisation. If you want deeper SEO insights, you can import your search keywords into Matomo.
While you’re at it, try Matomo’s Site Search feature, too. It will show you the exact terms and phrases visitors enter when using your website’s search bar — and you can use that information to find more content opportunities.
Try Matomo for Free
Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.
Of course, not all keywords are equal — and it would be impossible to target them all. Instead, prioritise keywords based on two factors :
- Search volume, which indicates the “popularity” of a particular query
- Keyword difficulty, which indicates how hard it’ll be to rank for a specific term, depending on domain authority, search volume and competition
6. Find your main organic competitors
Besides performing an SEO audit, finding your core keywords, and researching your target market, competitor analysis is another crucial aspect of SEO for finance companies.
Before you start, it’s important to differentiate between your main organic search competitors and your direct industry competitors :
You’ll always have direct competitors — other financial services brands offering similar products and services and targeting the same audience as you.
However, regarding search results, your financial services business won’t be in a “bubble” specifically reserved for the financial industry. Depending on the specific search queries — and the search intent behind them — SERPs could feature a wider range of online content, from niche finance blogs to news websites, and huge financial publications.
Even if another company doesn’t offer the same services, they’re an organic competitor if you’re both ranking for the same keywords.
Once you determine who your main organic competitors are, you can analyse their websites to :
- Check how they’re getting search traffic
- See which types of content they’re publishing
- Find and fill in any potential content gaps
- Assess the quality of their backlink profile
- See if they currently have any featured snippets
7. Consider local SEO
According to a 2023 survey, 21% of US-based consumers report using the internet to look up local businesses daily, while another 32% do so multiple times a week.
Local SEO is worth investing in as a financial service provider, especially with physical locations. Prospective clients will typically look up nearby financial services when they need additional information or are ready to engage in financial planning, investment, or other financial activities.
Here are a few suggestions on how to optimise your site for local searches :
- Create listings on online business directories, like Google Business Profile (previously known as Google My Business)
- If your financial service company operates in more than one physical location, be sure to create a separate Google Business Profile for each one
- Identify location-specific keywords that will help you rank in local SERPs
- Make sure that your name, address, and phone number (NAP) citations are correct and consistent
- Leverage positive customer reviews and testimonials as social proof
8. Optimise technical aspects of your website
Technical SEO — which primarily deals with the website’s underlying structure — is another crucial factor that financial services brands must monitor.
It’s an umbrella term that covers a wide range of elements, including :
- Site speed
- Indexing issues
- Broken links, orphaned pages, improper redirects
- On-page optimisation
- Mobile responsiveness
In 2020, Google introduced Core Web Vitals, a set of metrics that measure web page performance in three key areas — loading speed, responsiveness and visual stability.
Given that they’re now a part of Google’s core ranking systems, you should consider using Matomo’s SEO Web Vitals feature to monitor these crucial metrics. Here’s why :
When technical aspects of your website — namely, site speed and mobile responsiveness — are properly optimised, you can deliver a better user experience. That’s what Google seeks to reward.
Plus, it can be a critical brand differentiator for your business.
Conclusion
Investing in SEO for financial services is crucial for boosting online visibility and driving organic traffic and business growth. However, one thing to keep in mind is that SEO efforts shouldn’t be a one-time thing :
SEO is an ongoing process, and it will take time to establish your company as a trustworthy source and see real results.
You can start building that trust by using a web analytics platform that offers crucial insights for improving your website’s ranking in SERPs and maintains full compliance with GDPR and other privacy regulations.
That’s why Matomo is trusted by more than 1 million websites around the globe. As an ethical alternative to Google Analytics that doesn’t rely on data sampling, Matomo is not only easy to use but more accurate, too — providing 20-40% more data compared to GA4.
Sign up for a 21-day free trial and see how Matomo can support your financial services SEO strategy. No credit card required.
Try Matomo for Free
21 day free trial. No credit card required.
-
Introducing Updates to the Funnels Feature
29 mai 2024, par ErinWe’ve made improvements to the Funnels feature to be more user-friendly and offer you greater flexibility.
<script type="text/javascript"><br />
if ('function' === typeof window.playMatomoVideo){<br />
window.playMatomoVideo("FunnelsProductUpdate2024", "#FunnelsProductUpdate2024")<br />
} else {<br />
document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", function() { window.playMatomoVideo("FunnelsProductUpdate2024", "#FunnelsProductUpdate2024"); });<br />
}<br />
</script>Here’s what’s changing :
Setting up and managing funnels is now easier than ever
Previously, creating funnels was tedious and required going through the Goals feature. But we’ve changed that with the introduction of a separate page to configure funnels.
Create funnels with greater flexibility—no longer tied to goals
Funnels is now a standalone feature, providing you with more flexibility. Before, you could only create a funnel if it was tied to a goal, in other words, the final step in the funnel had to be a goal. What’s more, you also couldn’t use goals for steps in the funnel.
