How to do SEO for accountants and bookkeepers - The ultimate guide

What exactly is SEO?

By now, you can already see that SEO for accountants is an essential feature of modern marketing for both local and nationwide leads. But what exactly is it?

The acronym stands for Search Engine Optimisation, which quite literally means that the website will be optimised for search engines (clever, eh?) meaning you will appear in a more prominent position. As the stats in the above section show, this means more traffic and sales for your business.

To understand SEO, you must first gain a little insight into search engines themselves. Google and similar sites essentially work on the premise that a user searches for content, and the algorithm subsequently presents the most relevant information by ranking all indexed websites on the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) for the user. In your situation, you want the firm’s website to feature prominently whenever somebody wants to find an accountant or bookkeeper.

Incredibly, over 90% of all webpages receive no traffic from search engines. A successful strategy should cover two distinct features: on-site SEO and off-site SEO.

On-site SEO should cover the following elements; site speed, meta, structure, content, keywords, internal linking, and outbound linking. Essentially, then, these are the attributes that are found on your website and tell Google that your webpages are relevant to accountancy and bookkeeping.

Off-site SEO should cover; backlinks, social media, directories, and citations. These elements are gained through steps that are completed on other platforms away from your website. They are largely seen as verification of your company’s work while they also attract clients in new spaces.

Only a comprehensive strategy that combines the two parts of SEO will deliver the first-page results you crave.

How to rank your accounting firm on top in local searches?

Most clients, whether businesses or individuals, prefer to work with local companies. Meanwhile, up to 46% of all searches are local searches. Frankly, it doesn’t take an accountant to add those elements together and realise that your website should focus on hitting the local audience.

Aside from the fact that a significant percentage of your conversions are likely to come from a local audience, it’s worth noting that it’s easier to rank highly on localised search terms. So, how can you rank your accounting or bookkeeping firm on top of the local SERPs? That’s easy: outperform your competition.

You can conduct the bulk of your market research simply by running a local search like “accountant in London” or “bookkeeper in Kent”. Alternatively, you may wish to go a little more in-depth with terms like “certified business accountants South London”. Once you have determined which firms rank highest, you can start to find the answers to key questions, such as;

• How can you create better content?
• How can you provide a better experience than them?
• How can you add even more value than they do?
• How can you have a greater level of relevance?
• How can you make a bigger first impression?

Several on-page SEO steps will be required to secure the top spots; you can make a significant impact by showing an appreciation of the features that Google loves when ranking local pages.

Google My Business should be at the top of the agenda. It is almost like another social media page, except it’s solely for Google. It will tell Google what your business does and where it is located. This subsequently ensures that it shows on Google Maps and other aspects of local searches.

In addition to GMB listings, you should consider the Google Reviews page. Google wants to provide users with the best experience, and there’s no greater testimony to your professional accountancy than verified testimonials from past clients. All five-star reviews are great, but companies with at least 40 tend to perform better, which is why you should aim for as many as possible.

Meanwhile, high-quality and relevant citations that promote your accountancy website can have a telling influence too.

Choosing the right keywords for accounting

When trying to master Google and other search engines, you must remember that they are merely a tool that are designed to provide users with the most relevant info in relation to their searches. Therefore, your accountancy firm will only be presented to potential leads if it ranks highly for the search terms that they run.

Keywords are the essential ingredient in the recipe for success.

Choosing the right keywords ultimately means predicting what prospective leads are most likely to type into Google. It is the one feature that could potentially make or break the entire accountancy SEO strategy. Before getting started, you should also recognise that voice searches are rapidly growing, which is why you must think about the way people speak to their devices as well as the terms they may type.

When considering keywords and phrases, you should first know that long-tail keyword consisting of four words or more account for almost 70% of all searches. Therefore, terms like “cheap accountants in London” may produce better results.

To achieve any level of success on search engines, you need to think about the end-user as much as the Google algorithm itself. One of the critical factors to consider is their intent. There are four;

• Informational intent, which is when the user wants to gain insight into a particular subject. As a bookkeeper, your users may be researching UK laws and their tax obligations.
• Navigational intent, which is when the user plans to visit a specific website but decides to use Google rather than typing the web address. They may, therefore, type your brand name,
• Transactional intent, which is when a prospective lead is actively in the position to complete a purchase or arrange a consultation. This could mean arranging to use one of your accountancy services.
• Commercial intent, which is when the prospective lead is analysing their options for research purposes with the intent to convert at a later date. So, they may be checking out your available services.

Depending on which state of mind a person is in, it will influence the keywords you want to target. When looking to complete more sales, transactional and commercial intent are the most important. However, the other two features are still important, not least because informational intent can lead to brand awareness.

The formula for success is to discover keywords that are popular among consumers looking for accountants but do not face intense competition. Find the right terms, and you’ll rank better and faster.