Utah Banker 15 Format and Structure Matter More Than Ever The SEO tactics that many marketers have been relying upon for years — keyword stuffing, lengthy blog articles, infographics, gated e-books and white papers — are no longer the “go-to” optimization opportunities they once were. AI crawlers and summarization engines favor content that’s well structured, semantically rich (where keywords and variations are used naturally), and broken into digestible sections (e.g., FAQs, definitions, lists). Many of the traditional marketing communication assets don’t fit that bill. As The Financial Brand puts it in their Sept. 23 article, “AI Referrals Are Surging; Are You Ready for the New Customer Journey?”: “AI search engines analyze query intent, cross-check multiple sources, and prefer consistent, authoritative content. This requires structured, machine-readable content across multiple channels.” Click Metrics Become Less Reliable In a world where fewer people click through, traditional key performance indicators (KPIs), such as clickthrough rate (CTR), organic traffic and time on page, lose their significance. You might publish great content, but if no one’s clicking, how do you know what’s working? Fewer Resources Large banks or fintechs can test new formats, invest in AI tooling and rapidly iterate. Community banks usually have lean marketing teams and smaller budgets. That makes any transformation more challenging. WHAT COMMUNITY BANKS CAN DO: ADAPT AND EXPERIMENT While the environment is shifting, there are strategies that can help community banks maintain visibility and relevance. • Pick a niche. Don’t try to compete on every financial keyword. Focus on local or specialized topics (e.g., “small business lending in [your county]” or “community development programs in [region]”). Own that space and increase your chances that AI systems will pick you. • Make your content more AI-friendly. Structure your pages thoughtfully: Use clear headings, FAQs, bulleted lists, definitions and short-answer blocks. Use schema markup* to structure and clarify the purpose of your content. • Diversify formats. Utilize informational videos and interactive tools, including calculators, quizzes and chatbots. AI summarizers not only pull from multimedia formats; they favor them. • Invest in conversational agents. Customers accustomed to the dynamic Q&A interface of ChatGPT have come to expect a similar experience from websites. According to The Financial Brand article: “Moving beyond rules-based chatbots toward AI-powered agents makes it possible to answer nuanced questions, maintain brand voice and hand off seamlessly to human staff when needed.” • Boost domain authority. Leverage press mentions, local news coverage and partner content. Use citations and backlinks to establish credibility and trust. AI algorithms seek out brands that it determines are known and trusted. • Collaborate locally. Work with community organizations, local governments or chambers to co-create content. This may help amplify reach and give additional signaling to AI systems via shared authority. WHAT’S NEXT? Community banks now find themselves operating in a search environment transformed by AI and must rethink content optimization beyond keywords and clicks. Although resource constraints and competition from larger players exacerbate the challenge, community banks that adapt will be able to maintain their relevance in this new, zero-click world. *Schema markup sends explicit signals to search engines and AI regarding the scale and scope of a piece of content. For example, if a search engine reads the word “apple” on a page, schema can clarify whether the content is about the fruit or the company. For additional information on the topic, Neil Patel’s blog is a helpful resource. About Bank Marketing Center Bank Marketing Center is the leading provider of subscription-based automated marketing services to community banks. Our goal is to help bank marketers with topical, compelling communication that builds trust, fosters relationships and drives revenue. We achieve this by automating critical bank marketing functions, including content creation, social media management, digital asset management and, of course, content routing. These services enable a community bank to create and distribute content that drives business without fear of fines, brand damage or customer attrition. Want to learn more about what we can do for your community bank and your marketing efforts? Visit bankmarketingcenter.com, or you can contact me by phone at (678) 528-6688 or email at nreynolds@bankmarketingcenter.com. As always, I welcome your thoughts.
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