Previous configuration requirements of Funnels Now, funnels are independent of goals, and goals can serve as steps within the funnel. This means you have the freedom to configure any combination of steps in a funnel :
- All steps can be goals
- No steps need to be goals
- Or some steps can be goals, some steps can be events
No matter what your customer journey looks like, funnels now offer the versatility to meet your business’s specific needs.
Find friction points faster with intuitive visuals
One of the most significant improvements is the visual upgrade of the Funnels feature. The new Funnels graph is now visually in line with industry standards and intuitive.
The new visual provides a clearer view of your drop-off and conversion rates so you can instantly find points of friction in your funnel to improve the user experience and overall conversion rate.
This visualisation also provides a detailed overview of the number of visitors who enter, exit, skip, or proceed at each step of your funnel by using different coloured bars for visual clarity on each step’s performance.
With this update, we’ve also replaced ‘backfilled visits’ with ‘skipped steps’ to avoid misinterpretation of the data.
New data table for more granular insights
Accompanying this visual improvement is a new data table, allowing for more granular insights, segment comparison, and easy data export.
We’ve also increased Funnel analysis limits. You can now compare funnel data for 2 date periods and 6 segments (up to 12 compared datasets in total).
Sign up for our newsletter to receive all the latest Matomo updates.
Try Matomo for Free
21 day free trial. No credit card required.
-
B2B Customer Journey Map : A Quickfire Guide for Growth
20 mai 2024, par ErinWhat is a company’s biggest asset ?
Its product ? Its employees ? Its unique selling proposition ?
More and more people are recognising it’s something else entirely : your customers.
Without your customers, your business can’t exist.
Nearly 77% of B2B buyers found the buying process too complicated.
With more competition than ever, it’s crucial you provide the best possible experience for them.
That’s where your customer journey comes in.
If you’re in the B2B space, you need to know how to map out the journey.
By building a B2B customer journey map, you’ll be able to analyse the weak spots in the customer journey so you can improve the experience (and generate more revenue).
In this article, we break down the B2B customer journey stages, how to build a customer journey map and how Matomo can help you track your customer journey automatically.
What is a B2B customer journey ?
Every customer goes through a specific path within your business.
At some point in time, they found out about you and eventually bought your products.
A B2B customer journey is the collection of touchpoints your customer has with your business from start to finish.
From discovery to purchase (and more), your customers go through a specific set of touches you can track. By analysing this journey, you can get a snapshot of your user experience.
One way to track the customer journey is with a B2B customer journey map.
It helps you to quickly see the different steps your customers take in their path with your business.
With it, you can quickly identify weak spots and successes to improve the customer journey.
5 stages of the B2B customer journey
Every one of your customers is unique. Their specific needs and their journey.
It’s all different.
But, there are crucial steps they take through their journey as your customer.
It’s the same path your entire customer base takes.
Here are the five stages of the B2B customer journey (and why you should track them) :
1. Awareness
Awareness is the first stage that every B2B buyer goes through when they start their journey in B2B companies as a customer.
At this stage, your target buyer understands they have a problem they need solving. They’re out, actively trying to solve this problem.
This is where you can stand out from the competition and give them a good first impression.
Some helpful content you could create to do this is :
- Blog posts
- Social media posts
- Ebooks
- Whitepapers
2. Consideration
Next up, your buyer persona has an awareness of your company. But, now they’ve started narrowing down their options for potential businesses they’re interested in.
They’ve selected yours as a potential business to hand their hard-earned cash over to, but they’re still making up their mind.
At this point, you need to do what you can to clear up any objections and doubts in their mind and make them trust you.
Some helpful content you could create here include :
- Product demos by your sales team
- Webinars
- Case studies
3. Conversion
Next up, your target buyer has compared all their options and decided on you as the chosen product/company.
This is where the purchase decision is made — when the B2B buyer actually signs or clicks “buy.”
Here, you’ll want to provide more :
- Case studies
- Live demos
- Customer service
- Customer reviews/testimonials
4. Loyalty
Your B2B buyer is now a customer. But, not all customers return. The majority will slip away after the first purchase. If you want them to return, you need to fuel the relationship and nurture them even more.
You’ll want to shift your efforts to nurturing the relationship with a post-purchase strategy where you build on that trust, seek customer feedback to prove high customer satisfaction and reward their loyalty.
Some content you may want to create here includes :
- Thank you emails
- Follow-up emails
- Follow-up calls
- Product how-tos
- Reward program
- Surveys
5. Advocacy
The final stage of the B2B customer journey map is advocacy.
This is the stage beyond loyalty where your customers aren’t just coming back for more ; they’re actively telling others about you.
This is the cream of the crop when it comes to the B2B buyer stages, and it happens when you exceed customer expectations repeatedly.
Your goal should be to eventually get all of your customers to this stage. Because then, they’re doing free marketing for you.
This is only possible when a customer receives enough positive B2B customer experiences with your company where the value they’ve received far exceeds what they perceived they have given.
Here are a few pieces of content you can create to fuel advocacy :
- Surveys
- Testimonial requests
- Referral program
Difference between B2C and B2B customer journeys
Every person on earth who buys something enters the customer journey.
