SEO
US registration page metadata on Google search and registration page
Process flow
US start sending money page in English
US start sending money, log in and register page in English
Registration page metadata in French and Spanish
Start sending money, log in, and registration page in English, French and German
Start sending money page in French and Spanish
Company
Western Union offers one of the leading money transfer services in more than 130 currencies through its 500,000 agent locations worldwide. Western Union also helps people move money online through their website and app.
Project background
To grow our organic traffic and bring new customers to the website, we needed to improve our SEO ranking. Our digital team first focused on the homepage and product pages. But, we realized we should also include our transactional pages.
User research revealed that a significant number of customers, who were already familiar with Western Union services, searched Google to register or log in and start a money transfer.
Challenges
The UX copy on a transactional page is usually brief and concise, limiting the number of keywords you can include without stuffing them and hurting your Google search ranking.
Therefore, the metadata copy plays an even more critical role in the transactional pages’ Google search ranking.
With multiple websites and apps, one per country, to accommodate our local audiences and regulations, we ended up with duplicate meta titles, meta descriptions, and H1 tags.
My role
- Brainstorming
- Content strategy
- SEO copy research
- SEO copywriting
- SEO copy lead
Date
January 2020
Team
- SEO specialist
- Product owner
- UX designer
- Developper
Tools
- SEO best practices
- Keyword analysis
- Competitive research
- A/B testing
Process
Brainstorm
The UX designer, SEO specialist, product owner, developer and I met to brainstorm about the customer search intent to find out what customers were looking for? What problem were they trying to solve?
SEO transactional copy best practices
Even though I had experience in writing SEO and metadata copy, I researched specifically SEO content for transactional pages.
Keyword analysis
The SEO specialists conducted a keyword analysis and provided me with a list of keywords per country.
Competitive analysis
I conducted a competitive analysis to research how our competitors localized metadata and SEO copy per country.
A/B testing
Finally, we conducted A/B testing to validate the copy and made adjustments when necessary.
Solutions
Customer search intent
Customers searching for transactional pages were not looking for product information. They already had made their decision to buy and were ready to take the next step.
I focused on explaining what to do next and favored straight-to-the-point, and clear wording with highly targeted keywords.
Clear and brief content
I was very cautious not to lose the customer in too many details when taking them through the process of sending money.
I kept the content as clear and simple as possible while still addressing the questions customers may have when filling out a login, register, or send money form
Keywords
I used keywords in my copy, making sure they sounded natural and added value to the content. My objective was not to use as many keywords as possible, which would hurt our Google search ranking if done irresponsibly, but to deliver useful, compelling, and valuable content to our customers.
Structured copy
I added keyword-based headlines and sub-headers to improve the page’s readability and make it easier for the human eye to scan the content.
I used bullets, short sentences, and white space to make my copy easier to read at a glance.
Mobile friendly
I wrote copy that would work for a mobile app, tablet and website. Using the same content on all devices would ensure a more consistent tone, voice, and message across channels and would be easier to maintain.
Metadata
Finally, I included specific keywords for each country and each page to create localized and unique meta title and description to match SEO best practices and improve our ranking. I added a call to action to entice the customer to click and visit the page.
Results
- Transactional pages Google search ranking position up from top 4-5 to top 2-3
- 25% increase in organic traffic to transactional pages
- Improved Western Union brand visibility
