Creating standout content is challenging, especially in the saturated world of financial services. For First Command Financial Services—a U.S. financial provider focused on military members and their families—the challenge was even greater. Their blog, the Coaching Center, relied on evergreen content tailored to military needs, but in a crowded market dominated by major banks and financial publishers, most non-branded keyword rankings remained out of reach. As a result, Coaching Center articles averaged just two clicks per month in 2023, making content investment hard to justify.
Given high costs and low returns, First Command granted our agency a $112K test budget to revitalize the Coaching Center. Rather than compete on exhausted evergreen topics, we identified an opening for seasonal, time-sensitive content around key financial deadlines military families face annually. By focusing on these high-interest periods and unique military programs, we aimed to drive 2,000+ search clicks per article monthly—a goal set using search volume forecasts and historical data. This data-driven, targeted approach promised greater discoverability, engagement, and brand visibility, transforming the Coaching Center into a valuable resource that truly meets the evolving needs of the military community.
To maximize First Command’s content value, we shifted focus from evergreen topics to timely, seasonal financial topics specific to military families. Instead of competing with larger sites, we targeted low-competition, high-relevance search terms—like annual changes in military pay, BAH, and COLA rates—identified through research, interviews, and keyword analysis. This strategy transformed the Coaching Center from a standard article library into a dynamic resource tailored to current military needs. By publishing targeted, data-driven articles, we dramatically improved discoverability, traffic, and click-through rates, positioning First Command as a go-to financial information source for the military community.
The Coaching Center evolved from a standard article library into a dynamic, timely financial resource for military families, exceeding all expectations. Aiming for 2,000 visits per article per month, our test content performed far better. The first article on 2025 military pay raises, launched in late September 2024, delivered 12,000 clicks in its first month and over 14,000 the next, becoming the site’s top page. It ranked #1 for 100+ search terms and appeared in search features such as AI Overviews and People Also Ask, earning 150,000 impressions—far above the Coaching Center’s average.
This success proved that timely, relevant content drives exceptional engagement and visibility. The new articles averaged 7,000+ clicks each in their first month, compared to just two clicks per article previously, and contributed 36% of the site’s organic search traffic by December 2024 (up from 8.1% pre-launch).
Our team now leads First Command’s content calendar with insights from search behavior and SEO, steadily establishing the Coaching Center as an essential, up-to-date financial resource for military families.
