LendingTree Organic Growth Opportunities

Readiness Assessment

Domain Authority
62
Organic Search Traffic
612.70K
Organic Keywords
557.71K
Current Performance
  • You rank for 558k organic keywords and drive about 613k monthly organic visits (≈ $4.6m in equivalent ad value)
  • Your link authority is strong with an Authority Score of 62 supported by ~1.3m backlinks from ~48k referring domains—solid foundation for competitive rankings
  • Traffic is concentrated on a few hubs: the homepage pulls ~126k visits (~20% of total), followed by high-performing sections/pages like /auto/ (~17k), /auto/bad-credit/ (~14k), and content-led pages (e.g., NJ car insurance, gas prices study, debt consolidation, average credit card interest rate)
Growth Opportunity
  • Brand demand is a major driver (e.g., “lendingtree” / “lending tree” at 61k volume each), so you have room to grow non-brand acquisition via high-intent terms you already touch like “debt consolidation loans” (41k), “sba loan calculator” (12k), “reverse mortgage calculator” (15k), and “bad credit car loans” (18k)
  • Versus key peers, you’re in the smallest visibility tier: the leader (Bankrate) gets ~8.5m monthly organic visits—showing a large, addressable traffic gap even within the same category set
  • Credit Karma earns much more traffic with only slightly more keywords, signaling upside in improving rankings/CTR and expanding systematically from proven templates (state insurance pages, calculators, “rates,” and data-study content)
Assessment

You have strong authority and a huge keyword footprint, but you’re not converting that coverage into proportional traffic. Closing the gap is mainly a scaling and optimization problem: expand and refresh high-intent content clusters while improving performance on existing rankings. AirOps can help you execute this content expansion and updating programmatically to capture meaningful incremental organic demand.

Your domain is ready for AI powered growth

Competition at a Glance

Analysis of 3 major competitors (Bankrate, NerdWallet, and Credit Karma) shows LendingTree is currently in the smallest organic visibility tier among this peer set.

Across the 4 domains reviewed, lendingtree.com ranks #4 in organic search traffic with 612,702 monthly organic visits and also #4 in ranking keywords with 557,712 keywords. The market leader is Bankrate, generating 8,546,247 monthly organic visits and ranking for 2,320,130 keywords.

Overall, LendingTree faces a pronounced organic acquisition gap versus the two largest publishers (each at 8M+ monthly visits) that also command substantially broader keyword coverage. At the same time, Credit Karma’s outsized traffic with only slightly more keywords (593,373 vs. 557,712) signals that the competitive disadvantage isn’t just about keyword footprint—it’s also about how much traffic the market is capturing from comparable search coverage, reinforcing LendingTree’s current position as a follower in organic reach within this landscape.

Opportunity Kickstarters

Here are your content opportunities, tailored to your domain's strengths. These are starting points for strategic plays that can grow into major traffic drivers in your market. Connect with our team to see the full traffic potential and activate these plays.

1. ZIP-code Insurance Cost & Quote Index

Content Creation
Programmatic SEO
Content Refresh

This play creates programmatic ZIP-level pages that answer specific insurance cost questions for homeowners and renters. By providing hyper-local pricing data, LendingTree can capture high-intent users searching for insurance quotes in their specific neighborhood.

Example Keywords
  • average homeowners insurance cost [ZIP]
  • home insurance rates [ZIP]
  • dwelling coverage [ZIP] cost
  • renters insurance cost [ZIP]
Rationale

Localized pricing intent is a high-volume, high-intent search category that funnels directly into insurance quote flows. Users searching for ZIP-specific costs are typically further down the purchase funnel than those searching for general state-level information.

Topical Authority

LendingTree already demonstrates strong performance in local insurance SEO, with state-level pages like New Jersey car insurance driving over 13,000 monthly visits. Expanding to the ZIP level is a natural progression of this existing topical authority.

Internal Data Sources

Utilize proprietary quote request and conversion data aggregated by geography, along with partner network attributes regarding common coverage selections and deductible distributions.

Estimated Number of Pages

15,000+ (Targeting high-population ZIP codes across homeowners and renters categories)

2. State & County Debt Relief Legal Guides

Content Creation
Programmatic SEO
Content Refresh

This strategy involves creating programmatic legal-and-options pages that explain state-specific debt collection laws and relief options. These pages capture users in financial distress who are researching their rights before committing to a debt relief product.

Example Keywords
  • credit card debt statute of limitations [state]
  • can debt collectors garnish wages [state]
  • bank levy rules [state]
  • debt settlement legality [state]
Rationale

Users often research the legal consequences of their debt (like wage garnishment or statutes of limitations) before seeking consolidation or relief services. Providing this information builds trust and positions LendingTree as the first step in their recovery journey.

Topical Authority

The domain already performs well in debt consolidation and bankruptcy topics, but the current debt-relief footprint is small, representing a significant expansion opportunity to bridge the gap with competitors.

Internal Data Sources

Leverage internal partner coverage data by state and aggregated user journey insights that map common financial pathways from legal research to product selection.

Estimated Number of Pages

1,750+ (Covering 50 states across 35+ core debt and legal topics)

3. Merchant-Specific Credit Card Reward Optimization

Content Creation
Programmatic SEO
Content Refresh

This play generates programmatic pages that answer which credit cards offer the best rewards for specific merchants and brands. It targets brand-loyal shoppers looking to maximize their points or cash back at their favorite stores.

