seo
How to navigate SEO in a highly regulated market
Published: 29/07/24 - Updated: 02/08/24
SEO for regulated markets
SEO strategy is crucial in highly regulated markets – it builds client trust and simplifies decision-making through well-crafted content which is extremely important for ‘Your Money Your Life’ sectors. Good SEO helps businesses stand out against strong competition with high-quality optimised content that will cut through market noise and effectively attract and retain customers, reinforcing a company’s position in the market over the long term.
Competing with Legacy Brands’ Share of Voice
Competing with legacy brands in highly regulated markets, such as the finance sector, requires strategic planning and execution. Legacy brands, like established banks and financial service companies, have long-standing authority with Google, boasting high domain ratings and strong ranking power. To challenge these established players, new entrants must prioritise building their own domain authority. This involves strategic link building and engaging with relevant niches to create innovative content that stands out among competitors. Additionally, producing comprehensive content to support these efforts is crucial.
Breaking through the noise in the finance sector involves two primary strategies – optimising transactional landing pages and creating valuable informational content.
Implementing these strategies not only improves site authority but also enhances user experience by guiding visitors to relevant information and services. For instance, a large Google algorithm update confirmed that focussing on helpful content resulted in substantial rank increases for clients applying this approach, demonstrating that high-quality, user-centric content is rewarded by Google, further emphasising the importance of these tactics in gaining a competitive edge.
The Importance of E-E-A-T for the ‘Your Money or Your Life’ Market
In 2023, Google emphasised the importance of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in its search quality rating guidelines, particularly for “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) topics. These topics encompass areas like finance, health, welfare, and safety, which can significantly impact users’ well-being. Google’s systems prioritize content that demonstrates strong E-E-A-T in these areas to ensure that the information provided is accurate and reliable, thereby safeguarding users’ financial stability and overall safety.
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. Google added “Experience” to the existing E-A-T framework to better assess the quality of content. Although E-E-A-T itself is not a direct ranking factor, it is a crucial component in Google’s search quality rating process. Expertise measures how knowledgeable a content creator is in their field, while authoritativeness is often bolstered by backlinks from reputable sources. Experience involves the creator’s hands-on involvement and understanding of the topic. Together, these elements feed into Trustworthiness, which is the most critical factor for Google’s assessment.
For businesses in the YMYL sector, applying E-E-A-T principles is vital for their SEO strategy. This involves creating rich, helpful, unique, and educational content that aligns with user search intent. Content must be accurate, comprehensive, and engaging to rank well, especially in highly regulated markets. Additionally, the format of the content should match the search landscape, meaning that transactional queries should be met with transactional pages, while informational searches should be addressed with well-optimized blog posts or articles.
Building and demonstrating authority on-site is another essential aspect of adhering to E-E-A-T guidelines. This can be achieved by showcasing industry awards, certifications, and qualifications, as well as including user reviews and testimonials. Author bio pages that highlight the expertise and experience of content creators can further reinforce trust. Linking content to author hubs or expert pages that compile an author’s credentials and previous work helps establish authority and makes the site more credible to both users and Google.
Navigating Compliance & Implementing Effective Processes for Maximum Success
Navigating compliance and implementing effective processes in a highly regulated market requires a structured and collaborative approach. The process typically includes multiple rounds of feedback involving various stakeholders such as SEO, marketing, PR teams, legal, and brand teams. This thorough review process ensures that all content meets stringent regulatory standards and aligns with the brand’s messaging. To streamline this, a detailed campaign brief is created and signed off by the client, followed by data research and copywriting, which are also subject to multiple approvals before the campaign launch.
One effective strategy is the introduction of a data and copy overview stage. This additional step helps stakeholders understand the proposed structure and content before the full copy is developed. By doing so, the finance team and other relevant departments can review the positioning and semantics early, ensuring that the final content aligns with both regulatory requirements and brand standards. This approach helps in addressing any potential issues early in the process, reducing the risk of delays or rejections later on.
The ideation phase is critical, especially in regulated markets. Creating a comprehensive pre-ideation brief that includes brand guidelines, permissible topics, and an analysis of the media landscape helps ensure that all ideas are feasible and compliant from the outset. This brief should also incorporate competitor analysis and keyword opportunities to ensure that the campaigns are not only compliant but also strategically sound. This preparation allows for a more productive ideation process and ensures that all stakeholders are on the same page from the start.
Collaborating with internal PR and marketing teams is essential to avoid overlapping efforts and to leverage existing relationships with journalists. One method is to maintain a client-provided blacklist of journalists or publications that should not be contacted, respecting existing relationships. Additionally, sharing target publications and media lists with the client for approval ensures that all outreach efforts are coordinated and targeted effectively. This collaboration helps maximize the impact of the content and avoids duplicative or conflicting outreach efforts.
Lastly, maintaining strong journalist relationships and leveraging expert commentary are key to gaining media coverage and building credibility in regulated industries. Expert insights not only enhance the authority of the content but also make it more appealing to journalists. Regularly updating content to ensure freshness and relevance, and backing it up with high-authority backlinks, further reinforces the trustworthiness and compliance of the content. By consistently applying these strategies, brands can navigate regulatory challenges and achieve success in highly regulated markets.
Key Takeaways
- Emphasise E-E-A-T in Content Creation: In highly regulated markets, especially those involving “Your Money or Your Life” topics, applying Google’s E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) principles is crucial. This ensures that content is accurate, reliable, and meets user intent, which helps build trust and improve search rankings.
- Collaborate with Internal Teams for Compliance: Navigating compliance requires a structured, collaborative approach involving SEO, marketing, PR, legal, and brand teams. Implementing stages like a data and copy overview early in the process helps align content with regulatory standards and brand messaging, reducing the risk of delays or rejections.
- Leverage Multi-Angle Strategies for Competitive Edge: Competing with legacy brands involves optimising both transactional and informational content. Utilising multi-angle approaches, such as targeting broad and niche keywords and providing comprehensive, user-centric content, can enhance visibility, user trust, and engagement, ultimately helping new entrants stand out in saturated markets.
Alice Taylor
Alice joined the team last year bringing with her 8+ years of marketing and events expertise. With a strong background in media and advertising, Alice looks after all things Marketing and Comms for Kaizen.