5 Must-Have SEO Strategies for Fintech Companies in Nigeria

In today’s digital age, having a strong online presence is essential for any business to thrive. For fintech companies in Nigeria, this is especially true. With the rise of digital banking and mobile payment solutions, the competition is fierce, and standing out from the crowd can be a challenge. That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) comes in. By implementing the right strategies, fintech companies can improve their online visibility, attract more potential customers, and ultimately, grow their business. 

In this blog post, I’ll explore five must-have SEO strategies that your fintech company in Nigeria should be using to stay ahead of the game. So if you’re ready to take your online presence to the next level and drive more traffic to your website, keep reading!

5 Must-Have SEO Strategies for Fintech Companies in Nigeria

1. Conducting keyword research
2. Optimizing on-page elements
3. Building high-quality backlinks
4. Creating high-quality content
5. Technical SEO

1. Conducting Keyword Research

Keyword research is an essential part of any SEO strategy for fintech companies in Nigeria. It involves identifying the keywords and phrases that potential customers are using to search for your products or services online. By researching relevant keywords, you can optimize your website and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), making it easier for your target audience to find you.

Why keyword research is important for fintech companies in Nigeria

1. Better Understanding of Customers: Conducting keyword research allows you to gain insights into what your potential customers are looking for. This can help you better understand their needs, pain points, and preferences, which can inform your overall marketing strategy.

2. Improved Visibility: Optimizing your website and content with relevant keywords can improve your visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). This can help drive more traffic to your website and increase your brand’s online presence.

3. Higher Quality Traffic: Keyword research can also help you attract higher-quality traffic to your website. By targeting specific keywords, you can attract users who are more likely to be interested in your products or services, leading to higher conversion rates and revenue.

4. Competitive Advantage: By researching the keywords your competitors are targeting, you can gain a competitive advantage. This can help you identify gaps in the market, discover new opportunities, and create more effective marketing campaigns.

Tools for keyword research

There are several tools available for keyword research that can be used by fintech companies in Nigeria to identify relevant keywords and phrases for their SEO strategy. Here are some of the most popular tools:

1. Google Keyword Planner: This free tool from Google allows you to discover new keywords and analyze search volume and competition data. You can also use it to generate keyword ideas based on your website or landing page.

2. SEMrush: This paid tool provides in-depth keyword analysis, including search volume, competition, and related keywords. It also offers keyword difficulty scores to help you determine the competitiveness of a keyword.

3. Ahrefs: Ahrefs is a paid tool that provides comprehensive keyword research features, including search volume, difficulty scores, and related keywords. It also offers competitor analysis features to help you discover the keywords your competitors are targeting.

4. Moz Keyword Explorer: This paid tool offers keyword suggestions based on relevance, search volume, and organic click-through rates. It also provides data on the difficulty of ranking for specific keywords.

5. Ubersuggest: Ubersuggest provides keyword ideas and analysis, including keywords monthly search volume, competition, cost per click, and related keywords. It also offers content ideas and backlink analysis features. The tool is free but also has a paid version.

6. AnswerThePublic: AnswerThePublic is a free tool that provides a visualization of questions and queries related to a keyword. This can help fintech companies in Nigeria understand the intent behind specific search queries and create content that answers their audience’s questions.

How to identify high-value keywords for fintech companies

Identifying high-value keywords is an important step in any SEO strategy for fintech companies in Nigeria. Here are some tips for identifying high-value keywords:

1. Focus on Relevance: Choose keywords that are relevant to your products or services. Keywords that are closely related to what you offer are more likely to attract qualified traffic and lead to conversions.

2. Analyze Search Volume: Look for keywords with a high search volume. This indicates that there is a significant demand for those keywords, and targeting them can help drive more traffic to your website.

3. Consider Intent: Think about the intent behind specific keywords. Are people searching for information or are they ready to make a purchase? Choosing keywords that match the intent of your target audience can help improve the quality of traffic to your website.

4. Analyze Competition: Consider the level of competition for specific keywords. High-competition keywords may be more difficult to rank for, so it may be more effective to target lower-competition, long-tail keywords.

5. Focus on Long-Tail Keywords: Long-tail keywords are more specific and have less competition, making them easier to rank for. Look for long-tail keywords that are relevant to your fintech company’s products or services and have a higher CPC.

6. Analyze Cost Per Click: CPC is an important metric to consider when identifying high-value keywords. A high CPC indicates that the keyword is highly competitive and has a high commercial intent. This means that users searching for that keyword are more likely to be looking to make a purchase or sign up for a service.

7. Look for Local Opportunities: If your fintech company operates in specific regions in Nigeria, consider targeting keywords with local relevance. This can help improve your visibility in local search results and attract more qualified traffic.

