Should Fintechs Actually Care About Search Rankings?
The short answer: it depends on the fintech.
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can be a cost-effective way to attract inbound leads, educate potential customers, and build authority.
For B2B fintechs in particular, ranking for high-intent keywords like “customisable payments orchestration software” or “PCI DSS compliance in BIN sponsorship” can result in qualified leads from companies actively searching for solutions.
Trust is also a factor, and ranking highly can help lend credibility to a brand.
Reducing dependency on paid acquisition channels and building a steady stream of organic traffic is ultimately a step on the path to sustainable revenue generation.
But SEO isn’t fundamental to every fintech’s growth strategy.
Some early-stage fintechs rely heavily on paid media to see faster results, or leverage partnerships instead to build credibility.
Whilst high-intent keywords can be transformative for targeting some bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) prospects, others may be better approached with ABM strategies, or through events and partnerships.
Most fintechs will be using SEO in some way or another, and it's up to them to decide if it's an area worthy of investment.
So What Are Search Rankings?
Most of you will be very familiar with SEO as a channel, but as a quick recap:
Search rankings refer to the position your website appears on a search engine results page (SERP) for a specific keyword or phrase.
SEO refers to the optimisation of a website in order to rank highly on a results page.
Achieving high rankings can be crucial, because the majority of users click on one of the first few results. The higher a company ranks, the more likely they are to capture organic traffic from users looking for that solution.
Search engines like Google determine rankings through algorithms that evaluate several factors.
These include the relevance of content, keyword optimization, backlinks, user engagement, and crucially for this article, elements like videos.
More on that in a moment. But first:
The Basics Of Keyword Tracking
For fintechs serious about SEO, understanding how to track keywords and target high-intent, bottom-of-the-funnel (BOFU) prospects is essential.
BOFU prospects are typically close to making a purchase decision, so targeting these keywords can directly impact conversion rates.
The reader is likely comparing products or investigating specific brands. They’ve already decided to act; they just need to determine the best approach and provider.
Keyword Research & Tracking:
Combining your own customer research with tools like Google Search Console, Ahrefs, or SEMrush, you can build a picture of what your prospects are searching for.
Then you can track your site’s performance for your targeted keywords.
By monitoring search volume, keyword difficulty, ranking position, and click-through rates (CTR), you can see where your site is performing, and where you need to improve.
How Video Affects Your Search Rankings
So how can video help in this process?
Right off the bat, Google favours multimedia-rich pages. It also prefers pages with high engagement, and video can significantly boost page visit-time.
Perhaps more important though is the Google>Youtube ecosystem.
Since YouTube is owned by Google, well-optimised videos hosted on YouTube can directly impact rankings in Google search results (more on what well-optimised looks like below).
Targeting keywords in your video titles and embedded pages can improve your SERP position, and is a fundamental part of a fintech content marketing strategy.
Along with these two direct factors, fintech video can also impact your search rankings in other ways:
- Rich Snippets: Google often pulls videos into rich snippets or displays them directly on the SERP, driving more clicks to fintech websites
- Increased Backlinks: High-quality videos are more likely to be shared, which can lead to backlinks from reputable sites – an essential SEO factor.
Improving Your Non-Google Search Rankings
While Google dominates search with a 91% market share globally, customers are increasingly searching for solutions on other platforms too.
YouTube is the second largest search engine and a go-to resource for educational and demo content in the fintech space. 55% of B2B buyers reportedly use social media, including YouTube, for research during their purchasing process (Articulate).
LinkedIn is another platform growing in importance. 50% of B2B decision-makers use LinkedIn to research vendors and services, often looking for product information or case studies.
With its new video shorts functionality, LinkedIn is quickly becoming another popular location to search for B2B solutions.
Optimising Video For Search Rankings
Once you’ve located where your prospects are searching, how do you optimise your video content to give it the best chance of featuring?
Step 1: Keyword Research:
As we outlined above, it's crucial to identify high-intent keywords related to BOFU queries.
Step 2: Title and Description Optimization:
- Video Title: Include the target keyword in the title while keeping it under 60 characters to avoid truncation in search results.
- Description: Write a detailed video description (at least 250 words) that slots in any secondary keywords naturally. This helps YouTube and Google understand the content of the video.
- Tags and File Name: Add relevant tags, and use a keyword-rich file name to help search engines index the video properly.
Step 3: Use Transcripts:
Adding a transcript ensures that all the content within the video is searchable. Both Google and YouTube crawl transcripts to better index the video’s content, helping with rankings for relevant keywords.
Step 4: Thumbnails and CTAs:
Create engaging thumbnails that compel users to click on your video. Videos with high click-through rates are more likely to rank higher.
What Are You Waiting For?
If SEO is an important part of your arsenal, then start using video to help improve your search rankings, in turn increasing organic traffic, generating leads, and boosting credibility.
If you’d like help creating a killer animation for your fintech, or you’d like to talk to us about getting started, or even want some help in where your video fits within a wider B2B fintech marketing strategy, reach out to us.