How Multiple Websites Yield Higher Quality Leads
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About ten years ago, you would win the website marketing race by having a well designed generalist website. Heck, it worked well and the return on investment (ROI) was a no brainer.
As more accountants eventually caught on five years ago, it became more challenging to stay ahead of the curve and still get more than your fair share of website leads. That's when the general public became aware of search engine optimization and pay per click advertising. The ROI was still very attractive but you had to spend more to acquire the same number of leads.
Today, it is harder and harder for a single, generalist website to be placed towards the top of the search engine results pages for all of the services provided in your practice. And if you operate in multiple geographic markets, it is even harder to be towards the top because your message to the search engines is more complex and watered down.
As more accounting firms have integrated blogs, social media, pay per click advertising, retargeting advertising and reputation management, it becomes more competitive to dominate the online lead generation game.
So what is the solution?
While there is no single solution, many savvy accounting firms have deployed a multiple website strategy to obtain dominate search engine placement for a limited set of keywords. Essentially, search engines scan your website and look for patterns which identify what you do, where you are located, and compare your website against a set of criteria within their algorithm. The more you do to support the website using their best practices and the more consistent your message, the higher placement you will receive within Google, Bing and Yahoo which translates to more leads.
Secondarily, the multiple website approach enables you to tailor your message to the prospect to create that aha moment for the prospect. In other words, some small business owners are searching by location and others are searching for a type of accountant (e.g., bookkeeper, enrolled agent, CPA Firm) and others are looking for a specialist (e.g., restaurant accountant, non-profit accountant, etc.). There is no rule that says you accounting firm can only use one website to deliver your message to the community.
In the example below, we have a sole practitioner CPA Firm in Jacksonville FL that is very small in size. However, to accelerate their lead generation and acquire a disproportionate amount of high quality leads, they are using five (5) websites. The first website is a generalist website trying to target small businesses based on location and leverages two office locations. The second website is a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor website and attempts to attract business owners searching for a CPA that works with QuickBooks users and is certified. The next website focuses on church accounting and faith-based organizations. And the last two websites focus on real estate accounting and dental accounting because there is an audience out there looking for a "specialist."
The business rationale is that websites are relatively inexpensive and the value of each small business client is very high over the lifetime value of that relationship. Net, each website is a profit center and generates an attractive ROI if done properly.
Here is the goal for each website:
- Attract leads from small business owners searching for a CPA Firm in Jacksonville, Ponte Vedra and surrounding suburbs.
- Attract leads from small business owners who use QuickBooks and searching for an Intuit QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor nearby.
- Attract leads from churches in north Florida and south Georgia searching for a church accountant.
- Attract leads from real estate businesses in Jacksonville looking for a real estate accounting specialist.
- Attract leads from dentists in north Florida and south Georgia looking for a dental accounting firm.
If you are serious about website marketing in today's competitive environment and want more than your fair share of leads, then you should develop a multiple website marketing approach to improve your marketing.
