SEO for Credit Unions: Complete Guide

Nearly 68% of all clicks on search engine results pages go to the first five organic results. If your credit union’s website isn’t in one of those spots, chances are you need to create a better search engine optimization strategy. SEO is the process of optimizing your website and social media pages to rank higher in search results with the help of keywords, original content, and well-organized formatting in front of and behind the scenes. SEO for credit unions is vital for bringing in business and remaining relevant.

The Benefits of SEO for Credit Unions

Credit unions that focus on SEO see many advantages, generating more traffic and more leads over time. SEO may also help you to outrank your competition by increasing your visibility. This is especially true when you consider only 44% of businesses have an active SEO strategy.

SEO is also usually more cost-effective than other types of advertising. Sponsored posts on search engines and social media become costly over time and may not even bring in much traffic. SEO continues to work for your credit union long after it’s implemented, which is not something you can say for other methods of digital marketing. While hiring an SEO expert is a business expense, excellent SEO that continues to generate leads is a worthwhile investment that pays for itself over time.

How To Improve SEO for a Credit Union

How do you take advantage of this for your credit union? You simply need to know where to start.

Perform Keyword Research

To upgrade your SEO for credit unions, you need to know which keywords are trending in your industry. Focus on the four Cs: competition, customer, customization, and convenience. Which keywords are your competitors using in their own content? Which keywords or phrases are buyers using when they search for your services? Does your credit union offer anything that others can’t? Find a way to incorporate that service as a keyword in your content.

Finally, think about location. If you offer services to a local area, ensure the location is part of your keywords.

Add a Blog to Your Website

Blogging is an excellent way to continually create new content for your website. A good blog has a combination of short-form and long-term content and includes imagery such as infographics or photographs in every post. Topics may include providing a unique angle on a trending topic in the financial industry, offering specialized information about finances, and occasionally letting readers know what goes on behind the scenes.

Blogging takes time, though. You must research relevant keywords, come up with a topic, create the content, and add the imagery. You may want to consider hiring a professional blog writer to create your content. This leaves you free to focus on other areas where you’re needed.

Audit Your Site Content

Auditing your website involves examining your current page performance to determine how well it’s optimized and where you need to improve it. An SEO link audit examines the links pointing to your website to find potential opportunities or issues. Use a tool like Google Search Console to find the links. Download a list of them and manually check to ensure they’re using properly formatted URLs, anchor text, and page content.

A full website audit of SEO for credit unions goes deeper than a link audit. It focuses on overall performance based on keyword usage, metadata, content, page speed, and the user’s journey. Use software tools to crawl your pages and find tech errors that could prevent your page from ranking higher and focus on indexing, usability, and security.

Refresh Old Content

Updating old content improves your ranking on SERPs to increase traffic and engagement. The goal is to improve low-performing content and redirect, merge, or delete outdated content. As you’re refreshing, update keywords to ensure they perform well with current search trends. Create or update your titles to be more engaging, rewrite meta descriptions, and improve your website’s organization by adding subheadings, images, and bullet points. Next, verify any data is still correct and update it as needed. Finally, use clear and persuasive language to create a solid call to action that provides next steps for visitors interested in your credit union’s services.

Invest Time in Link Building

Building links is an essential part of creating a strong SEO plan for your credit union. There are two main ways to build backlinks. The first method is to add them manually. Submit your website to business directories, add them to your social media profiles, comment on blogs, post in forums, and create job search listings where applicable. It’s important not to overdo it, though. Many of these links are low-value in Google’s eyes, and too many of them may even be flagged as spam.

You can also ask for links on external sites if you have a compelling reason to do so. What’s in it for the other website owner? There are several techniques for asking for links, including guest blogging, offering to blog about their own website in a positive light, and the skyscraper technique, in which you show a site publisher a better resource than the one they’re already linking to.

Manage Your Social Media

Social media profiles are vital for increasing SEO for credit unions. When used properly, social media can support your site rising the ranks in SERPs. Follow the 80/20 rule, which means 80% of your posts should entertaining, fun, or useful and the other 20% should be related to your products and services.

Try posting tips and tricks, posting profiles of your staff so users can get to know who they’ll work with, and sharing blog posts you’ve made. Other ideas include funny industry-related memes, inspirational quotes or images, and asking questions to increase engagement. Finally, by sharing other companies’ posts, you can build relationships with your local small business community.

Talk to Us About SEO for Credit Unions

SEO for credit unions is not optional if you want to stay at the top of your game. You don’t need to do it alone, though. BKA Content offers a variety of search engine optimization services that ensure your company’s online presence is at the top of its game. Contact us to create your SEO plan!