Transforming Organic Performance for a Global Trading Platform

This case study explores how a fully anonymized international forex and CFD brokerage achieved substantial improvements in organic traffic, visibility, and funded trading accounts through a structured, data-driven SEO strategy.

Key Results Achieved in 12 Months

Metric	Before SEO	After SEO	Change
Monthly Organic Traffic	21,400	58,900	+175%
Funded Trading Accounts	260	740	+184%
Non-Branded Keyword Traffic	8,200	42,000	+412%
Top 10 Rankings	132	465	+252%
Domain Authority	29	44	+15 points

Highlights:

• Organic search became the primary acquisition channel, overtaking paid media.
• Commercial-intent visibility increased sharply, especially for queries such as “low spread broker,” “regulated forex platform,” and “MT5 trading account.”

About the Client and Industry Environment

A Regulated Multi-Asset Trading Provider in a High-Competition Sector

The client is a mid-sized, globally regulated forex and CFD brokerage serving retail and semi-professional traders, competing directly with established high leverage broker brands across multiple regions. Operating in more than ten markets, the company offers trading on currencies, commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies.

Market Context and Industry Dynamics

The online trading sector is one of the most competitive digital verticals, characterized by:

• High customer acquisition costs due to competitive CPCs
• Stringent regulatory frameworks requiring transparent communication
• Dominance of long-established brands with extensive authority
• Strong presence of aggregator websites and financial publishers
• High sensitivity to E-E-A-T requirements because it is a YMYL industry

This environment makes SEO both a challenge and a significant opportunity.

The Challenge: Initial Situation and Strategic Objectives

Starting Point Before Optimization

At the start of the engagement, the client’s digital performance was stagnant:

• Visibility for commercial queries was below 25%
• The content library lacked depth, with over 60% of pages under 300 words
• PageSpeed scores were low (mobile average 48/100)
• Keyword cannibalization affected 27 key landing pages
• Backlink profile relied heavily on low-quality directories rather than authoritative finance domains

These issues limited the ability to compete organically in a high-authority sector.

Business Goals and KPIs

Together with the client, the following objectives were established:

1. Increase monthly organic traffic by 120% within 12 months
2. Improve organic-funded account registrations by 150%
3. Achieve top-10 rankings for 50%+ of target commercial keywords
4. Strengthen E-E-A-T across all educational and promotional content
5. Build a sustainable long-term acquisition engine to reduce PPC dependency

SEO Strategy and Action Plan

Audit and Research: Foundation of the Approach

A comprehensive three-part audit shaped the strategy:

1. Technical Audit Highlights

• Slow mobile LCP and CLS caused poor performance
• Duplicate parameters and outdated sitemaps caused indexation inefficiencies
• Missing schema markup across product and content pages

2. Competitor Benchmarking

We analyzed ten leading competitors and uncovered:

• Heavy investment in educational hubs
• Strong backlink authority from financial media
• Structured content optimized for YMYL and E-E-A-T signals

3. Semantic Analysis

Keyword research identified:

• 4,900+ relevant search queries
• Significant untapped opportunities in long-tail educational terms
• Missing commercial clusters tied to specific platforms and account types

Implementation: Step-by-Step Execution

Technical SEO Enhancements

4.1 Core Fixes

• Reduced mobile load time from 4.7s to 1.5s
• Implemented FinancialService, Article, FAQPage schema
• Consolidated duplicate URLs and applied canonical tags
• Cleaned up the XML sitemap and rebuilt indexation paths

4.2 Structural Improvements

• Created hub-and-spoke topical clusters for:
  • Trading platforms (MT4, MT5, WebTrader)
  • Market categories (forex, indices, crypto)
  • Educational topics (analysis, risk management, strategies)
• Added 38 new landing pages optimized for regional variations and intent levels
• Built cross-linked internal navigation to distribute authority efficiently

Content Development and Optimization

4.3 Enhanced Content Library

Content output included:

• 65 educational articles (1,500–3,000 words each)
• 22 commercial-intent pages rewritten with higher clarity and compliance
• 11 conversion-focused comparison pages (e.g., “ECN vs Standard Account”)
• Full metadata overhaul for 90+ pages using CTR-tested templates

Content adhered to YMYL guidelines and featured market-certified analysts for E-E-A-T reinforcement.

Off-Page SEO and Authority Building

4.4 Link Acquisition Strategy

The off-page approach emphasized quality:

• Secured 35 editorial placements on financial news and fintech sites
• Earned 18 new high-authority backlinks (DA 50+)
• Removed 240+ toxic links created by legacy contractors
• Improved domain trust signals through verified industry citations

Results and Business Impact

Traffic and Visibility Improvements

Period	Organic Sessions	Growth
Month 0	21,400	—
Month 4	29,900	+40%
Month 8	43,500	+103%
Month 12	58,900	+175%

The client reached its highest organic visibility since website launch, with strong growth across all asset classes.

Keyword and SERP Performance

• Top-10 keyword coverage: 132 → 465
• Top-3 rankings for commercial terms: 28 → 91
• 14 featured snippets captured for educational queries
• Branded search volume increased by 38%

Organic Lead Generation

Metric	Before	After	Change
Monthly funded accounts	260	740	+184%
Conversion rate from organic	2.8%	4.9%	+75%
CPA (organic)	Reduced by 41%

Organic search became the client’s highest-performing revenue channel.

Client Feedback

“We saw significant improvements not only in traffic, but in the quality of leads and the visibility of our commercial pages. The agency demonstrated excellent knowledge of financial SEO and delivered measurable results.”
— Head of Digital Acquisition, Global Trading Provider

Conclusions and Success Factors

7.1 Key Drivers of Success

• Prioritizing technical excellence unlocked immediate visibility gains
• Strategic topic clustering accelerated long-tail keyword capture
• High-quality backlinks strengthened domain authority in a competitive niche
• E-E-A-T compliance improved trust and search performance, essential for YMYL

7.2 Next Steps

Planned future initiatives include:

• Localization for five new European markets
• Advanced CRO experiments on high-intent landing pages
• Integration of video content for platform tutorials
• Expansion of multilingual educational content hubs

Ready to Grow Your Financial Services Business Through SEO?

Our team specializes in SEO for regulated financial industries, including forex, CFD trading, fintech, and investment platforms. We provide tailored, data-driven strategies built to deliver measurable growth in competitive markets.

Get a free SEO audit and discover the opportunities for your trading platform.