Search Engine Optimization for Accountants

Search Engine Optimization for Accountants

Websites for Accountants SEO for Accountants

Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of your website traffic to a website from search engines organically (not using paid advertising). Essentially, the higher your website is placed by Google, Bing, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, the more website traffic you will have. The correlation between organic website traffic and SEO is very simple but the process is hard. Better SEO means more website traffic, and more website traffic means new customers and more brand awareness.

Studies have shown that each position matters. The top three organic results get more than 50% of the clicks.

While SEO is better left to experts, understanding the key drivers to supporting your search engine placement is important.

Three Pillars of SEO for Accountants

While SEO changes constantly, the fundamentals of SEO seldom do. The three pillars of SEO are:

Technical Optimization - Technical optimization is the process of designing your website so the search engines can easily do their job. This includes site maps, programming code, website architecture, URL structure, internal linking, mobile friendliness and website navigation.

On-Page Optimization - On-Page optimization is the process of ensuring your website content is relevant and incorporates the most important keywords. Your website content needs to be written for people (content) and search engines (code). Both. On the content side, your goal is to provide high quality content that is important for your audience's needs. For search engines, this means title tags, meta descriptions, header tags (HTML code).

Off-Page Optimization - Off-Page optimization is the process of improving your placement within search engines by obtaining high-quality backlinks which improve the website's reputation. Creating brand assets by establishing online expertise, authority and trustworthiness. This is accomplished claiming your local listings consistently, obtaining online reviews (Google and Yelp, responding to them), social media marketing, content marketing (blogging, podcasts), review boards (inbound links from Clutch, Expertise, Clearly Rated, accounting trade magazines, articles written by you and published, etc.) and awards (Top 40 Under 40, etc.).

Organic SEO vs Paid Advertising (PPC)

Web searches contain two types of search results, paid advertising and organic listings. The paid advertising listings are first at the top of the page and then organic listings show. Despite being placed below paid advertising listings with inferior placement, organic listings generate 53% of all traffic. While this may sound counter intuitive, many savvy web searchers skip over paid advertising because they understand that organic listings often are a better match for their search query.

Paid Advertising results - Paid advertising (PPC) requires a fee for placement

Organic Search results - Free placement resulting from search engine optimization

Web searches today are done with search engines (Google, Bing, Duck Duck Go), social media (YouTube which is owned by Google, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn) or retailer websites (Amazon, Walmart, etc.).

Supporting Your Accounting Practice - Off-Page (Off-Site) Optimization

For most accounting firm's, the facet that they have the most influence over is Off-Page Optimization (link building). Link building is the process of acquiring inbound links from other websites that are viewed as authoritative, trusted, and high trafficked websites from a diverse array of quality websites. Quality matters over quantity.

The efforts to improve your off-page optimization are:

- Online reviews and ratings from Google, Yelp and Facebook

- Content marketing - podcast marketing, article writing on accounting publications, publishing (Amazon)

- Public relations - announcing awards (Expertise, Clutch, Top 40 Under 40, etc.)

- Social media marketing - blog writing, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, etc.

- Local listings management

Fundamental Steps to SEO for Accountants

For accounting practitioners, here are the fundamental steps for search engine optimization:

1. Crawl accessibility - Search engines need to read your website fully. Some websites are easy to read and follow the rules closely. Others (like pre-programmed templated websites) are difficult to read fully and use code that are not ideally suited for SEO. Simple https vs http redirects can be a stumbling block because they create duplicate content issues with Google.

2. Compelling content that is original and answers common questions (FAQ's)

3. Keywords written to attract web searchers and search engines

4. Fast loading speed for all formats (desktop to mobile) and respected user experience (UI)

5. Content that is shared and earns inbound links, citations and recognition

6. Descriptions and titles within the website that receive high click through rates

7. Local listings management (claiming, verifying, optimizing) on all directories and review sites (consistently everywhere)

8. Obtain Google and Yelp reviews to boost your local reputation

9. Create a following by writing engaging articles and get published (content marketing, inbound links)

SEO Never Ends

The need to be near the top never ends. Google never stops changing the rules and makes thousands of changes every year. When Google makes a major change to their algorithm, the changes are given a nickname (e.g., panda, pigeon, hummingbird, florida, jagger, etc.).

And your competitor's desire to move up the ladder never ceases. In some cases, a redesigned website or new articles (relevant content) or steady increase in Google/Yelp reviews might leapfrog your competitor up the SERPs. And web code breaks occasionally as well thus lowering your placement.


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Search Engine Optimization for Accountants
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Hugh Duffy, BYF CEO and Co-Founder

Hugh is the consummate marketing coach for accountants. Build Your Firm has been dedicated to the accounting industry since 2003 making SEO websites, Custom websites and Niche websites.

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