Being one of the most competitive fields in the world, it’s high time that your accounting website needs to outrank the competition and get that #1 spot in the SERPs.
But with rising competition and every accounting firm rushing to get the same clients, how can you make your accounting website stand out?
With clients not going past the top 3-5 search results, how can you rank your website higher to get more clients?
The answer to all these questions is SEO (search engine optimization). With the correct strategy for SEO for accountants, your accounting firm can reach higher rankings to drive more potential traffic and leads that can further turn into conversions and revenues.
This blog will tell you everything about accounting SEO and how your firm can earn more potential traffic.
So keep reading further…
What Is SEO For Accountants?
Let’s assume that you have well-renowned knowledge about SEO, but if you are new, then SEO is the practice of improving your website’s ranking when the audience searches for some services or products, whichever are related to your niche.
For example, if a person inserts a keyword in the Google search bar to find “accounting firms near me,” what are the chances that your website would appear in the top results?
SEO for accountants includes plans and techniques designed to attract more prospective customers who are looking for accounting services online. This involves adding appropriate phrases to the website’s content, such as “accounting services,” “tax preparation,” “financial planning,” and other terms that prospective customers would use to get accounting help.
Why Do Accounting Firms Need SEO?
The reasons are obvious: if you want higher rankings, more clients, and higher ROIs, search engine optimization is the only practice you should pursue.
And to make sure that you reach potential clients before your competitors do, here are some of the best SEO accounting practices you may look for and implement in your SEO strategy.
7 Best Accounting SEO Practices To Generate More Clients
1. Run An SEO Audit Of Your Accounting Firm
You must be thinking, “Why am I asking you to audit your website instead of stating the ways to enhance the website’s visibility?”
That’s because most businesses start rolling down the steps without even analyzing where they stand currently.
How can you even think of getting your accounting and SEO firm where you want it to be before looking at its current performance?
Therefore, I recommend a site audit as a crucial factor to measure your current efforts.
Some of the aspects are;
- Your website’s SEO performance which includes your current rankings, the number of clicks your website gets, how much traffic is coming to your website, etc.
- Measure and compare your website’s performance to that of your competitors which include the local competitors.
- The technical issues that are been faced
- And much more aspects
2. Pick The Best SEO Keywords For Accountants
The first and most crucial step in accounting SEO is finding the right keywords for your website.
As you may be aware, Google ranks websites in search engine results pages using a highly complex algorithm.
As a result, you must ensure that you are using the appropriate keywords for your accounting firm that people may be searching for in order to find you or render your accounting services.
For this, you can quickly list out a few services that you may offer to your clients. but remember to stay relevant to the industry.
Let’s say that your firm specializes in the management of taxes, bookkeeping services, etc., so you can list out the services you offer, like accounting services, tax preparation services, business advisory services, etc.
But here you must ask, I am having a small accounting firm and therefore I can have just a few basic keywords to rank for such as “accounting services” or “accounting firm”
See, targeting short keywords can make you rank higher, but the chances are very low. Why? because these search queries are very competitive and targeted by higher brands, plus these queries also do not clarify the intent.
Therefore, you can list out a few location-specific keywords like accounting firms in NYC, accountant near me, tax accountant near me, etc.
Such keywords can also be defined as “long-tailed keywords,” and rankings for these search queries are much easier as compared to short ones as they are more specific and have a certain intent.
To analyze these keywords, you can take the help of some keyword research tools; there are a number of tools available on the internet, like Ahrefs, SEMrush, Google Keyword Planner, etc.
3.Create Content Around The Keywords Listed
To start with content, you first have to analyze what others are writing and how they are serving their clients in terms of information.
See, writing content is not as simple as it was earlier, especially after the current Google update about SEO content, which states that now, Google will not rank any website with low quality or unoriginal content whose primary focus is to rank higher.
4. Increase Your Visibility With Local SEO
Your main goal should be to drive local customers to your doorstep. Local SEO improves your website’s visibility in search engine results for local searches for any accountant SEO website.
To make it simple, going for local SEO for your website would help you rank higher for “near me” searches and drive new clients that are searching for specific services in multiple locations.
For example, if a person searches for “accountants near me,” your accounting firm immediately shows up right at the top!
For this, you have to start thinking like a customer who needs services. So, what would you do if you wanted to hire an accountant?
You simply go on Google and type in “Accountants near me.” As a result, what does Google show?
You’ll get to see a map of that area and, right at the top, a list of the top 3 businesses known as the “local 3 pack.” So what does this mean? It means those top three businesses are the ones that get the highest amount of search traffic.
5. Home Page Recommendation & Implementation
The homepage could be called the face of the website. As a result, you must act immediately to ensure that your website’s homepage delivers the right thing at the right time.
See, it is obvious that when a person visits your website, the first thing that appears right in front of their eyes is the homepage.
So, you have to ensure that your accounting website’s homepage is well-designed and that every element is appearing correctly.
For example, if audience members visit your website looking for services, what would make them take action?
It refers to how well your website’s homepage is designed and how easily visitors can find the information they require.
6. Get Your Accountant SEO Firm Listed In High-Quality Directories
You may wonder why there is a need to get cited in various directories when I am optimizing my website to be found in the search results.
Wait, look at this fact-it is found that 81% of people tend to find a business through local directories.
With this, it might be clear why there is a need for your accounting SEO firm to list high-quality directories.
With the rise in competition, having great content is not everything that drives more customers…
With the trend going upward and people being more advanced with technology such as mobile devices and voice searches, you must ensure that your accounting website is optimized for these.
With people wanting quick solutions to their search queries, there is an immense need for you to make your accounting website optimized so that it is found by users as quickly as possible.
And here are a few benefits of getting listed in high-quality directories.
- There would be an increase in your accounting firm’s search engine ranks as well as build more credibility as it would tell search engines that your website is trustworthy and genuine.
- With increased SERP rankings, you will be able to attract more clients as well as traffic.
7. Fix The Issues Faced By Your Website
By issues I didn’t mean only the technical part, your accounting website may face several issues that you can’t just think…
You simply need to fix any technical or other issues to improve the performance of your website.
Here are some of the factors that you may neglect while developing your accounting website that might become an obstacle to your path toward reaching the top position in the SERPs.
Page Speed of Your Website
The fact I saw is that 44% of accounting firms are victims of slow page speed. To counter this issue, you first have to measure your website’s performance.
There are several tools available to measure your website’s speed performance, but the one I prefer is Google Page Speed Insights, which is a free tool provided by Google only.
Don’t you think that your visitors would immediately leave your website if it was slow and less responsive?
Nevertheless, you must ensure that your website loads quickly and is responsive enough to make users take some action. For this, you should fix the issues detected by the tool.
Conclusion
By now, you must have a clear view of how search engine optimization would help your accounting website grow and maximize its search engine visibility to generate more clients. You can raise your website’s search engine status, increase your online presence, and eventually bring in more leads and customers by implementing the seven best practices listed in the following article. From optimizing your website’s content and structure to leveraging local SEO strategies and staying updated with industry trends, each practice plays a vital role in maximizing your online presence and attracting potential clients. Partnering with a reputable SEO company like IndeedSEO can further amplify your efforts, providing you with the expertise and tools necessary to achieve sustainable growth and success in your accounting practice. You may engage with your target audience, become recognized as an authority in your industry, and eventually generate additional business prospects with a well-executed SEO plan.