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Do you work in the financial industry? It’s very competitive. In fact, 50 percent of financial analysts in a class drop out by the time they reach the associate level. Moreover, selling financial products is even harder due to the high targets, and with millennials preferring to save money rather than invest it, the market is quickly becoming scarce.
Don’t be discouraged! There are many ways you can gain an advantage over your competitors. One of the best ways to do so is through local search engine optimization (local SEO).
What is local SEO?
For many of you who work in financial institutions and markets, this could be the first time you have heard of local SEO. Let’s quickly discuss what it is to give you a better idea of how it can help you gain an advantage.
Local SEO optimizes the content of your website and/or social media platforms so they will rank better in search engines for a local audience. It’s a great way for financial advisers and other industry professionals to promote their products to people who are geographically near to them at the exact time they do a local search. According to Propelrr, the case study suggests that five out of 10 local ‘near me’ searches are in the financial industry. That’s a huge potential for the finance industry to penetrate the digital landscape.

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What are the benefits of local SEO for your financial business?
Wondering how local SEO can help your financial business? Take a look at this list of benefits the financial industry can get from local SEO.
1. Better visibility in search engines – When you search online, have you noticed that you seldom go to the second page of the results? Do you know how many online users do? Only 0.78 percent!
Local SEO makes it easier for people to see your business online. The higher your site ranks in search results, the better the chance that your potential customers will see you.
2. Increased online and foot traffic – When people don’t see your business, they can’t come to you. Local SEO strategies will help put your business out in the open. Business owners can expect an increase in online and foot traffic if they execute their strategies correctly, especially if your business name, address and phone numbers (NAP) are up to date and consistent across all channels. Keeping your NAP updated will help build online consumers’ trust in your business.
3. Better brand authority – Did you know that businesses that get the number-one spot in a search engine get 32.58 percent of online search traffic? That’s because links/websites on the top spot of the search engine results page (SERP) are considered an authority on whatever it is a user is searching for. And because your business is seen as the authority, it will get a huge chunk of online visits.
4. Google My Business (GMB) page optimization increases map visibility – Want people to know where your bank’s branch is? A great way to inform people of your bank’s location or office is by optimizing your GMB page. The GMB page is usually shown at three locations online: (1) Google search page, (2) Google Maps and (3) most online listings, like Google, Bing or Yelp.
People will get to see your business name, address and phone number (NAP). The information is used by Google to display in searches and maps, making it easier for potential customers to visit you or send you a message. Just make sure that your details and business category are correct so that Google won’t penalize your business by losing organic search visibility, traffic and revenue.
5. Increases your website’s rank in search engines – Google assigns human evaluators to check if your site is to their standards. You must optimize your content locally for your website and GMB page. Your rank in search engines will go up if your local SEO strategy is executed correctly. What this means for a financial business like yours is that your website and business are easier to find and/or discover by first-time and returning customers.
6. Local SEO reaches customers who are in need of your service – Unlike paid ads that intrude on the user experience, local SEO organically reaches customers who are in need of your financial service. Your business can be presented first to a person who has done an online query searching for a service similar to yours. It’s an efficient and cost-effective method of getting more reliable conversions, as well as building an online reputation and domain authority.
7. Local SEO is 100 percent free – Unlike running paid ads on social media platforms, local SEO is basically free. Setting up your GMB page is free, optimizing your content is something you can do using the many free online tools, and keeping your NAP consistent across all platforms is free. Anyone working in a financial institution should realize that this is a good deal that can help you earn big.

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8. It’s easy to learn – SEO, in general, is relatively easy to learn compared with the number-crunching a financial business does. Moreover, hundreds of blogs offer free resources to learn how to do SEO. If you’re worried about financial institution regulations, well, local SEO is the future of the digital world, and Google takes care of those who break their rules by imposing penalties to sites.
9. Social sharing – Local SEO provides possibilities to build partnerships with other businesses through backlinks and social sharing. Such partnerships help both your financial business and your partner. The more partners you get to cite your websites, the better it is for your business and for theirs.
10. Increase in repeat business – As mentioned, local SEO builds trust in Google and your customers. And if you provide great customer service and value to them, the trust you’ve earned will turn into repeat customers and, of course, more profit for your business.
Local SEO is clearly a great bargain (especially considering it’s free) for the many benefits you can get out of it for your business. These benefits should convince you to update your website and GMB page as soon as possible to reap the rewards of local SEO.
Guest article by:
Jason Garcia
Blogger and Business Manager
www.investmentdad.com