Published by Wanda Rich
Posted on April 17, 2025
Financial marketers can probably count on one hand how many times they’ve read the phrase “SEO is dead”. It is true that search patterns and use is evolving, with platforms, intents and journeys all changing at a pace that is sometimes hard to keep up with. But SEO is hardly a lame duck – instead, for Fintechs, it is becoming a different kind of beast.
The shifting search and content landscape has made it harder to pin down user behaviour –partly because that behaviour itself is becoming more inconsistent, less engaged, and dispersed over different platforms and format. While this happens, the underlying behaviour is changing too, having a huge knock-on effect on how businesses need to reach, engage and build trust with customers.
What was already a difficult task for Fintechs has become even harder. Let’s explore why – and how you can build an even more effective strategy in the midst of this change.
An Upheaval in Search Discovery Behaviour
There’s been a shift in the relationship between online users and their platforms over the last five years. Before, the burden of online browsing was on the user – they used their agency to search on their own accord, and to make proactive decisions about the content they found and engaged with. But while this is a pathway that can still be used, it is being widely abandoned in favour of “scrolling”; constantly populated content feeds generated from the user’s behavioural and content preferences, either in the form of social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram, or AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Gemini.
In short, users are opting away from active searching where they must find a solution, towards a passive discovery journey where the solutions, much of the time, come to them.
New Types of User Journey
With the very nature of organic “discovery” changing, the entire user journey is changing with it. Previously, the start and end of a search or solution journey for a consumer was concrete. If they needed a solution, like a digital card or a mobile banking service, they’d begin with searches into the topic. The difference now is that, in some way, the journey for any customer has always started.
When scrolling, users passively digest a huge quantity of information. They may consume financial advice and tips, specific user journeys, and micro-signals and references from different brands and businesses. All this information does not go to waste – users build a mental awareness map of brands and businesses they see, adjudging trust and credibility based on what they’ve seen while scrolling. The result is that there is no definitive “start” to the journey; it is always in a state of beginning.
The Conversion Funnel Collapses
The knock-on effects of this journey change to the conversion funnel are significant. The once-structured stages we know – from awareness, to interest, to consideration and conversion – is breaking down before our eyes.
For instance, a user may not be interested in a specific service, but they may discover a large quantity of signals or helpful content while scrolling which then leads them to build trust in a specific FinTech brand. When they do become interested in the service this Fintech is offering, they may choose to skip traditional “interest” and “consideration” phases altogether and convert immediately with the brand they know and trust.
Alternatively but concurrently, reaching “conversion” can also be a longer and far more complex situation than it once was. Users may seek additional validation through different platforms and touchpoints, with biases towards their favoured platforms. If they do decide on an option, they may seek further validation through AI platforms by asking for a list of the best solutions – and reconsider based on the answers provided.
Fintech SEO Strategies Must Reach Further and Be More Integrated
To ensure that your Fintech business doesn’t lose out, you need to develop a search strategy that secures your visibility across a wide range of touchpoints, platforms, content formats and idea spaces. Building brand awareness and, specifically for Fintech, establishing user trust around your brand is critical to gaining the comprehensive awareness and visibility needed to retain your market share in today’s landscape.
Focus on Brand
Invest heavily on brand marketing and establishing trust, authority and organic engagement with your Fintech brand. Creating engaging content around your brand that users can find and interact organically with can help enormously with building a positive brand sentiment. This is often not a quick process – it requires consistent resource to establish your brand as an authoritative voice in your Fintech space.
James Foote, Technical Director at POLARIS agency outlined the importance of brand within the modern search landscape: “effective brand signals are an essential touchpoint in modern search, enabling a strong connection between consumers and businesses through an understanding of brand values. This connection can transcend platform-based engagement and drive users more effectively towards conversion actions.”
Align with Wider Marketing Strategies
Establishing a cross-platform presence is only possible through alignment with your marketing campaigns for other channels. Align your social, paid, and influencer marketing strategies with your SEO goals to seed brand mentions and awareness across all platforms. Conduct analytics research into the referral traffic you get from AI platforms such as chat GPT – if there are gaps, it means you aren’t appearing in AI answers.
Don’t Forgo Traditional Search
It is natural to want to shift your attention to these new discovery methods – these methods, and their users, are the future of search. But do not abandon traditional search. Search engines are still one of the most critical touchpoints and appearing highly for your chosen topics is a critical method for building brand awareness, authority and trust. Continue to surface helpful, useful content on your pages and adding trust signals to your pages.
Evolving Your SEO With the Search Landscape
Staying still and waiting for the dust to settle on the search landscape could quickly lose you market share as a Fintech business in 2025. Evolving your search proposition alongside it requires a dedicated strategy but one that, if successfully executed, will position you as a leader within your Fintech sector and help improve the effectiveness not just of your SEO, but of your marketing as a whole.
