Your website is the ultimate hub for your credit union. Each day, thousands of users visit your site to log in to their accounts, make payments on loans, receive financial education, or research more about why they should choose you as their financial partner.

Every page on your website is valuable, but some hold more weight than others. This post will explore two of the most important types of pages for credit union websites: product pages and location pages.

Read on the learn to learn why these pages are such a critical component to a credit union website's success.

Why are product pages so important?

Outside of the homepage, product pages are likely the most frequently visited pages on your website. They are always the first stop for members looking to apply for additional products and are a magnet for generating new leads.

Therefore, they should be one of the primary focus points when optimizing your website.

Many credit unions tend to lump numerous loan or account offerings into single pages, but this isn’t the correct approach. Each of your products or offerings should receive its own robust page. Continue reading to learn why this is such an essential piece of SEO for credit unions.

The SEO Benefit of Unique Product Pages

It’s no secret that having high-quality, unique content on your site is one of the most effective SEO strategies. However, a lot of companies think that simply having a blog—or worse, posting syndicated content on your blog—is the cornerstone of a content marketing strategy. Product page content is even more important to your SEO strategy.

Having content-rich and unique pages for each of your products or offerings allow you to differentiate your products from your competitors and provide a more relevant and engaging experience for your members, in addition to being more likely that they'll be found in search results.

Recent studies in the SEO world have shown a growing correlation between user experience and page rankings. Google's two metrics to measure user experience, bounce rate, and time spent on page can be significantly improved with unique product pages.

Additionally, product pages designated for specific products open the door for you to include several new terms throughout your content.

This combination of an enhanced user experience and the opportunity to include more keywords can dramatically impact your credit union's visibility in Google search results.

Why are location pages so important?

In terms of the most important pages on your credit union’s website, location pages are right up there with product pages. They are the ultimate driver of a positive user experience and allow prospective and current members to easily find the nearest branch to them.

However, providing a solid user experience isn’t the only benefit of location pages. They are also a major piece of local SEO for credit unions and helping improve your visibility in search engine results.

The SEO benefit of location pages

Google is, by far, the most popular search engine, controlling over 85% of worldwide search traffic. With mobile searches now surpassing desktop searches, the popularity of “near me” searches has exploded in recent years. On average, people search Google for “credit union near me” over 300,000 times per month!

Much like your product pages, having unique location pages for each of your branches is a critical piece of your SEO success. These pages should be structured similarly to your products or account offerings, and linked from your Google My Business listing for the corresponding branch.

Here is an example of an optimal hierarchy for credit union location pages:

1. Main location hub page
1. Location A page
2. Location B page
3. Location C page
4. Location D page

If you are a larger credit union spanning multiple states, your hierarchy may look a little more like this:

1. Main location hub page
1. Region or State A page 
1. Location 1 page
2. Location 2 page
3. Location 3 page
2. Region or State B Page
1. Location 4 page
2. Location 5 page
3. Location 6 page

Ideally, your website should be structured so that you have one main location page informing users about all the areas you serve, with links on this page to each branch’s unique page so that users can easily navigate to the correct spot.

If you're interested in learning about how to optimize these pages for performance and other tactics to gain visibility in location-based search results, check out these Local SEO Strategies for Credit Unions.

Improving Your Credit Union Website

Product pages and location pages may be among the most important of all those on your website, but that doesn't mean they should receive all the attention. Other pages like blog content are also a key part of your SEO strategy but tend to bring in prospective members in the awareness stage and not ready to fully commit to a loan or account with your credit union yet.

Want more information about how you can improve your credit union’s website, generate more loan applications online, and successfully execute other strategies like marketing automation and digital advertising?

Head over to our Credit Union Marketing Resources Page where you can find other blog posts, webinar recordings, case studies, and more to guide your decision-making.