Search Engine Optimization
Driving Long-Term SEO ROI for a Financial Services Firm
A leading futures brokerage was already seeing strong organic returns from its ongoing SEO strategy with Marcel Digital. By refining their martech stack, optimizing on-page and off-site SEO, and shifting to a more targeted content strategy, we exponentially increased their ROI.
The Challenge
Marcel Digital had been this brokerage’s trusted SEO partner for over a decade, consistently driving strong results, including a 317% increase in organic traffic and more than 1,500 qualified leads from 2018–2020. But despite this success, it became clear that ongoing technical and on-page optimizations alone would not deliver the next level of ROI. To continue growing qualified leads, the organization needed to evolve from a traditional SEO approach to a deeper, content-first strategy supported by data-driven projections and stakeholder alignment.
SEO Growth Was Plateauing Without a New Strategy
Technical improvements and optimizations had been maximized, and future gains required a more advanced content-focused approach.
Need to Demonstrate the Value of Content SEO
The marketing team needed clear, data-backed projections to understand how a content-first strategy would impact qualified traffic and lead generation.
Aligning Stakeholders Around a New Direction
Shifting to a content-driven SEO strategy required buy-in across the organization, grounded in evidence and long-term growth potential.
The Analysis
With a strong technical SEO foundation already in place, Marcel Digital shifted the focus toward unlocking growth through content. Using a combination of analytics, competitive research, and search-intent insights, we evaluated where new content could drive the highest impact and where existing content could be improved to increase visibility and conversions.
Leveraging Advanced SEO Tools for Deeper Insights
Our team used Google Analytics, SEMRush, Google Search Console, and Moz Link Explorer to assess traffic patterns, keyword rankings, indexing issues, and backlink strength. This multi-tool approach allowed us to pinpoint where content was underperforming, where competitors were gaining ground, and where the strongest opportunities existed.
Analyzing Keyword Gaps & Striking-Distance Opportunities
We focused on “striking distance” keywords - queries with meaningful search volume where the brokerage ranked on pages 2 or 3. These presented immediate opportunities to boost rankings and capture more qualified traffic. Competitive research also highlighted content gaps where industry peers were outperforming them, shaping a clear roadmap for content creation and optimization.
Auditing & Optimizing Existing Content for Increased Visibility
A full audit of historical content revealed pages that needed refinement to improve ranking potential and engagement. We updated outdated content, strengthened internal linking, implemented schema for rich-result visibility, and identified backlink gaps for future link-building efforts. These insights formed the backbone of a content roadmap aligned with search intent, audience needs, and lead-generation goals.
The Solution
With the data-driven strategy approved, Marcel Digital partnered with the brokerage’s marketing team to build a focused editorial plan designed to increase engagement, improve rankings, and generate qualified leads. The content roadmap prioritized high-value educational resources, futures trading insights, expanded market pages, and enriched FAQs - all crafted to align with search intent and position the firm as an industry authority.
Developing High-Value, Search-Driven Content
We created and optimized content across key areas that mattered to traders, including comprehensive Learning Center guides, deep-dive futures trading resources, expanded futures market pages, and enhanced FAQs targeting long-tail search queries. This approach helped strengthen topical authority while addressing the real questions and needs of prospective traders.
Optimizing Content for Maximum SEO Performance
Every piece of content was optimized following SEO best practices, improving title tags, headers, internal linking, and CTAs to increase visibility and conversions. We implemented schema markup to enhance how search engines understood and displayed the content, supporting richer search results and improved click-through rates.
Strengthening Authority Through Link Building
We worked closely with the marketing team to streamline content production and distribution across digital channels. A targeted link-building campaign secured high-authority backlinks from top financial and trading publishers, boosting domain authority. Finally, we updated XML sitemaps and monitored indexing in Google Search Console to ensure rapid discovery and strong search performance for newly published content.
The Results
Our content-driven SEO strategy delivered massive gains in organic traffic and conversions. In 2020 alone, we saw:
181.64% increase in overall organic traffic, adding over 45,000 new users from search.
861.23% increase in Learning Center traffic, bringing in 31,000 additional users year-over-year.
470% increase in Futures Markets page traffic and a 283% increase in conversions.
Additionally, our optimizations secured rich snippet placements for high-value search terms, including: “10-year treasury futures," “Heating oil futures," and “Durable vs. non-durable goods."
As of 2024, we continue to develop new, strategic content to sustain this brokerage’s competitive edge in search rankings. With an ongoing focus on industry trends, keyword opportunities, and evolving SEO best practices, our work ensures they remain a leading voice in the trading industry while driving consistent growth in organic traffic, lead generation, and customer acquisition.
