Everyone knows that SEO for accountants is a long game. It’s more like playing test cricket than a mixed martial arts match, where the fight is usually over quickly.
Of course, the ideal is to get in front of as many relevant eyeballs as possible in the search engines. The faster, the better.
There are ways to speed up the process. However, it’s important to remember that SEO for accountants needs to be approached in a similar way to your business strategy. Both need careful tailoring, and cannot be rushed during the implementation stage. That said, there are practical ways to ensure this process moves as quickly and efficiently as possible.
1. Refine the Technical Areas of Your Website
For most accountants, putting your website through an SEO “MOT” will give you a good boost in the search engines. It’s important that your web pages load fast, as Google considers this as a factor when they judge your website. Getting your SEO specialist to conduct a speed report using Google Analytics will give you a clear insight into how to remove sluggishness and improve the nimbleness of your site.
Other areas to consider are broken links, error pages, and missing tags. Possibly the most common error in SEO for accountants is the absence of alt tags for images. Meta titles also often get overlooked, as do meta descriptions and HTML tags. Also make sure you don’t have duplicate pages on your site, which could divide and distract your traffic. Finally, incorporating a responsive design to your website will make it optimised for mobile devices, improving user experience and also giving you an SEO boost in Google searches conducted on mobiles.
2. Build Up Your Links
Backlinks are a vital ingredient of SEO for accountants. They increase the authority of your brand and improve your search rankings, as Google perceives other users’ linking to your site as a positive indication of relevance and high-quality content.
It’s important that you don’t just get any old website to link back to your content. Rather, seek out backlinks from high-authority sites on a regular basis, especially those frequented by your target audience. As users from these sites click on these backlinks, you’ll get a huge boost in web traffic.
Of course, getting these links isn’t easy. SEO for accountants involves creativity and good value propositions, as well as persistence and understanding of the digital world. It might be that you think you’re pretty clued up in this respect. But if you need help, the team at AccountantLift are here to help.
3. Use Social Media to Powerful Effect
With your healthy links up and running, your spammy backlinks cleared up, and with your website and content optimised, now it’s time to concentrate on your social media strategy. This is where promoting your content and brand comes into play.
SEO for accountants almost always involves some kind of social media strategy. However, certain social platforms might not be appropriate for your business. For instance, we find that Pinterest doesn’t usually work very well, as it’s really more suited for the worlds of retail fashion, food and interior design. Visually-focused products, rather than more abstract financial services. However, it might be that Twitter holds the most potential for your company, or Facebook. Possibly it could be YouTube. Or maybe some combination of two or more networks.
What’s important is that you connect on social media with influencers and potential clients in your industry. Don’t just sit back and watch the noise, and don’t just shout to the world about yourself. Engage in conversations with targeted prospects, and provide informative, compelling value that will benefit your audience. Before long, people will begin linking to your website and blog, driving traffic and raising your SEO profile.
4. Find the Right Talent
SEO for accountants will always be a considerable waiting game. However, with the right SEO team on board, the returns can be brought forward significantly. Social media for instance, can be a rewarding game, but also a dangerous one. All it takes is for one innocent mistake to bring your whole brand to ruin. At AccountantLift, our consultants can do the legwork for you and navigate this minefield, giving you peace of mind.
In conclusion, SEO for accountants is a potent marketing tool that you can begin implementing this very moment. It will take time and investment, but a strong SEO foundation will certainly support the future growth of your accounting business.
