Financial Services and SEO Case Study

DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC 10/21/2013

2 | Financial Services and SEO - Case Study

Currently, we have two clients that offer the same products and services. One of these organizations is a bank and the other is a credit union. For purposes of confidentiality, we will reference their website URLs as “www.bank.com” and “www.creditunion.com,” respectively. The scope of our engagement with both organizations was identical—Search Engine Optimization (SEO) & Web Analytics consulting services. The goals and objectives for both organizations’ campaigns were to increase brand awareness and generate leads for their financial products and services. The Bank is located within the New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania markets. DaBrian Marketing Group has been in engagement with The Bank for over 2 years with digital strategies and campaign(s) measurement. Although the Bank is one of the tri-state area’s largest regional banks, their marketing department has considerable limitations due to the small number of personnel. In addition, the relationship between the marketing and IT departments is fragmented with regards to their digital presence and advertising, implementation, and measurement. The Credit Union is located within the D.C., Maryland, and New Jersey markets. The relationship with the Credit Union is new, with only about 3 months of consulting. The Credit Union has limitations due to the number of personnel as well, but also due to its budget (compared to the Bank). Furthermore, the Credit Union outsources their website and content management to a vendor that offers a custom content management system (CMS) specifically catered to credit unions.

Problem The challenge for both organizations was their ability to effectively implement a search engine optimization strategy, measurement plan, and to determine the overall performance of their SEO campaigns. Furthermore, both organizations had challenges implementing SEO-related changes to their website as well as measurement techniques to measure their return-on-investment. This was increasingly important because both organizations’ senior management teams focused on return-on-investment for marketing projects.

Insights o

SEO accounts for an estimated 63% of online conversions (either assisted or directly).

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Branded Keywords account for an estimated 25% increase in search queries & impressions leading to more reach and visibility, specifically within Google Search.

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58% of SEO conversions originate within an approximately 5 mile radius of a local branch for both The Bank and The Credit Union.

Strategy Prior to the implementation of an SEO strategy, DaBrian Marketing Group develops a measurement plan to specifically capture the data associated with the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) of the SEO & Web Analytics consultation sessions. The Bank was provided documentation to implement the measurement plan as well as a tagging document. As for the Credit Union, they provided us with direct access to their content management system as well as a direct line of communication with their content management vendor.

This information is proprietary and confidential and has been prepared for your exclusive use. Reproduction or other communication of this information without the express written consent of DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC is prohibited. © 2013 DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC

3 | Financial Services and SEO - Case Study

The SEO strategy for both organizations was to implement the current SEO best practices for on-page optimization. In addition, we evaluated the websites’ and servers’ configuration for optimum performance for load-time, redirects, and the websites’ information architecture. We researched keywords that were consistent with their product/service offerings as well as industry trending data.* As part of both overall strategies, we also developed and implemented an off-page SEO strategy to generate high-quality SEO links back to both the Bank & the Credit Union websites. We evaluated their existing links, internal website linking, and opportunities by product/services as well as industry-specific link building opportunities. These strategies were consistent with the industry’s best practices as well. *Note: The strategies for both clients were 99% identical, completed by the same team, and the scope of the work was the same.

Obstacles There were several obstacles associated with both projects. For The Bank, their content management system (CMS) made it difficult to implement unique Meta Data for each product/service area. At the same time, The Bank’s marketing department could not allocate time to implement our content recommendations to improve prospective customer engagement. Similarly, the implementation of the measurement plan and tagging documentation was not a priority for their IT department. This ultimately limited our ability to see beyond keyword ranking, referrals from link building, organic search traffic, as well as the keywords or landing pages that led to conversions. The only solution was to implement unique Meta Data whenever possible. The content recommendations would only be implemented based on the marketing department’s current workload. The tagging documentation was implemented, but only 50% of the necessary work was completed by The Bank. We were able to get tagging on the main website but would not have visibility into the application process because of IT’s inability to implement the necessary tagging code into the application area of the website. For the Credit Union, the historical data associated with the website was difficult to navigate because of “Page IDs” instead of having an SEO-friendly URL structure. Their content management vendor was planning to implement an updated version of the CMS that the Credit Union was using so content page metrics would be limited without implementing filters or find/replace configurations to make the Page IDs consistent with the new SEO-friendly URL structure. The strategic decision was made by the client to not implement the filters or find/replace configuration. This would require us to wait 90 days to collect data on the content metrics and provide recommendations to improve content engagement. The implementation of the measurement plan and tagging documentation was also an obstacle because the standard tagging structure did not always apply to the custom CMS.

