A lot of SEO for financial firms talks about content and on-page optimizations. But, behind the scenes, on the back end, improper link structures, indexing errors, and hidden coding mistakes can quietly hold a site back from ranking well. See, as a financial industry SEO consultant, I know that even minor technical SEO issues can limit a financial firm’s search visibility and weaken its rankings.
This happened with one of my clients—a consulting firm in the private equity space. They ran into a frustrating problem: SEMrush (an SEO tool) wasn’t recognizing their anchor text, and Google Search Console showed the page as “Discovered – currently not indexed.”
This signaled a deeper issue: Google found the page but chose not to index it, likely due to weak signals, improper link structure, or technical SEO errors.
What’s the big deal about anchor text?
Without properly recognized anchor text, search engines can’t fully interpret a page’s relevance, weakening its ability to rank. It needs to be fixed immediately.
Why Do Technical Errors Cause Ranking Problems?
Linking to external sources should seem straightforward, but how you and I communicate isn’t how the search engines operate. Search engines are looking for specific indicators, and without adequately recognized anchor text, they can’t fully understand a page’s content, and valuable link equity is lost.
Since SEO for financial firms relies on technical precision, I knew we had to dig deeper to find the issue.
Finding the Hidden SEO Issues
After inspecting the HTML, I found a technical coding problem that wasn’t obvious from the website’s visual editor.
1. Empty <a> Tags Were Causing Confusion
Some links were structured like this:
The first <a> tag was empty, meaning it had no visible text. This likely confused SEMrush and search engines, causing them to ignore the real anchor text.
2. “Ibid.” References Were Hurting SEO
In some areas, the client used “Ibid.” to reference previously mentioned sources instead of linking directly. While this is fine for academic citations, search engines don’t understand “Ibid.” which meant those references weren’t contributing to their SEO.
The Fix: Strengthening Link Structure
To resolve the issue, we:
- Removed empty <a> tags so search engines could correctly recognize anchor text.
- Replaced “Ibid.” with full citations to ensure every link contributed to SEO.
- Optimized anchor text to enhance SEO for financial firms by making links clearer and more relevant.
Here’s what a properly structured link looks like:
Once we implemented these fixes, we re-ran the SEMrush audit and checked it in the Google Search Console URL Inspection Tool—and this time, every link was properly recognized.
SEO for Financial Firms: Why Technical Fixes Matter
By correcting these link issues, my client saw the following:
- Better search engine indexing, improving content visibility.
- Stronger link equity, ensuring outbound links passed value correctly.
- A better user experience, making references clearer for site visitors.
For financial firms, good SEO strategy isn’t just about blog content and keyword research—it’s about technical accuracy. Even minor coding issues can impact rankings and visibility.
Why Technical SEO for Financial Firms Matters
Websites in the financial services industry, like private equity consulting firms, CPA firms, and accounting firms, are held to high standards. Minor issues can have big consequences in rankings, authority with Google, traffic, and ultimately bring in leads. Fixing issues like these strengthens your site’s trustworthiness in Google’s eyes—so your prospective clients can find you.
Don’t let small coding problems lead to losing big opportunities to rank, attract leads, and grow your firm. As an expert in financial services SEO strategy, I specialize in content strategy and authority building for firms in private equity consulting, finance, and accounting.
Let’s fix the issues before they cost you clients. Apply to work with me today.