How Stripe Captures $37.51M in Traffic Value Monthly - A Marketing Strategy Breakdown
By Team Inblog ⋅ March 19, 2025
Stripe is a globally trusted payment processing powerhouse renowned for its innovative, secure, and compliance-focused unified platform that empowers businesses—from startups to multinational enterprises—to manage and optimize their transactions effortlessly. Stripe has successfully generated $37.51M in traffic cost value through its SEO strategies as of March, 2025. This growth is driven by a combination of keyword targeting, content optimization, and on-page SEO improvements.
In this article, we’ll dive into the key marketing strategies that contributed to their success.
Keyword Strategies
A well-planned keyword strategy helps connect your content with the right audience by aligning it with their searches.
Boost SERP Rankings by Understanding Search Intent
The key to this strategy’s success is Stripe's deep understanding of search intent. Search intent isn’t just a buzzword—it’s the reason people type queries into search engines and a major driver of search traffic.
There are four main types of search intent:
- Informational: When someone is looking to learn more (e.g., “What is stripe?”).
- Navigational: When someone is trying to find a specific page or site (e.g., “Personal CRM Template”).
- Commercial: When someone is comparing options (e.g., “stripe vs. Competitors”).
- Transactional: When someone is ready to buy, use, or download something (e.g., “stripe Pricing”).
As search intent moves from Informational to Navigational, Commercial, and Transactional, users become more specific and action-driven. Initially, users seek general information, but as they move down the funnel, they get closer to making a decision or purchase.
Considering various keyword variations that users might search for in areas like UX or template solutions, Stripe's top 1,000 organic keywords have been categorized into these intent types.
| Intent Type | Share (%) | Top Keywords |
|---|---|---|
| Informational | 30.01% | strip, credit card acceptance, what is ach payment |
| Navigational | 39.11% | stripe, stripe login, affirm |
| Commercial | 26.57% | affirm, stripe atlas, stripe api |
| Transactional | 4.31% | stripe test cards, stripe support, chorus pro |
Notably, navigational keywords are displayed using examples such as "stripe", "stripe login", "affirm", "afterpay", "paypal", "stripe careers", "cash app", "klarna", "google pay", and "docs", and they account for the largest share, contributing $5.07M in traffic cost.
Optimizing Content for Search Intent
To rank well on Google, it's important to create content that aligns with what users are actually searching for. Google aims to provide answers by using advanced algorithms to understand the intent behind each query. Understanding search intent helps ensure your content meets users’ needs.
Here are the top five pages on Stripe that generate the most organic traffic through content optimized for keyword intent:
| URL | Keyword | Position | Search Volume | Traffic | Traffic Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| https://stripe.com/resources/more/how-to-accept-credit-card-payments | credit card acceptance | 1 | 2,260 | 3,978 | $181,436 |
| https://stripe.com/resources/more/ach-payments-101 | what is ach payment | 1 | 23,360 | 3,598 | $12,017 |
| https://stripe.com/us/resources/more/what-does-gross-to-net-mean | gross vs net | 4 | 74,000 | 3,585 | $2,007 |
| https://stripe.com/resources/more/how-to-calculate-retained-earnings-for-your-business | retained earnings | 2 | 17,118 | 2,584 | $5,400 |
| https://stripe.com/resources/more/remittance-advice-definition-and-benefits | remittance advice | 1 | 8,100 | 2,324 | $15,361 |
Stripe's SEO success is rooted in a traditional content marketing strategy, where long-form guides rank for a wide range of keywords. "Credit card acceptance" offers detailed insights into processing payments online, making it invaluable for businesses looking to expand their payment options. "What is ach payment" breaks down the nuances of automated clearing house transactions, serving as an educational resource for both beginners and seasoned professionals. The "gross vs net" content demystifies financial terminology, while "retained earnings" provides clarity on an essential business metric for accounting and strategic planning. Finally, "remittance advice" explains the intricacies of payment notifications, drawing traffic from professionals seeking clear, actionable guidance. This structured approach to content not only boosts rankings but also ensures that searchers find exactly what they're looking for.
Choosing the Right Keywords to Attract Quality Traffic
The more organic keywords you rank for—that is, words and phrases that draw people to your site from a search engine results page (SERP)—the better. Organic keywords are free, help improve online visibility, and attract quality traffic.
| Keyword | Position | Search Volume | Traffic |
|---|---|---|---|
| what is ach payment | 1 | 23,360 | 3,598 |
| ach routing number | 1 | 4,400 | 1,586 |
| what is an eft | 1 | 5,400 | 804 |
| ach vs wire | 4 | 5,304 | 426 |
| eft vs ach | 1 | 1,600 | 312 |
On-Page SEO: Keeping a Consistent URL Structure
On-page SEO involves optimizing individual web pages with techniques such as fine-tuning title tags, meta descriptions, and especially URLs to boost search engine visibility. A well-defined URL structure plays a pivotal role in communicating both the site hierarchy and the purpose of each page, ensuring that users and search engines alike can quickly understand the content on offer.
Stripe employs a systematic URL format that leverages clear subfolders to delineate distinct sections of its site. By organizing content into logical categories—such as “pricing,” “atlas,” and “jobs”—the company provides an intuitive navigation path while signaling the focus of each page. This organization not only enhances user experience but also makes it easier for search engines to index and rank content accurately.
In addition to simple URL structures, Stripe also utilizes nested URLs to highlight specific keywords and topics within broader categories. For example, pages like “payments/affirm” and “jobs/search” demonstrate how the nested format adds depth to the site’s taxonomy. This layered approach improves crawlability and relevance, ensuring that both users and search engines benefit from a well-structured, semantic hierarchy.
Examples of URL Structure:
stripe/[subfolder]
- https://stripe.com/pricing
- https://stripe.com/atlas
- https://stripe.com/contact
stripe/[subfolder]/[keyword]
- https://stripe.com/payments/affirm
- https://stripe.com/jobs/search
- https://stripe.com/payments/cash-app-pay
Conclusion
This report details the marketing strategy behind Stripe's impressive achievement of capturing $37.51M in monthly traffic value. It begins with an overview of Stripe’s trusted platform and outlines its SEO success driven by a robust keyword strategy that focuses on search intent. The report then breaks down various types of search intent through detailed keyword lists and examples, highlights the importance of content optimization by showcasing the top five pages generating significant organic traffic, and discusses how targeting high-quality long-tail keywords contributes to overall organic success. Finally, it explains Stripe's on-page SEO strategy, emphasizing the benefits of a uniform URL structure—both simple and nested—that aids in effective navigation and enhances search engine visibility.