Identifying high-value keywords for fintech companies in Nigeria involves choosing keywords that are relevant, have a high search volume, match the intent of your target audience, have a manageable level of competition, and have local relevance where applicable. By using keyword research tools and considering these factors, you can identify the most valuable keywords for your SEO strategy.

Best practices for incorporating keywords into website content

Incorporating keywords into website content is an important aspect of SEO (search engine optimization) and can help improve your website’s visibility in search results. Here are some steps to follow when incorporating keywords into your website content:

1. Create a list of keywords: Once you have identified relevant keywords, create a list of them. You can organize them based on the tips I spoke about earlier.

2. Use keywords in your content: Start incorporating your keywords into your website content, but do so in a natural and relevant way. Avoid keyword stuffing, which can negatively affect your website’s ranking. Use variations of your keywords, such as synonyms and related terms, to make your content more diverse and informative.

3. Use keywords in headers: Incorporate keywords into your headers (H1, H2, H3) to make it clear to search engines what your content is about. This can also help users navigate your website.

4. Use keywords in meta tags: Incorporate your keywords into your title tags and meta descriptions. These are the snippets of text that appear in search engine results, so make sure they accurately represent your content and contain your target keywords.

5. Use keywords in image alt tags: Incorporate your keywords into the alt tags of your images. This helps search engines understand what your images are about and can improve your website’s ranking in image search results.

6. Monitor your keyword usage: Regularly check your website’s keyword usage and adjust it as needed. Use analytics tools to track your website’s performance in search results and make changes to your content accordingly.

By following these steps, you can effectively incorporate keywords into your website content and improve your website’s visibility in search results. Remember to prioritize the user’s needs and intentions, and create content that is informative, engaging, and relevant.

2. Optimizing On-Page Elements

Optimizing on-page elements is another step toward improving your website’s search engine visibility. On-page elements include: 

• Title tags
• Meta descriptions
• Header tags
• High-Quality Page Content
• Image Alt-text

Optimizing these elements helps search engines understand what your website is about and rank it accordingly. 

Best practices for optimizing these on-page elements

1. Title tags: The title tag is the text that appears at the top of a web page in a search engine result. It’s important to optimize your title tags for both search engines and users. Here are some best practices:

• Keep your title tags under 70 characters to ensure they display fully in search results
• Use descriptive and relevant keywords at the beginning of the title tag
• Make sure each page has a unique title tag that accurately reflects the content of the page
• Avoid using all caps or excessive punctuation in your title tags

2. Meta descriptions: The meta description is a short summary of the page’s content that appears below the title tag in search engine results. It’s important to optimize your meta descriptions to entice users to click through to your page. Here are some best practices:

• Keep your meta descriptions under 155 characters to ensure they display fully in search results
• Use descriptive and relevant keywords in your meta description
• Write a compelling call-to-action to encourage users to click through to your page
• Make sure each page has a unique meta description that accurately reflects the content of the page

3. Header tags: Header tags are used to break up the content of a page into sections and provide structure to the page. Here are some best practices:

• Use header tags (H1, H2, H3, etc.) to organize your content into sections and subsections
• Use descriptive and relevant keywords in your header tags
• Use only one H1 tag per page, and make sure it accurately reflects the content of the page
• Use H2 and H3 tags to break up your content into sub-sections

4. High-Quality Page Content: High-quality page content is important for both search engine optimization and user experience. Here are some best practices:

• Write original, informative, and engaging content that provides value to your users
• Use descriptive and relevant keywords throughout your content, but avoid keyword stuffing
• Use subheadings, bullet points, and numbered lists to break up your content and make it easier to read
• Use images and videos to supplement your content and make it more engaging

5. Image Alt-text: Alt-text is used to describe images on a web page for users who cannot see them, and also for search engines to understand the content of the image. Here are some best practices:

• Use descriptive and relevant keywords in your alt-text
• Keep your alt-text concise and accurate
• Avoid using generic alt-text such as “image” or “picture”
• Use alt-text to provide additional context and information about the image

How to optimize website content for featured snippets

A featured snippet is a summary of an answer to a user’s query that is displayed at the top of Google’s search results. Optimizing your website content for featured snippets can help increase your visibility and drive more traffic to your site. Here are some tips for optimizing your website content for featured snippets:

1. Answer the query concisely: Featured snippets typically display brief, to-the-point answers. Make sure you provide a concise answer to the query in question.

2. Use lists, tables, and graphs: Google often displays featured snippets in list, table, or graph formats. Consider organizing your content in a way that could easily be converted into these formats.

3. Use relevant keywords: Featured snippets are based on keywords and phrases that users search for. Make sure you incorporate relevant keywords into your content.

