How We Took HML Investments from Page 5 to #1 on Google

HML Investments came to us with virtually zero organic search presence. Despite offering excellent financial advisory services, their website was sitting on page 5 of Google for their core keywords — meaning potential clients were finding competitors instead. Their site had significant technical SEO issues, thin content on service pages, and no backlink profile to speak of.

The financial services niche is one of the most competitive in SEO, governed by Google's YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) guidelines, which means Google applies extra scrutiny to ranking content. Demonstrating E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) was paramount.

We began with a thorough SEO audit covering technical health, on-page optimisation, content gaps, and competitor analysis. The strategy was built in three phases: fix the technical foundation, build authoritative content, and earn high-quality backlinks.

Our keyword research identified high-intent, commercial terms with strong conversion potential — not just broad terms but those indicating a user ready to engage an advisor. We mapped these to a clear content and page architecture before writing a single word.

• Technical SEO Audit & Fix: Resolved crawl errors, fixed duplicate meta tags, implemented canonical URLs, improved Core Web Vitals (LCP, CLS, FID) and optimised site speed to 90+ PageSpeed score.
• Keyword Research & Architecture: Identified 120+ target keywords across informational and transactional intent. Restructured site navigation and URL hierarchy to support topical authority.
• Content Overhaul: Rewrote all service pages with expert-authored, E-E-A-T-optimised content. Added advisor credentials, case examples, and FAQs structured for featured snippets.
• Local SEO: Optimised Google Business Profile, built consistent NAP citations across 60+ directories, and created locally-targeted landing pages for key service areas.
• Schema Markup: Implemented FinancialService, Organization, FAQ, and BreadcrumbList JSON-LD schema to enhance SERP appearance with rich results.
• Link Building: Secured 35 high-DA backlinks from finance publications, press mentions, and industry directories through digital PR and outreach campaigns.