I’m sure half of you reading this blog are sitting there thinking, “What in the world does a bank need with a blog?”
The other half is probably thinking, “What in the world is a blog?”
Webster describes a “blog” as a website that contains an online personal journal with reflections, comments, and often hyperlinks provided by the writer.
That’s exactly what LongLastingIdeas.com is – a blog made up of my personal ideas, reflections, and thoughts on a variety of topics that mostly pertain to marketing banks and credit unions.
So, why would a bank or credit union need a blog? Let me explain.
First, I am not a professional writer. My degree is in fine art and I spent most of my early career as an art director. Over the last 10-15 years, I have helped hundreds of financial institutions with their marketing.
Almost two years ago, I noticed that this website, LongLastingIdeas.com, was showing up on the first page in the “free section” of search engines when I searched for “bank marketing.”
I had been spending a lot of money each month on Google AdWords for “bank marketing” to advertise my business. Instead of spending money on Google AdWords, I decided that it might be cheaper to buy this blog since it was already showing up in the first few positions on Google, Bing and Yahoo.
Of course, that meant that I would have to start writing and sharing my thoughts on bank marketing. When I started, this blog had close to 800 readers each month, as measured by Google Analytics. Within a few months, that number had risen to almost 3,800 readers each month!
Though these numbers are very small compared to many other blogs, this site reaches my targeted audience, which is primarily bank and credit union marketers. I’m able to do this because this site shows up on the first page in “organic” searches. (Organic means that a site shows up in the “free” area of a search engine as opposed to the sponsored or “paid” section at the top and side.)
Companies spend millions of dollars each year on “search engine optimization” (SEO) to get their company’s website onto the first page of search engines. One of the best ways to maximize SEO is to constantly change content on your website and to link to other popular websites that have the same type of relevant and legitimate content.
Lots of companies link to other websites, but unless the other websites are relevant and popular to their target audience, it is often largely a waste of time.
What does this mean for banks and credit unions?
Using a blog, a financial institution can change content on their websites on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. And just like a shopping mall, once you have traffic coming to your website, you can sell them a variety of products and services.
Banking as we have known it for hundreds of years is changing. Just like books and music, banking is moving online and going mobile.
Instead of driving to a local branch, a customer can now scan a check with their smart phone and deposit it into their account without ever leaving the office. And instead of writing out a paper check and mailing it, they can go online to pay their bills.
With individuals and businesses using the internet for most of their banking needs, a bank needs to know how to target these prospective customers online. Instead of spending money on banner ads or Google AdWords, banks need to find ways to improve their SEO so that they show up on the first page of search engines when someone searches for terms like “free checking,” “remote capture,” or “car loans.”
The best way to do this is with a blog.
Blogs provide financial institutions with a platform to publish articles on ways to find a good car and pay for it, or to discuss ways a business can be more efficient by using remote capture, for example.
Financial institutions need to become the “go to place” for any financial questions, concerns, products or services.
Best Buy bought the Geek Squad. Your financial institution needs to be the “Financial Geek Squad.” And the more relevant content you add to your blog, the closer your bank will get to the top of the search engines.
Customers search for a variety of financial products and services online, so you’ll need content around each of these items. Not only will you show up more in search engines as a result, but you will be perceived as the most knowledgeable bank or credit union once you are found.
