How Harmoney Achieved 294% Organic Opportunity Growth in Consumer Lending

Scaling organic sessions 306% while improving funded count efficiency 262%—demonstrating that volume growth and conversion quality can compound together.

The Challenge

Harmoney operates in one of the most competitive search categories: personal loans. Keywords are expensive, competition is fierce, and compliance requirements add complexity to every piece of content. Trans-Tasman operation meant optimizing for two markets with different regulatory environments.

The starting position in May 2021 was modest: 1,764 organic sessions generating 249 opportunities per month. Conversion from session to account creation was healthy at 18.31%, but the approval rate—the metric that actually mattered for a lending business—was only 5.22%.

The challenge wasn't just 'more traffic.' Harmoney needed qualified traffic that converted to funded loans. Scaling volume without maintaining quality would waste resources on applications that couldn't be approved. The goal was to grow the funnel while improving—not just maintaining—conversion efficiency.

Competitive personal loan category with high CPC
Trans-Tasman operation requiring dual-market optimization
Need to scale volume while maintaining approval quality
Regulatory compliance requirements on content

The Solution

We implemented a conversion-focused SEO program—not just visibility for visibility's sake, but organic traffic engineered to fund loans.

Technical SEO foundation came first. Site architecture restructured for personal loan keyword targeting. Page speed optimization for mobile-first users. Schema markup for financial product structured data. Crawl efficiency improvements to ensure content was indexed properly.

Content strategy targeted the full customer journey. Product pages optimized for high-intent 'personal loan' searches. Educational content hub capturing top-funnel 'how to' and 'what is' queries. Local SEO for trans-Tasman geo-optimization—different content for AU vs NZ markets.

Authority building through digital PR and industry citations. Fintech directory listings. Content marketing driving natural backlinks. Brand mention conversion campaigns turning unlinked mentions into link equity.

Critical to success: 18-goal conversion tracking architecture. Not just sessions—pre-approvals, decisions, approvals, funded amounts. Monthly eCPA and eCPO reporting enabled rapid optimization of underperforming segments while scaling what worked.

Our Approach

Technical SEO Foundation: Site restructure, page speed, schema, mobile optimization
Conversion-Focused Content: Product pages + educational hub + local SEO for AU/NZ
Authority Building: Digital PR, fintech citations, backlink campaigns
18-Goal Tracking Architecture: Full funnel: sessions → pre-approvals → decisions → funded
Monthly Optimization: eCPA/eCPO analysis driving rapid iteration

The Results

Over 14 months, Harmoney's organic channel transformed from nascent to dominant—with improving efficiency at scale.

Conversion Quality

Approval at Decision Rate

5.22% → 10.82%

Quality improved while volume grew

Session to Account Ratio

18.31% → 19.81%

Trust and brand recognition

Funded Count per Session

0.29% → 1.05%

Dramatically better conversion efficiency

Revenue Impact

Monthly Funded Amount

$59,400 → $1,179,250

+1,885%

Pre-Approved Pipeline

1,118

New capability activated during engagement

Growth Trajectory

Average Session Growth

26.9%

Month-over-month

Average Opportunity Growth

32.8%

Month-over-month

Peak Account Creation Rate

31.15%

December 2021

Key Lessons

Conversion-focused SEO beats visibility-only SEO

Optimizing for pre-approvals and funded loans—not just sessions—meant every ranking improvement translated to business outcomes. 18-goal tracking made this possible.

Quality and volume can improve together

The assumption that scaling traffic means diluting quality is wrong. With the right targeting, approval rates improved from 5.22% to 10.82% while volume grew 306%.

Full-funnel tracking enables rapid optimization

Monthly eCPA and eCPO reporting identified which content and keywords drove funded loans—not just traffic. This enabled reallocation to high-performing segments within weeks.

Regulated industries can still win at SEO

Personal lending has strict compliance requirements. But compliance-aware content strategy isn't a handicap—it's a barrier to entry that keeps less sophisticated competitors out.

Want to Scale Organic Without Sacrificing Conversion Quality?

If you're in fintech or another regulated industry looking to grow organic while maintaining compliance and conversion efficiency, let's talk.

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