4. Use subheadings: Google often pulls content from subheadings to display in featured snippets. Use descriptive subheadings to help Google understand the structure of your content.

5. Focus on question-based content: Featured snippets often appear for question-based searches (e.g. “How to…” or “What is…”). Consider structuring your content around these types of questions.

6. Optimize for voice search: Many featured snippets are displayed in response to voice searches. Make sure your content is optimized for voice search by using natural language and answering common questions.

7. Include relevant images: Google often displays images alongside featured snippets. Including relevant, high-quality images in your content can increase your chances of being featured.

By optimizing your website content for featured snippets, you can improve your chances of appearing at the top of Google’s search results and driving more traffic to your fintech website.

3. Building High-Quality Backlinks

What is a backlink?

A backlink is a link from another website to your website. High-quality backlinks can increase your ranking on search engines and improve visibility in search. Translating to more traffic coming to your website.

Why are backlinks important for fintech companies in Nigeria?

1. Improve search engine rankings: Backlinks can help improve your fintech’s search engine rankings. When reputable websites link back to a company’s site, it signals to search engines that the company is a trusted source of information in the industry. This can lead to higher rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs).

2. Drive referral traffic: Backlinks can help drive referral traffic to a company’s website. When a reputable website links back to a fintech company’s site, it can drive referral traffic to the company’s website. This referral traffic can lead to more leads, conversions, and revenue for the company.

3. Establish credibility and authority: Backlinks can help establish a fintech company’s credibility and authority in the industry. When reputable websites link back to a company’s site, it signals to search engines and users that the company is a trusted source of information and services in the fintech industry.

4. Increase brand awareness: Backlinks can help increase brand awareness for a fintech company. When reputable websites link back to a company’s site, it can expose the company to a wider audience, leading to increased brand awareness and recognition in the industry. This can ultimately lead to more customers and revenue for the company.

How to identify backlink opportunities for Fintechs in Nigeria

Identifying backlink opportunities for Fintechs in Nigeria can be a challenging task, but here’s the ultimate strategy that can help:

1. Conduct competitor analysis by using backlink analysis tools: To identify potential opportunities for backlinks, consider conducting a competitor analysis using backlink analysis tools. By examining the backlinks of your competitors, you can determine if there are any sources from which your fintech company can earn backlinks. There are numerous backlink analysis tools available, including Ahrefs, SEMrush, and Moz, that can aid in identifying websites that link to your competitors and may be open to linking to your fintech company.

By implementing this strategy, fintech companies in Nigeria can identify potential backlink opportunities.

Effective Methods for Obtaining High-Quality Backlinks

Building backlinks for fintech companies requires a strategic and ethical approach. Here are some best practices to follow:

1. Guest posting on relevant websites: This involves reaching out to other websites in your industry and offering to write a guest post for them in exchange for a backlink to your website. Make sure the website is relevant to your niche and has a good reputation, as this will reflect positively on your website as well.

2. Creating and sharing linkable assets: Create linkable assets, such as infographics, videos, and data-driven content, that other websites and industry publications may want to link to. This can help attract natural backlinks and improve your fintech company’s search engine rankings.

3. Utilizing broken link building tactics: Broken link building involves finding broken links on other websites and offering your content as a replacement for the broken link. This helps the website fix its broken link while providing a new link back to your website.

4. Listing your business in relevant directories and local listings: Listing your business in relevant business directories and local listings in Nigeria such as Google My Business and Finelib can help you gain high-quality backlinks from authoritative websites. 

5. Press Release: Writing and publishing press releases is a strategy that involves sharing news or information about your business with the media. By distributing your press release to relevant media outlets, you can potentially earn backlinks from news websites, blogs, and other online publications.

By following these methods, fintech companies can build high-quality and ethical backlinks that improve their search engine rankings, drive referral traffic, and establish their credibility and authority in the industry.

Some of my favorite fintech companies in Nigeria and their corresponding backlinks

4. Creating High-Quality Content

Creating high-quality content is one of the most important factors for achieving success in SEO. Search engines such as Google strive to provide the most relevant and useful results to their users. Therefore, they prioritize websites that offer high-quality content that meets the needs and interests of their audience.

High-quality content helps to establish your website as a credible and authoritative source of information. When people find your content useful, they are more likely to share it, link to it, and refer to it in their own work. These actions help to increase the visibility of your website and improve your search engine rankings.

Moreover, high-quality content can help to attract organic traffic to your website. When people search for information on a particular topic, they are more likely to click on websites that offer high-quality, relevant, and engaging content. If your website provides such content, you are more likely to attract organic traffic to your website.

