Are you an accountant? Are you hoping to generate more leads on search engines like Google and find more local clients for your firm? Then you need to be thinking about search engine optimization and how it can help you. This article will tell you why SEO is important for the accounting industry, how to get started, and how we can assist you.
Table of Contents
I’m an Accountant. How Can SEO Help Me?
You might be wondering, “Why do accountants need to concern themselves with SEO?” Well, search engine optimization and your accounting firm’s bottom line are more connected than you may realize. Maybe you have several long-term clients, but you aren’t finding many new ones, and you’re not getting many inquiries. How can you change that? We can help.
These days, the first place most people go when looking for a new accountant (or any service, for that matter) is the Internet. When potential clients log onto Google, you want your website to be the first to pop up when they search for accountants. Most potential clients won’t spend time going through pages of pages of results. If your website isn’t at the top of that first search engine results page, you are probably losing clients to competing firms whose websites are well-optimized.
That’s where a full-service digital marketing agency like SEO Design Chicago can help. By utilizing expert SEO techniques, our agency can make sure your website rises to the top of the search engine results page and make sure you are connecting with your target audience. An excellent website that has been well-optimized for search engines can quickly translate into more clients, more business, and ultimately more revenue for your accounting firm.
Back Up – What’s SEO?
Search engine optimization, or SEO, is the means by which websites increase both the quantity and quality of their website traffic by increasing a website’s ranking in search engines. SEO is a constantly changing field. You might believe your website that’s only a few years old is up-to-date, but new developments are made every day online. That’s why SEO experts exist – to help you make your website the very best it can be and get it the traffic it deserves.
Local SEO for Accountants
When potential clients search Google for a local accountant, you’ll want to be sure your website pops up first – ahead of any competitors’ websites. That’s where accountant SEO comes in. For example, if you Google “Chicago accountants,” you’ll get more than 11,000 results. Making sure your website is optimized well can make sure your page comes up before the other 10,999 options.
You are most likely interested in picking up local clients. Local SEO for accountants is like traditional SEO. However, it uses the location of the user to show ranked results in the region. SEO Design Chicago can help make sure you stand out from your local accounting competitors and be the first and best option everyone in your town or city will see when they search for accountants online.
How Can SEO Design Chicago Help My Site?
Though you may be a certified public accountant or have expert accounting experience, a professional digital marketing agency like SEO Design Chicago that has experience in financial marketing can help you dominate SEO the way you dominate ROI.
While you may believe having a basic website might be enough, knowing how to optimize it for search engines digitally is necessary. SEO Design Chicago can take a look at your existing website and, identify areas that need improvement, then make suggestions.
Tips for the Best Accountant Websites
Maybe you already have a website and marketing strategy for your accounting firm, but it isn’t helping you generate very many leads, and you’re not sure why. Or maybe you need a completely new website. An agency like SEO Design Chicago can help you update your current website and optimize it for search engines or can design a whole new website from scratch. Here are some tips for optimizing or creating an accountant’s website for the best possible search engine results:
Contact Information
Your accounting firm’s contact information should be clear and obvious on every page of your website as well as your Google My Business page. Whenever a potential client makes the decision to contact you, they should be able to do so as easily as possible. Ensure your firm’s phone number and email are on every page of your website.
A landing page where potential clients can fill out their information and send it to you directly, so you can then contact them is also a great idea. A map showing where your firm is located is also helpful not just for potential clients but for SEO purposes, too. Your website should include several calls to action, for example, to “contact us now.”
Accounting Keywords
Your website should include plenty of keywords relevant to accounting and where you’re located so search engines will pick up on them. However, search engines’ algorithms are constantly changing. Research can be necessary to determine which keywords will be most effective. That’s where a firm like SEO Design Chicago can help.
Use Consistent Branding
Your website should have consistent branding and a consistent voice throughout your online presence. A professional website is not just optimized for SEO but helps build a brand and credibility for an accounting business. A firm like SEO Design Chicago can help create custom graphics and content for your site. One great option is to add written testimonials for clients to your website.
Pick an Interactive Design
A great website for any business includes an interactive and responsive web design. It will have buttons to link to a contact page, a page for clients to provide feedback, and generally will be quick to load and easy to use for potential clients. If they can’t quickly and easily find what they’re looking for on your site, chances are they’ll move to another one – which means lost business for you.
Provide Excellent Security
As an accountant, your client’s safety and security – and that of their money – is likely of the utmost importance to you. You’ll want to be sure their information, financial and otherwise, is safe on your website. You’ll also want to make sure potential clients will feel safe using your services.
A digital marketing agency can help you make sure your site is HTTPS, a more secure version of HTTP. Google will show visitors a warning if your website isn’t HTTPS and will make them feel less secure, especially if they’ll be conducting any business with you online.
Make It Mobile-Friendly
These days, most potential clients are using their mobile devices (as opposed to a laptop or desktop computer) to use search engines. So, you’ll want to make sure your website is mobile-friendly. If you’re not sure how to do that, a digital agency will be able to help you!
Add Some Personality
Personalizing your website and making potential clients feel like they are getting to know you on your website is crucial. One way to do that is to include professional headshots of your staff – your leadership team and any accountants on staff. Add a little bio next to each headshot to personalize your site further. Potential clients will feel more trust if they can see who they’ll be working with.
Highlight Your Areas of Expertise
Does your accounting firm focus mainly on taxes? Forensic accounting? Trusts? Mergers and acquisitions? Whatever your area or areas of expertise are, have separate landing pages for each one on your website.
Not only will it provide important information for anyone reading your site, but it will also help with SEO. If someone searches specifically for a tax accountant in the Chicago area, and you have a whole page devoted to it, the search engine finds that particular page and will pop it up near the top.
Add a Blog
Creating and regularly updating a blog that shares creative content regarding your field is a great way to earn the trust of potential clients. As a bonus, it also helps your website’s SEO. (It’s a bonus way of adding plenty of accounting-related keywords to your site!)
One idea for a blog post is to have an FAQ page full of regularly asked questions by potential and regular clients. If running a blog feels like too much work for your firm to handle, a digital agency like SEO Design Chicago will help you not just start one but maintain it.
Promote Your Firm
There are several different ways you can promote your accounting firm online, including on social media like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn; with paid ads online; and several other different ways you might want to consider. SEO Design Chicago can help you with any of these additional needs, as well as work on your website.
Contact Us Today for All Your Accounting Firm’s SEO Needs!
SEO Design Chicago is a financial marketing agency that has worked with dozens of financial clients for more than twelve years. For help with SEO for your accounting firm’s website, call us at (773) 677-5747 or email us at info@seodesignchicago.com.
Contact Us Today!