In the personal Loan industry where consumers are looking for experts they can trust, content marketing offers financial service businesses a platform to develop a positive brand persona.

While SEO in financial services  is hugely competitive there are always opportunities to have your slice of the traffic, especially if your content strategy is underpinned by a solid keyword strategy. If you consider the different aspects of personal loans you will quickly be able to identify some categories to help you develop your plan.

Using Moz’s keyword tool we have carried out some ‘loan’ keyword analysis to help you get ahead.

Keyword by type:

“secured loan” 

Monthly volume: 9.3k-11.5k

Difficulty: 32

Considering the types of loans that people Search for is an important factor. Before your customers begin their search they will probably already know the kind of financial plan they are after, so by including clear and distinct category pages you should be able to provide the best possible content for your audience. From there consider creating sub-category pages that perhaps give information about loans for a specific purpose, for instance “home improvement loans”.

Purpose keywords:

“home improvements loans” 

Monthly volume: 4.3k-6.5k

Difficulty: 26

It’s unlikely that your customers will search for loans without a purpose in mind, so by establishing the intent behind a search the better you will become at publishing content that meets user needs. In this instance a good content opportunity would be to create a sub-category page that focuses on a specific loan purpose such as home improvement loans or wedding loans.

Moneysupermarket  is a great example of this – they have created a specific landing page that details the advantages and disadvantages of a home improvements loan. Instead of hard-selling, Moneysupermarket has established that the key to delivering good quality customer service is transparency and honest advice.

Resource based keywords

“personal loans calculator” 

Monthly volume: 6.5k-9.3k

Difficulty:  31

Embedding useful tools into your website such as a ‘personal loans calculator’ can help you boost customer retention. Users are far more likely to stay on your website (or revisit) if they feel that the information you provide them with adds value. It’s more than likely that people looking for loans are going to want to know how much they can borrow and over what period of time, so providing them with self-service resources will help establish your loan company as an industry leader.

TSB  have created a specific landing page for their loan calculator which also includes a list of links and FAQs to other areas of their website, for instance: Car loans, Graduate loans and Have a TSB loan and looking to borrow a bit more? Because of the wealth of reasons that an individual could be looking to invest in a loan, TSB have attempted to decipher the user intent behind searches by providing helpful links/articles to other areas of their website. This also adds to the customer user experience by answering questions for both existing and potential customers.

Demographic keywords

“loans for students”

Monthly volume: 2.9k-4.3k

Difficulty: 24

Identifying keyword opportunities around customer demographics is essential, allowing you to deliver more relevant targeted content. For example, a person searching for “loans for students” may not have much experience in obtaining a loan, therefore creating content that reassures customers that you are reliable and trustworthy will help build credibility.

A good approach might be to create a blog post with a helpful checklist detailing things to consider when applying for a student loan. MoneySavingExpert is currently ranking at the top of page one on Google for the search term “Student Loans Mythbusting”, which gives advice on repayments and guidance on various loan options for students.

Informational keywords

“where can I get loans?”

Monthly volume: 1.7k-2.9k 

Difficulty: 36

It’s important to consider that web users will often use specific queries when looking for your content rather than a string of Keywords. Therefore creating content around questions such as “where can I get loans?” can yield great results because you’re able to deliver specific answers to customers that are closer to the point of purchase. Answering users questions can also help when optimising for voice search, as when we talk we tend to naturally ask questions.

A content hub can be an excellent method of delivering targeted traffic to your key-landing pages. This is because a content hub focuses around broad keywords such as “travel loans” or “car loans” which link and direct users to subpages with more specific search queries or keywords. However, if your category pages are nothing more than links to subpages you will waste ranking authority. It is more effective for SEO purposes, if you use these pages to target keywords with relevant and informative content.

What next?

Focusing on low-competition and high volume keywords can be indispensable for SEO success. That said, it’s important to remember that it’s people who are reading your content, not search engines. So while your page might be ranking well in search results, if your content fails to be informative, engaging or entertaining then you won’t be delivering any results.

We have a tried and tested methodology for helping you to plan a content-marketing strategy that will deliver strong, sustainable results over the long term. So if you would like to learn more about how we can help you achieve your content marketing goals, get in touch today!

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