This information is proprietary and confidential and has been prepared for your exclusive use. Reproduction or other communication of this information without the express written consent of DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC is prohibited. © 2013 DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC

4 | Financial Services and SEO - Case Study

The Credit Union’s content management vendor implemented the new CMS version, which helped to produce SEO-friendly URLs; however, we needed to wait to collect data after the implementation. The vendor was available to answer technical questions and provide feedback as to what modifications to the standard tagging structure might work with their CMS solution. They also aided in the implementation of placing tracking code in the correct locations to ensure for more accurate data collection.

Impact on the Bank vs. the Credit Union Both organizations saw increases in their overall organic traffic as well as visitor engagement metrics due to the implementation of SEO best practices. Despite that, The Bank missed out on opportunities to obtain more visibility within the market because they could not allocate more time to the project. In addition, the overall visitor engagement metrics were still below the industry average. To us, this translates to high costs per acquisition because the content didn’t resonate with their audiences. The content could have been improved with the implementation of our content recommendations as well Meta Data to reinforce the intent of the page with unique titles, descriptions, headers, etc. Not only did The Bank lose money due to the lack of time allocated for the project but also the opportunity cost associated with redesigning the website (which was recommended by us several times throughout our consultations).

By implementing the SEO recommendations, The Credit Union’s lowered organic costs translated to a very significant difference in Costs-per-Lead. On the other hand, The Credit Union was able to implement SEO & Web Analytics to measure the project. This provided proof of value to senior management, which increased internal credibility for the marketing department as well as the strategic partners (both the content management vendor & DaBrian Marketing Group). The resulting data provided specific information as to SEO-related conversions, SEO goal values, and the multiple types of SEO conversions. In addition, we obtained data into which keywords were generating conversions by product/service offerings. This information is currently being considered for testing within email promotions and other marketing materials.

This information is proprietary and confidential and has been prepared for your exclusive use. Reproduction or other communication of this information without the express written consent of DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC is prohibited. © 2013 DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC

5 | Financial Services and SEO - Case Study

The Credit Union’s ROI after 2 months, based on Total Annual Cost of SEO Services

The Bank’s ROI after 2 months, based on Total Annual Cost of SEO Services

Conclusion According to ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth), an eBook provided by Google, Online Search and information gathering from brand controlled websites showed higher usage compared to FMOT (Final Moment of Truth) sources such as in-person discussions with representatives and brochures/pamphlets read at the financial services location. Both banks and credit unions need to position their brands as well products/services for the pre-shopping phase prior to acquiring services. It started with search engine optimization because of SEO’s impact of paid advertising and costs per acquisitions.

This information is proprietary and confidential and has been prepared for your exclusive use. Reproduction or other communication of this information without the express written consent of DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC is prohibited. © 2013 DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC

6 | Financial Services and SEO - Case Study

Search Engine Optimization is a critical part of generating traffic for financial services institutions. It is important that all aspects of the organization understand the value of SEO as well as the several tasks or resources that will be associated with the implementation of a successful campaign. The Bank and Credit Union had similar product/services offerings; however, The Bank lacked to ability to effectively implement the SEO strategy. In addition, they would not provide us with access to implement the necessary changes due to their security policies. As for The Credit Union, we were able to implement the SEO strategy which made us completely accountable for the SEO campaign. In addition, it provided the Credit Union with the ability to continue to work on other issues which helped to increase their profit margins. At the same time, we were able to generate twice the amount of incremental leads compared to The Bank. These leads also cost 50% less than The Bank’s, which generated a higher ROI.

This information is proprietary and confidential and has been prepared for your exclusive use. Reproduction or other communication of this information without the express written consent of DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC is prohibited. © 2013 DaBrian Marketing Group, LLC