SoFi, a leading online personal finance company, has achieved massive success in the world of search engine optimization (SEO). In just a few short months, they generated millions of impressions and clicks on their website.
This impressive feat was made possible by following an effective SEO strategy, including creating content with high-value keywords, optimizing page speed and structure for better indexing by search engines, and leveraging social media networks and other methods.
In this article, we will discuss how SoFi utilized these tactics to reach such great heights in terms of SEO performance.
Why Startups Need a Powerful SEO Strategy
In today’s ever-growing digital world, startups need a robust SEO strategy to gain visibility and attract traffic to their website.
Without a strong presence in search engines, startups risk being lost in the vast sea of competitors. A well-executed SEO strategy utilizes targeted keywords, next-level branding, optimized website content, and backlinks to boost a startup’s search ranking and increase its online presence.
Startups need to invest in SEO from the beginning, as it can take months or even years to climb the rankings within search engines. In short, a new company without a powerful SEO strategy is like a ship without a compass – lost at sea and unsure of its direction.
Now let’s break down Sofi’s success from the ground up.
They Found Their Brand Voice
Finding the brand’s voice is the first step to a successful SEO strategy. Sofi spent time creating unique and compelling content while leveraging high-value keywords that would draw in potential customers.
This helped them establish an online presence and build their reputation as a trusted source of personal finance advice.
They Studied Their Target Audience
Sofi’s success was also due to a thorough understanding of its target audience. They researched their potential customers’ demographics, interests, and needs to create content that resonates with them.
These methods allowed Sofi to tailor their efforts according to what works best for their target demographic.
Content Clusters
The first part of SoFi’s SEO strategy was to create content clusters. A cluster is created by selecting a keyword or phrase, then creating multiple pieces of content related to that topic.
It’s a practice that allows search engine crawlers to better understand the website’s context and relationship with specific keywords and topics. SoFi used this method to create high-value keyword clusters, which helped raise their search engine rankings.
On top of using content clusters, SoFi also implemented high-value keywords throughout its website. By including phrases and words that are relevant to the company’s services and products, they were able to attract more visitors from search engines.
But coming up with amazing keywords and phrases isn’t enough. You have to implement them properly and in the right channels. And that’s precisely what they did. Here’s how:
In-Depth Articles
A big part of SoFi’s SEO success was due to their in-depth articles. These detailed pieces of content provide users with valuable information about the company and its services – such as student loans, their SoFi Investing product, and other related topics.
This type of content gave search engine crawlers more context for ranking the website higher in search results.
Guides
Besides writing in-depth articles, SoFi also created educational content for its users.
These guides provided step-by-step instructions on how to use the company’s services and achieve financial goals. The content was valuable enough to be shared across various social media networks, further boosting its SEO performance.
Tools and Calculators
SoFi used tools and calculators to make the user experience more efficient. These tools allowed users to quickly calculate their investments or loans without the hassle of manually entering data or doing complex calculations.
Search engine crawlers noticed these features and rewarded SoFi with better search rankings as a result.
How To’s
Providing helpful “how-to” articles further increased the value of the website. Content like this provides users with valuable information and attracts more visitors from search engines due to its high relevancy.
Focused on Search Query Chains
SoFi used search query chains to reach more targeted audiences. A search query chain is a string of related words or phrases that are used together in a search engine. Their marketing team utilized these chains to optimize their website content and better target potential customers in their niche.
People Also Ask Boxes
Using “People Also Ask” (PAA) boxes to answer questions related to their services is still an underutilized technique. By providing relevant answers to popular queries, SoFi increased user engagement and attracted more visitors from search engine results pages.
It’s a prime example of giving people what they want when you want them to give you something.
A Robust Digital PR Strategy
The team from Sofi put together a comprehensive digital PR strategy. This included online and offline channels, such as press releases, influencer marketing campaigns, and social media outreach.
By combining SEO with other forms of digital PR, SoFi was able to maximize their online visibility and gain more impressions and clicks quickly.
They Leveraged Relationships with Publishers and Influencers in Their Industry
Part of SoFi’s strategy included leveraging relationships with publishers and influencers in their industry.
They established partnerships with major publications to gain more exposure and increase clicks from search engine results pages. Reaching out to collaborate with strong influencers for exposure to a wider audience helped build trust among potential customers.
Technical SEO Best Practices
SoFi followed technical SEO best practices to ensure their website was optimized for search engines. This included optimizing page speed, setting up an XML sitemap, and using proper structured data markup to ensure crawlers could effectively index the site.
All of these elements helped SoFi rank higher in search engine results pages. Let’s break some of these elements down a bit more.
Page Speed
SoFi invested in improving the page speed of their website. They used CDN hosting and caching to ensure that pages loaded quickly, even for visitors with slower connections.
This improved user experience and kept visitors engaged longer, which is an important factor for search engine rankings.
Schema Markup
Using schema markup provided search engine crawlers with more context for ranking the website higher in search results.
This technique is a way of categorizing content and adding additional data that helps search engines better understand the meaning behind each page. By properly implementing this type of markup, SoFi was able to give their pages an extra boost in search engine rankings.
Internal Linking
Their team used internal linking to help search engine crawlers navigate the website. Internal links allow visitors to easily find related topics on a website and keep them engaged longer. They also boost SEO as they link pages together, helping search engines index the site better.
Information Architecture
Lastly, SoFi implemented an effective information architecture to help visitors quickly find the information they were looking for quickly and efficiently.
A solid architecture doesn’t just boost SEO, it improves user experience and keeps visitors on the site longer, which is a key factor in SEO rankings, but it is also great for boosting sales and helping users travel down the funnel.
Link Building
SoFi also employed link building as part of its SEO strategy. Link building is the process of creating links to a website from external sources. It helps increase visibility in search engine results pages and can lead to more clicks and impressions for the brand.
SoFi used organic and paid methods to build quality backlinks from relevant industry websites.
Building a Unique SEO Strategy for Your Company
Building a unique SEO strategy for your company is vital in today’s digital age. With the increasing competition and the abundance of online information, a solid plan can help your business stand out.
Your strategy should focus on understanding your target audience and their search behaviors, identifying the right keywords to target, optimizing your website and content, and building quality backlinks.
Doing so can improve your website’s visibility, attract more qualified leads, and ultimately increase conversions and revenue.
Don’t leave your SEO strategy to chance – take the time to build a unique plan that aligns with your business goals and delivers results.
The Pros and Cons of Copying Competitor Strategies
Copying competitor strategies can be tempting, especially if they’re successful. However, it’s important to remember that what works for one company might not work for another.
At SoFi, they avoided the pitfalls of copycat strategies by understanding their target audience, researching relevant keywords, and implementing effective SEO tactics that worked for them. By developing a unique plan tailored to their needs, they could drive millions of impressions and clicks in a short period.
Whether you’re looking to replicate SoFi’s success or create a strategy of your own, the key is to understand what works best for you and your company. This can help you reach your goals and get the most out of your digital presence.
The Bottom Line
SoFi’s comprehensive SEO strategy combines various tactics, such as digital PR and technical best practices, to quickly increase visibility in search engine results pages.
By using and combining all of the proven techniques mentioned above, they were able to drive millions of impressions and clicks within a few short months.
They proved that investing time into an optimized SEO strategy can pay off big for any business looking to gain more online exposure.
