5 Reasons Why Your Credit Union or Bank Blog Is Failing [and How to Fix it]

Blogs are a vital part of your overall content and SEO strategy. We also know that the benefits of blogging far outweigh the investment. If blogs are able to help drive organic search and social media traffic to your website, help convert those visitors to leads, establish authority on Google AND drive long-term results, it’s really important to figure out why your blog isn’t working for your credit union or bank so that it can be fixed, ASAP.

Here's 5 Reasons Why Your Credit Union or Bank Blog May Be Failing:

Reason #1: Your blog posts aren’t optimized.

How to fix it: Blogs must be written with your members and customers in mind. Your credit union and bank blog posts should provide answers to your member's/customer's most common questions and should include a variety of on-page SEO tactics (including killer meta descriptions) that will help your post rank higher in search engines. All of this will result in more website visitors and leads!

Quick Tip: HubSpot users can review specific SEO optimization tips for each and every one of your blog posts by clicking the “Optimize” tab inside the blog editor.

When writing your blog, you should always remember that the most significant ranking factor, even above the number of referring domains, page authority and website authority, is search intent. Google is trying to respond to searches with the most relevant result, so keep this in mind when you are selecting your keywords and writing your post. 

Reason #2: Blogging isn’t a priority.

How to fix it: Now is the perfect time to take a step back, revisit all the benefits a successful blog brings to your bottom line, and place it back at the top of your priority list.

In addition to driving organic search and social media traffic to your website, converting those visitors to leads, establishing authority on Google AND driving long term results, check out a couple quotes that may help give you the extra spark you need to jump back in.

Businesses that blog get 55% more website visitors than businesses that don’t!

Companies with blogs produce an average of 67% more leads monthly than companies that don’t.

It’s time to dedicate the resources you need to make it happen! Hold yourself accountable with a solid content strategy and blog calendar to keep you on track. If you are curious how often you should be blogging, smaller credit unions and banks should be aiming for one to four times a week.

Discover More: Ultimate Guide to Inbound Marketing for Banks and Credit Unions

Reason #3: You are focusing on the wrong results.

How to fix it: Don’t think immediate results are an instant indicator of your blog success or failure. Blogs serve many purposes, and the good news is, while you may not see immediate results, you can count on traffic and lead growth over time without additional resources.

Blogs are able to bring in new traffic and leads for days, weeks, months and even years!

To help your blog content last the test of time, be sure you are focusing on creating evergreen content that won’t go out of date quickly. Try writing content that will be relevant in spite of current events or the season, so that it can offer advice or information to your credit union members or bank customers for at least a year or two, depending on your content refresh strategy (see #4).

Reason #4: You have old content.

How to fix it: A common strategy to counter old content is to simply update your blog posts that are older than two years old. Read them from your member's or customer's point of view, update any information that is outdated, make sure you have an engaging tone, and update the links to include a more recent blog you have written that adds to the overall message.

Updating your posts not only helps keep your content fresh, it will also help you rank better in search engines! There is no better time to refresh your content!

On top of refreshing old content, you should stick to a consistent schedule for creating additional content that addresses new member and customer questions and offers educational information that will help them make financially responsible choices. Credit unions and banks can aim to publish new blog content one to four times a week.

Reason #5: Boredom

How to fix it: Let’s be real, debt consolidation isn’t the most exciting topic to discuss, but it is really important to your members and customers who are searching for advice on the topic across the internet.

It is your job as credit union and bank marketers to offer the trusted advice they are looking for!

Here are some ways you can perk up your content to keep it engaging and to help fight off boredom:

• Images matter. Not only do they keep the reader's attention, they can help your posts receive 94% more views! Take the time to include some interesting and relatable images to enhance the overall blog.
  
  
• Write in your real voice. Your members and customers value you and your brand. Include your personal story (not too personal, keep it about your credit union or bank - 😉) and be sure to write content that matters to your members and customers.
  
  Don’t forget, using data to determine your keywords is great, but always remember you are writing for your members and customers, not robots. Don’t write content that is stuffed with irrelevant keywords. Not only is it hard to read and feels fake, Google will penalize your site if they catch you!
  
  
• Make it look effortless. There is no guarantee that anyone will read your content, but if it looks daunting from the start, you are really out of luck! To give yourself a chance, be concise and use highlighting, subheadings, bullets and whitespace to draw the reader's eyes through your content.

• Remember your purpose. We talked about your readers being bored, but what about you, the writer? Sometimes the habit of creating content can feel cumbersome and it's the easiest item to put off on your to-do list. It’s time to change that approach. As James Clear wrote in his book Atomic Habits: Tiny Changes, Remarkable Results:

“The greatest threat to success
is not failure, but boredom.”

You just have to show up, in spite of being bored! Review all of the major gains blogs bring to the table, remember your purpose and passion for helping your credit union members and bank customers, commit to the content schedule, and just make it happen!