Types of content that perform well for fintech companies

Creating high-quality SEO content is crucial for attracting and retaining customers, building brand awareness, and driving website traffic. Here are some types of SEO content that perform well for fintech companies:

1. Educational content: Fintech companies can create educational content that explains complex financial concepts, breaks down industry jargon, and provides tips for improving financial health. This type of content can help establish the company as a thought leader in the industry and build trust with potential customers. Learn how Robinhood used educational content to rank for over 80,000 keywords in 1 year. 

2. Case studies: Fintech companies can use case studies to showcase real-world examples of how their products or services have helped customers achieve their financial goals. This type of content can help build credibility and show potential customers how the company’s offerings can benefit them.

3. Infographics: Infographics are a visually appealing way to present data and statistics related to the fintech industry. Fintech companies can use infographics to explain complex financial topics, illustrate trends in the industry, and highlight the benefits of their products or services.

4. Product reviews and comparisons: Fintech companies can create content that reviews their products or services or compares them to those of their competitors. This type of content can help potential customers make informed decisions about which products or services are right for them. Chipper Cash utilized this approach to compare their product with Wise.

5. News and industry updates: Fintech companies can create content that covers news and updates related to the industry. This type of content can help establish the company as a reliable source of information and keep customers informed about new developments that may affect their financial health.

By creating high-quality SEO content that addresses the needs and interests of their target audience, fintech companies can improve their search engine rankings, drive website traffic, and ultimately, attract and retain more customers.

Importance of updating and refreshing website content regularly

Updating and refreshing website content regularly is critical for the success of any website. Here are some of the reasons why:

1. Improved SEO: Search engines prioritize websites that regularly update their content. By updating your website’s content, you increase your chances of ranking higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), which can drive more traffic to your website.

2. Increased engagement: If your website’s content is outdated or stale, visitors may not find it compelling enough to engage with. Regularly updating your content with fresh, relevant information can help keep visitors engaged and encourage them to return to your site.

3. Improved user experience: If your website’s content is outdated or hard to navigate, it can lead to a poor user experience. By regularly updating your website’s content, you can keep it fresh, relevant, and easy to navigate, which can improve the overall user experience.

4. Better conversion rates: Outdated content can make your website appear less credible, which can negatively impact conversion rates. By regularly updating your website’s content, you can build trust with your audience, which can improve conversion rates and drive more sales.

Related: The Dos and Don’ts of Email Marketing for Fintech Companies

5. Technical SEO

What is technical SEO?

Technical SEO refers to the process of optimizing a website’s technical elements to improve its search engine ranking and visibility. It involves making changes to the website’s structure, code, and server configuration to ensure that it is more easily crawled, indexed and understood by search engines.

Technical SEO strategies

1. Website speed optimization: Begin by checking your website speed using the PageSpeed Insights tool. If your website speed scores are low, you can enhance your website’s speed and performance by minimizing code, compressing files, and reducing the size of images and videos.

2. Mobile optimization: Ensuring that the website is mobile-friendly and has a responsive design that adjusts to different screen sizes. Use the Google mobile-friendly test tool. 

3. URL structure optimization: Ensuring that the URL structure is clear, concise, and descriptive, making it easier for search engines to understand the content of the page.

4. Structured data implementation: Adding structured data markup to the website’s HTML code to help search engines understand the content and context of the website’s pages.

5. XML sitemap creation: Creating an XML sitemap that lists all the pages on the website to help search engines crawl and index the site more efficiently.

6. Fix Your Site Errors by Performing Weekly Technical SEO Site Audits: To consistently rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs), it’s important to fix any on-page SEO issues on your website. One effective way to do this is by conducting weekly technical SEO audits.

So, how do you perform a technical SEO audit? There are several tools available, such as Semrush, Moz, Ahrefs, and Serpstat. However, Semrush is considered the industry gold standard and provides the most comprehensive analysis of the technical aspects of your website, making it highly recommended for this activity.

The Importance of Implementing These 5 Must-Have SEO Strategies for Fintech Companies in Nigeria

By utilizing the 5 must-have strategies outlined in this post, fintech companies can improve their visibility, enhance user experience, increase credibility, improve conversion rates, and gain a competitive advantage in the digital landscape.

However, it’s important to remember that SEO is a dynamic and constantly evolving field. You must stay up-to-date with the latest trends and techniques to ensure your SEO strategy remains effective.

At WSI Axon, we are committed to helping fintech companies in Nigeria achieve their digital marketing goals through effective SEO strategies. Our team of experienced professionals can provide tailored solutions to help fintech companies stay ahead of the competition and drive growth.

So, if you’re a fintech company in Nigeria looking to improve your online presence and drive more traffic and revenue, don’t hesitate to contact WSI Axon today. Let’s improve the visibility and ranking of your website in the organic search results of search engines.