But, not all customer journeys are created equal.
This is especially true when you compare the B2C and B2B customer journeys.
While there are similarities, the business-to-consumer (B2C) journey has clear differences compared to the business-to-business (B2B) journey.
The most obvious difference between the two journeys is that B2B customer journeys are far more complex.
Not only are these two companies selling to different audiences, but they also have to deploy a completely different set of strategies to lead their customers down the path as far as they can go.
While the journey structures are similar (from awareness to advocacy), there are differing motivating behaviours.
Here’s a table showing the difference between B2C and B2B in the customer journey :
Different Factors B2B B2C Target audience Smaller, industry more important Larger, general consumer Buyer Multiple decision-makers One decision-maker Buying decision Based on needs of the organisation with multiple stakeholders Based on an individual’s pain points Buying process Multiple steps Single step Customer retention Organisational needs and ROI-based Individual emotional factors Repeat sales driver Deep relationship Repetition, attention-based Step-by-step guide to building a B2B customer journey map
Now that you’ve got a basic understanding of the typical B2B customer journey, it’s time to build out your map so you can create a visual representation of the journey.
Here are six steps you need to take to craft an effective B2B customer journey map in your business :
1. Identify your target audience (and different segments)
The first step in customer journey mapping is to look at your target audience.
You need to understand who they are and what different segments make up your audience.
You need to look at the different roles each person plays within the journey.
Unlike B2C, you’re not usually dealing with a single person. You likely have a few decision-makers you need to interact with to close a deal.
The average B2B deal involves 6 to 10 people.
Analyse the different roles and responsibilities of your audience.
Figure out what requirements they need to onboard you. Understand each person’s level of influence in the buying decision.
2. Determine your customers’ goals
Now that you have a clear understanding of each person involved in the buying process, it’s time to analyse their unique needs and goals.
Unlike B2C, which will include a single person with a single set of needs and goals, you have to look at several people through the decision-making process.
What is every decision-maker’s goal ?
An entry-level admin will have much different goals than a CEO.
Understand each of their needs as it will be key to selling them and taking you to the next person in the chain of command.
3. Lean on data and analytics
Now it’s time to analyse your data.
You don’t want to guess what will work on your B2B buyers. Instead, leverage data that proves what’s working (and what’s not).
Analytics software like Matomo are crucial tools in your B2B customer journey toolkit.
Matomo can help you make data-driven decisions to fuel customer acquisition and loyalty to help get more customers all the way to the advocacy stage.
Using Matomo (which analyses and interprets different data sources) can give you a holistic view of what’s going on at each stage of the journey so you can reach your goals.
Try Matomo for Free
Get the web insights you need, without compromising data accuracy.
4. Draw out customer journey stages
Now that you have your data-backed plan, it’s time for some customer journey mapping.
You can do this on paper or use a diagram tool to create a visual B2B customer journey map.
Here, you’ll draw out every single stage in your customer journey, including every single touchpoint from different decision-makers.
5. Determine each customer touchpoint
Once you’ve drawn up the customer journey stages, you’ll have a key list of B2B customer journey touchpoints to implement.
Write down every single customer interaction possible on the journey through.
This could be reading an email, a blog post or watching a video on your home page.
It could be an advertisement, a phone call or a follow-up email.
It could even be a live demo or video sales call (meeting).
6. Identify your own goals
Now that you’ve got your visual B2B customer journey mapping done, it’s time to go back to you and your company.
What are your goals ?
What are the end results you’re looking for here ?
You’ve got your current map in place. Now, how would you like customers to go through this journey ?
Where would you like them to end up ?
Look back at your company’s primary objectives if you’re stuck here.
If your company is looking to increase profit margins, then maybe you want to focus more on retention, so you’re spending less on acquisition (and leaning more on recurring revenue from existing customers).
How to create a Matomo funnel to track your B2B customer journey
If you want to start tracking and optimising your B2B customer journey, you need to have a good grasp on your funnel.
The reality is that your customer journey is your funnel.
They’re one and the same.
Your customer journeys through your sales funnel.
So, if you want to optimise it, then you need to see what’s going on at each stage of your funnel.
With Matomo, you can map out your entire funnel and track key events like conversions.
This allows you to identify where your site visitors are having problems, where they’re exiting and other obstacles they’re facing on their journey through.
To start, you first define what events or touchpoints you want included. This could mean :
- Landing on your website
- Visiting a product page
- Adding something to cart
- Going to checkout
- Clicking “buy”
Then, at each stage, you’ll see conversion rates.
For example, if only 3% of your visitors go from landing on your website to the product page, you likely have an issue between your homepage (and other pages) and your product pages.
Or, if you can get people to add to cart, but you rarely get people going to checkout, there’s likely a problem to fix on your add-to-cart page.
By leveraging Matomo’s funnels feature, you get to see your entire customer journey (and where people are falling off) so you understand what you need to optimise to grow your business.
If you’re ready to start building and optimising your customer journey today, then try Matomo for free for 21 days.
Try Matomo for Free
21 day free trial. No credit card required.