Example Keywords
  • best credit card for [Merchant Name]
  • best card for [Merchant Name] groceries
  • best business credit card for [Merchant Name]
  • credit card rewards for [Merchant Name] purchases
Rationale

Capturing merchant-level intent allows LendingTree to intercept users at the point of purchase or during brand-specific research. This long-tail strategy bypasses highly competitive head terms like 'best rewards cards' in favor of specific consumer habits.

Topical Authority

With over 660 URLs dedicated to credit cards, LendingTree has the established site depth and authority to rank for these specific merchant-reward combinations.

Internal Data Sources

Use the internal credit card database containing annual fees, reward rates, and intro APR windows, combined with click-through propensity data by card category.

Estimated Number of Pages

6,000+ (Covering top national and regional merchants across personal and business variants)

4. Bank Bonus & Account Offer Localized Index

Content Creation
Programmatic SEO
Content Refresh

This strategy creates programmatic pages capturing deposit-account acquisition intent by indexing bank bonuses and account requirements by state. It fills a major gap in LendingTree's current banking content cluster.

Example Keywords
  • [Bank Name] checking bonus [state]
  • [Bank Name] savings bonus [state]
  • [Bank Name] bonus direct deposit requirement
  • best bank bonus [state]
Rationale

Bank account bonuses are high-converting search terms that drive significant traffic for competitors like Bankrate and NerdWallet. LendingTree can leverage its high domain authority to quickly capture this underserved segment.

Topical Authority

While the current banking footprint is thin, LendingTree's overall Authority Score of 62 provides the necessary foundation to compete in this high-intent financial vertical.

Internal Data Sources

Incorporate partner bank feed data regarding offer availability and eligibility rules, alongside historical offer change logs to ensure content freshness.

Estimated Number of Pages

3,000+ (Focusing on top national and regional banks across multiple account types)

5. Project-Specific Home Improvement Financing Directory

Content Creation
Programmatic SEO
Content Refresh

This play develops a directory of financing pages for specific home improvement projects, localized by ZIP code and budget tier. It targets homeowners based on their specific renovation needs rather than generic loan types.

Example Keywords
  • finance a [Project Type] [ZIP]
  • [Project Type] loan [city]
  • how to pay for [Project Type] without equity [ZIP]
  • monthly payment for [Project Type] remodel [ZIP]
Rationale

Homeowners typically search for financing solutions tied to a specific problem, such as a roof replacement or kitchen remodel. Localizing these pages by ZIP code captures high-intent traffic looking for immediate financial solutions.

Topical Authority

LendingTree's existing success with 'roof financing' content proves that project-specific intent resonates with its audience and ranks well on its domain.

Internal Data Sources

Utilize internal lending marketplace distributions for typical loan amounts by project category and approval propensity data by credit band.

Estimated Number of Pages

162,000+ (Covering 60+ project types across thousands of target ZIP codes and budget tiers)

6. Auto Loans Striking Distance Audit: On-Page + Linking

Editorial
Content Refresh
Improvements Summary

Re-map each key /auto/ URL to a primary non-brand keyword, then rewrite above-the-fold sections to match page-1 intent with answer-first intros, TOC jump links, and snippet-ready FAQs with schema. Add decision assets (rate-factor tables, calculators, “get offers” steps), update /auto/refinance/ for “rates today” freshness, and reinforce hub-and-spoke internal linking from /auto/ to money pages and supporting guides.

Improvements Details

Assign primary targets like “best credit union for car loans” (/auto/credit-union/), “auto financing with no credit” (/auto/how-to-get-a-car-loan-with-no-credit-history/), “terrible credit auto loans” (/auto/bad-credit/), and “best car refinance rates today” (/auto/refinance/) with matching H1s, titles, and intent-specific sections (rates, eligibility, pros/cons, steps). Add 6–10 FAQ blocks per transactional page (40–55 word answers) with FAQ schema; add a dated update line, market snapshot, and rate methodology section on refinance pages; introduce calculators (refi savings, payment/affordability). Publish supporting articles (negative equity refi, minimum credit score, 0-down myths, CU vs bank rates) and interlink with keyword-based anchors and consistent “Related guides” modules.

Improvements Rationale

Many cluster keywords show near-zero traffic share despite meaningful volume, suggesting intent mismatch, weak SERP feature capture, and thin “decision” content that keeps pages stuck around positions 11–20. Tight keyword-to-page alignment, snippet-focused FAQs, and stronger internal linking raise relevance and topical authority, while refreshed “rates today” content and methodology address freshness expectations that block non-brand growth on /auto/refinance/.

Appendix

Topical Authority
Top Performing Keywords
KeywordVolumeTraffic %
best seo tools5.0k3
seo strategy4.0k5
keyword research3.5k2
backlink analysis3.0k4
on-page optimization2.5k1
local seo2.0k6
Top Performing Pages
PageTrafficTraffic %
/seo-tools5.0k100
/keyword-research4.0k100
/backlink-checker3.5k80
/site-audit3.0k60
/rank-tracker2.5k50
/content-optimization2.0k40

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