Financial services website design
Financial services website design: Float Finance
A boat lender, built to calculate, qualify and convert.
This financial services website design case study follows Float Finance, a boat and yacht lender based in Alton Bay, New Hampshire, serving buyers across the United States. We built a site that does what a loan officer does: shows the monthly payment, explains every loan type and walks the borrower into an application. It grew from 8 ranking keywords to 2,958 in just over a year.
CLIENT
LOCATION
LOANS
PLATFORM
DATA WINDOW
WHAT WE DID
Ranking organic keywords, US
Source: Semrush, Oct 2024 to Sept 2026
2,958
1,854
10
5.0
Where it started
A specialist lender with no footprint.
Boat buyers shop for the boat first and the loan second, and most never think about the lender until a dealer hands them a rate. Float Finance exists to change that: a marine lending specialist that finds the right loan and the best monthly payment for boats, yachts and commercial vessels, whether the buyer is at a dealership or buying from a private seller.
In October 2024, Semrush found the domain ranking for just 8 keywords. Banks, credit unions and national marine lenders owned every search a buyer might make.
The site had to earn trust fast, answer the money questions plainly, and make applying feel easy.
Loan types, each with a page
2
1
2
2
3
Plus extended warranties, broker information and a resource center.
Oct 2024
Jan 2025
Apr 2025
Jul 2025
Oct 2025
Nov 2025
Feb 2026
Sept 2026
The build
A website that works like a loan officer.
A borrower wants three answers: what will it cost me each month, can I qualify, and who will take care of me. The site answers all three before anyone picks up the phone.
A calculator and a guided application
The homepage carries an interactive boat loan calculator. Enter the loan amount, the down payment, the rate and the term, and the monthly payment appears instantly. Buyers can test a twenty foot center console against a thirty foot cruiser before they ever talk to anyone.
When they are ready, a multi-step application wizard takes over. One short step at a time instead of one long intimidating form, so more borrowers finish what they start. Pre-qualification is offered for buyers who are still shopping.
- Instant monthly payments from the homepage calculator.
- A step-by-step application instead of one long form.
How the calculator works
Result
Input
Input
Input
Input
Four inputs, one answer, then a direct path into the application.
Where it ranks on Google, US
#1
#7
#19
#23
#31
Semrush organic positions, US, October 2026. "Boaters license" draws about 5,400 searches a month.
A brand that feels like the water
Lending is about trust, and boating is about lifestyle. The design pairs both: a classic serif for headings that feels established and nautical, a deep navy and warm amber palette drawn from the water and the sunset, and real photography of the boats Float has financed.
Every loan type gets its own page with plain-language explanations, so a charter captain refinancing a fleet and a first-time buyer financing a used bowrider both find a page written for them.
A resource center for boat owners
Boat buyers have questions long before they need a loan. How much is a boaters license? What is a transom? How long are typical boat loans, and why are they so long? What is the average boat loan interest rate? How much do boat slips cost? How many hours do boat motors last?
The resource center answers them, and every article points back to the calculator and the application, so an owner researching slip fees today is one click from financing their next boat tomorrow.
Questions the site answers
Q
Q
Q
Q
Q
A sample of resource center topics.
The playbook
Financial services website design that converts.
Lending sites live or die on clarity. Every part of this build was designed to make a big financial decision feel simple and safe.
Loan calculator
Monthly payments in seconds from amount, down payment, rate and term.
Guided application
A multi-step wizard and pre-qualification that borrowers actually finish.
Loan type pages
Boat, yacht, commercial, houseboat, older vessel, private party, custom and refinance.
A trusted brand
Navy and amber, a classic serif and real financed boats.
Resource center
Articles on licenses, loans, slips and engines for owners and buyers.
Reviews up front
Five-star Google reviews right on the homepage.
The results
From 8 keywords to 2,958.
Semrush first saw the site in October 2024 with 8 ranking keywords. By April 2025 it ranked for more than 1,000. By July, 2,359. In October 2025 estimated organic traffic peaked at 1,854 visits a month, and in November the site reached 2,958 ranking keywords, more than three hundred and fifty times where it started, for a specialist lender competing against banks and national marine lenders.
370x
1,854
2,106
#1
The honest part
A sharp drop, and the climb back.
In early 2026 the site lost much of its search footprint in a matter of weeks, falling from 2,843 keywords in December to 877 in February. Financial sites are judged harder than most, and rankings can swing fast.
We kept building. By September 2026 the site was back to 2,106 ranking keywords and rising month over month, with traffic rebuilding behind it. The calculator, the application and the loan pages kept converting the borrowers who found the site throughout.
What it proves
Clarity is the conversion.
Borrowers do not want to be sold. They want to see the payment, understand the loan and feel safe applying. Float Finance gives them all three in a few clicks, and search grew around a site that genuinely helps.
If you run a lending or financial services business, the same approach is open to you.
2,958
1,854
10
1
15 minutes. A plan, not a pitch.
Ready for a site borrowers trust?
Tell us about your business and where you want it to go. We will show you what it takes, whether or not you hire us.