Backlinks are a critical currency in the world of SEO that help boost the authority of your website and drive your content ranking higher. Notoriously difficult to grow, we investigate a potential backlink goldmine that could help finance brands gain more hard-earned backlinks.
The value of a backlink
In SEO terms, a backlink is akin to a vote of confidence towards its destination site. Every link or ‘vote’ pointing to a particular page is saying ‘this content is useful’. Taken into account by Google’s algorithm, this contributes to pushing up the site’s ranking. While this is only one of the thousands of factors within the Google algorithm, unlike content, keywords, or on-site improvements, for example, earning backlinks tends to be out of the control of the brand and so can be an incredibly difficult task. Enter your secret weapon as a finance brand to gain backlinks – your existing data and research.
Enter your secret weapon as a finance brand – your existing data and research.
Making your internal research your secret weapon
There is a considerable bank of research and data to be found within the financial industry in terms of customer sentiment surveys, investment trend reports, and deep-dive research into past and future market performance. While much of this research is conducted to inform the investment decisions made by a business or as an educational tool for customers, when positioned in the right way these insights are of interest and value to a much wider external audience. By distributing this existing research more broadly it’s not only a PR and brand awareness opportunity for your finance brand, but a tactic that could attract backlinks and ultimately boost your SEO. Some great examples of finance brands earning backlinks from their research include:
Merrill Lynch
Merrill Lynch’s Wealth Management report was linked to by Business Insider Australia in a broader article looking at the impact of debt on millennials. This is a good example of how an article that links to a finance brand’s research can focus on a much broader topic but still find relevance in niche data. Although the Wealth Management report is not directly relevant to the final article, it does provide useful statistics that helped the publication produce a more insightful piece for their audience.
LendingTree
LendingTree earned a link back from HousingWire thanks to research the company conducted into home-buying decisions for millennials. This was a significant piece of research conducted by Qualtrics that not only served the needs of customers but that included lots of interesting statistics to be picked up and linked back to from the press.
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas in the New York Times
The New York Times included a link back to a survey undertaken by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, focused on whether companies are concerned that the impact of the coronavirus might lead to a recession. The survey questioned direct contacts of the bank, providing quotes and statistics, but didn’t require any outside expertise or investment. This information is valuable to both the bank’s existing customers but also provides interesting insight for the general public, enough to be picked up and linked back to from as reputable a publication as the New York Times.
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Optimising your content
With the goal of backlinks front of mind, to make the most of the research your finance brand is already producing, consider these key tips:
- Optimise your content for search engines
When you release research and data on your own site this content should be as discoverable as possible. You want future publications to be able to find your content easily, consider the keywords you are using and the natural search queries you are targeting. - Promote your content on your social channels
Don’t rely on your content being found, use your social platforms and any potential native advertising networks to promote your content and extend its visibility and reach. - Be aware of ‘nofollow’ links
Due to the high value of links, some publications opt to add a ‘nofollow’ or ‘sponsored’ tag to their external links. Google has stated that this should only be used for commercial links, however, it’s a common sight among publishers. This doesn’t mean the link is completely invaluable, but it’s worth making yourself aware of the value of each link. - Use PR opportunities
If you have access to a PR team, make sure you use them to promote your great work. This is an easy way to encourage coverage of your great content, and may result in immediate backlinks if your data is timely and/or topical. If you don’t have access to a PR team, X is perfectly positioned to serve as a PR channel, giving you the opportunity to specifically target journalists that specialise in certain topics or fields.
There are so many opportunities for finance brands to grow their backlink profiles, it’s never too late to start. If your brand is already producing interesting research and data, consider how you can improve its discoverability and drive backlink opportunities. If your brand isn’t producing any research, consider trialling something that doesn’t require significant investment such as a survey that could benefit both customers and potential SEO rankings alike.
At The Dubs, research is at the core of everything we do. We can help you mine your existing research and data to produce content that will capture widespread attention.
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