.com vs .bank: the battle continues
Roughly six years after its debut, the .bank top-level domain (TLD) fails to dominate. Here are the current pros and cons of a .bank domain.
5/26/21
It’s no wonder many bank marketers balk at search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM). The two are interrelated, and sometimes the terms are even used interchangeably.
Broadly speaking, SEM encompasses all marketing tactics that result in increased visibility on search engine results pages (SERPs), which certainly covers paid advertising but also technically includes organic search results — namely, SEO.
Feeling like a fish out of water?
For the sake of simplicity, we at BrownBoots define SEM as any paid tactics used to deliver search engine traffic to your bank website, such as Google Ads, while SEO refers to the unpaid updates you make to your site to raise SERP rankings organically.
But which is better for your bank or credit union website? Should you cast your nets wide with SEO? Or spend a little more money for the perfect lure?
It all depends on what you’re fishing for.
Think of SEO as a long, lazy weekend at the lake.
Oh, there’s plenty of prep before the trip itself. You must make sure your bank website is using the right words in the right places. That includes emphasizing your geography so that localized searches attract the attention of search engine users — because unless you’re a mega corporation, your website is something like a little fish in a big pond.
But over time, you’ll have enough lines using the right bait in the water. All that’s left is to kick your feet up and wait for the qualified visitors to strike.
Search engine optimization is a viable tactic when the following are true:
If SEO is a slow-paced weekend on the lake, then SEM is an afternoon of constantly casting with your best lure, hunting that perfect fish.
Paid SEM lets you target a very specific type of customer, based on geography, age, interests and more. But all that fancy gear comes with a price, and it can be all too easy to spend money on ads that will catch an old shoe as easily as a trophy fish.
While SEM might take some extra time, energy and money, the results tend to be more reliable and effective in the short term.
When it comes to bank website traffic acquisition, no one wants to think about the one that got away. Knowing when to use SEO or SEM — or both! — shouldn’t be a can of worms. It’s all about using the right tool for the job.
Do you have bigger fish to fry? We’re happy to help you with SEO, SEM or any other digital marketing tactic!
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