Link building in finance is not like link building in eCommerce or lifestyle. Finance is a high trust space where weak sources, shady placements, or misleading claims can hurt rankings and reputation fast.
Google treats many finance topics as “Your Money or Your Life” content, meaning low quality pages can potentially impact someone’s financial stability, so the quality bar is higher.
This guide explains a safe, scalable way to build links for finance businesses, including fintech, lenders, insurance brands, wealth managers, accounting firms, and B2B finance tools.
Why finance link building is different
Three reasons:
1) Trust signals matter more
Finance pages are evaluated through a higher quality lens because the topic can impact real money decisions.
2) Compliance and disclosure matter
If a placement is sponsored or includes affiliate relationships, disclosures must be clear and conspicuous. That is not optional.
3) Risky link tactics can backfire
Buying links for ranking purposes and other manipulative tactics are explicitly listed as link spam in Google’s spam policies.
The only link types worth chasing in finance
In finance, you want links that make sense even if Google did not exist. That usually means:
Editorial links inside real content
Links placed by editors because your page improves the article. Think research citations, calculators, definitions, or best practice guidance.
Expert quote links
Quotes from a real expert with a link to their bio, company page, or supporting resource. This is where digital PR and HARO style pitching shine.
Data and research citations
If you publish a statistic, benchmark, or dataset that writers can cite, links come naturally and stay stable.
Partnership and association links
Chambers of commerce, industry associations, accredited programs, integrations, and technology partners. These are boring but powerful for trust.
What to avoid in finance link building
A quick reality check. If a seller offers any of these, walk away:
-
Paid links “for SEO” with no editorial control or disclosure
-
Private blog networks, link farms, or recycled sites
-
Excessive reciprocal linking
-
Automated link blasts or spam comments
Google explicitly calls out buying or selling links for ranking and other schemes as link spam.
The finance safe link building framework
Here is the process we use when building links for finance websites in a way that is scalable and defensible.
Step 1: Pick linkable assets, not just money pages
Most finance brands try to build links directly to “apply now” or “pricing” pages. That is difficult and often unnatural.
Instead, create or improve assets that deserve citations:
-
Glossaries that explain complex terms simply
-
Rate explainers, fee breakdowns, and comparison pages
-
Calculators (loan repayment, APR, ROI, amortisation)
-
Compliance friendly guides (what to prepare, what to avoid, what to check)
-
Location pages that include real local context and proof
This helps you earn editorial links while still supporting your commercial pages through internal linking.
Step 2: Match assets to topics that publishers already write about
Finance publishers repeatedly cover the same themes:
-
How interest rates impact monthly payments
-
Credit score education
-
Small business cash flow and payments
-
Fraud prevention and security
-
Personal budgeting and debt management
-
Investing basics and risk explanations
-
Accounting and tax deadlines
Your goal is to become the “best supporting source” for one of those themes.
Step 3: Use digital PR that fits finance standards
Finance PR works best when it is built on clarity, numbers, and credibility.
Effective angles include:
Original research
Run surveys, analyse anonymised internal data, publish quarterly insights. Journalists love fresh numbers.
Expert commentary
Offer specific, practical insight. Avoid hype. Avoid guarantees. Add context and risk notes.
Explainers tied to real events
Policy changes, tax deadlines, rate movements, new regulations, or consumer trends.
Because finance is YMYL, quality raters apply very high standards. Your PR needs to feel credible, sourced, and responsible.
Step 4: Build a clean prospect list
A simple way to qualify targets:
-
The site publishes under real authors with visible bios
-
Articles include citations and external references
-
The content is written for humans, not search engines
-
The site is relevant to your niche (personal finance, fintech, small business, accounting, payments)
-
The site has a real audience, not just DR metrics
In finance, relevance and trust beat raw DR.
Step 5: Pitch the placement, not the product
A good finance pitch answers:
-
What question is the journalist or editor trying to solve?
-
What exact paragraph would your resource improve?
-
What claim are you supporting, and what evidence do you provide?
-
What is the safest anchor text? (usually branded or neutral)
This is how you earn contextual editorial insertions that look natural.
Compliance and disclosure: keep it clean
If you do sponsored placements or affiliate relationships, disclosures must be clear. The FTC’s guidance repeatedly emphasises disclosing material connections so people are not misled.
If you work with regulated financial firms, marketing communications also need to be fair, balanced, and not misleading, and should not bury material information.
Practical tip: even when you are building links, keep claims conservative. Avoid “guaranteed returns,” “no risk,” or any language that looks promissory.
Finance link building tactics that work right now
HARO style expert pitching
This is still one of the cleanest ways to earn links from real publications because the link is earned through editorial selection.
Best practices:
-
Respond fast
-
Provide a short expert credential line
-
Give 2 to 3 actionable points, not generic advice
-
Include a supporting statistic where possible
-
Make the quote easy to copy into an article
Link reclamation
If a publisher mentions your brand but does not link, request a link. These conversions are often high because the writer already trusts the brand.
Unsexy partnerships
Integrations, app marketplaces, certified partner directories, payment platform partner pages, local business associations. They are not glamorous, but they build authority and trust consistently.
Resource page placements
Many universities, libraries, and community organisations maintain finance resource pages. If you have a genuinely helpful guide, you can earn placements without looking promotional.
Updating outdated articles with better sources
Find pages ranking with old figures, broken links, or missing key context. Offer your updated resource as the replacement citation.
How to measure success in finance link building
Link counts alone are not enough. Track:
-
New referring domains in relevant categories
-
Links earned to linkable assets (guides, calculators, research)
-
Assisted conversions (users entering via informational content and later converting)
-
Brand search lift (people searching your brand name more often)
-
Rankings for finance terms tied to trust and education
If your links are built correctly, you should see broader improvements, not just one keyword jump.
A simple 30 day plan
Week 1: Choose 2 to 3 linkable assets and tighten them (better sources, clearer structure, stronger author credibility).
Week 2: Build a prospect list and map assets to specific articles and angles.
Week 3: Start outreach and HARO style pitching daily.
Week 4: Follow up, reclaim unlinked mentions, and secure 5 to 15 high relevance placements.
Final thought
Finance link building is not about shortcuts. It is about earning citations that make sense in a high trust environment.
If you focus on editorial value, credible expertise, and compliance friendly messaging, you can build links that survive updates and keep compounding.