SEO is one of the best strategies to help gain more visibility for your accountants.

Our SEO for Accountants guide outlines what needs to be done for you to take your website from very little traffic to getting visits every day.

What is SEO for accountants?

SEO is all about making search engines love your website. When you set up your website it’s important to take into account various aspects that will make your website SEO-friendly.

For example

Correctly optimising on-page content
Using keywords in the title tags
Ensuring your website isn’t slow

There’s a lot of mystery about what exactly SEO involves but it’s not rocket science.

Why is SEO important?

Without doing SEO on your website, anyone who’s looking for accountancy services around your area is finding your competitors.

That’s the monthly income you’re losing because you’ve not got a website that’s correctly set up to be found in the search engines.

That’s likely there are quite a few searches for accountants but there are also going to be people who are going to be more specific than that and search for terms like

End-of-year accountants
Tax saving accountants

It’s simpler to rank in Google search engines than you think.

Whilst it’s not easy, websites which have more information will look at more favourably and be rewarded with higher rankings but this doesn’t mean if you write one or two articles then you’ll be shooting to number one overnight.

One of the buzzwords at the moment in SEO is topical authority. What this means is that be covering many subjects on your topics that the search engines can’t ignore for much longer.

If you’ve got a website with over 100 pages of content about your niche, the search engines will start to see you as an authority on that subject and will trust you more.

Here are 15 tips for accounting websites to get better SEO

#1 Make sure your websites code is clean

Websites are created using code.

There are various ways to get a website online and clean code helps to give your website a solid structure. With too much code, your website can become bloated and inefficient.

Using CMS’s a great way of getting a website up, however, there are a lot of themes or templates out there which come bloated and full of unnecessary code which slows your website down and impacts user experience.

#2 Have a user-friendly website

Being user-friendly is one of the most important aspects of owning a website. Great user friendly websites can impact on SEO. A lot of new website owners want to build the prettiest website but fail to think about how the user will interact with it.

If you’re in the early stages of getting a website up, yes you want it to look good but it’s much more important to make sure it’s structurally great rather than looking great which may need to be changed if users don’t find it simple to use.

#3 Use the right keywords

When you’re trying to rank your website on Google, you need to use the right keywords.

But if you’re just starting, you can’t expect to rank for popular keywords like “accountants”. Instead, you should focus on using more specific keywords like “accountants Manchester” because it’s easier to rank for and still has a decent amount of searches.

To figure out what kind of content you need to create, you should look at what’s already ranking for the keywords you want to target.

For example, if you search for “Accountants Manchester” on Google, you’ll see a mix of ads, map listings, home pages, and internal pages of accounting businesses.

There are 10+ websites on the first page of Google, so you need to make sure your website stands out from the crowd.

If you have a strong domain rating, you can focus on ranking an internal page instead of your home page.

But if your website is new, it’s better to use your home page to target your keywords. And if you’re an accountant with national appeal, it’s best to create individual pages for specific locations.

Also for newer websites you’ll want to target long tail keywords, which are keywords with 3+ words in then. These are often less competitive and easier to achieve top rankings.

The search results also give you some great tips for SEO. For example, Google will show you what questions people are asking related to your keywords.

This is valuable information because you can create content that answers those questions and attract more clicks to your website.

#4 Epic service page content

For service pages, it’s important to make things clean and simple. To determine how much text you need to create, compare other websites which are ranking on the top pages for your chosen keyword.

If there’s a lot of content on those pages, that suggests you’re going to have to produce a similar amount of content but it’s also important to look at the domain rating for the websites that are ranking.

This means you need to access each website to identify why they are ranking and what you need to do to outrank them, for example

Build backlinks to the page
Have a certain amount of headings similar to the competitors
Use a certain amount of images

The two most important aspects are having backlinks to the page and having high-quality content.

#5 High-quality blog posts

Writing high-quality blog posts is incredibly important when it comes to SEO. The whole point of SEO is to optimise your website to make sure that it’s found in the search engines.

The more high-quality content your website has, the more likely that it’s going to be found in the search engines by your audience.

One of the most important aspects of making blog posts that get found is to start with an outline. Outlining your content makes it much easier to build and will help you break up each of the sections into more manageable sections.

But what do you write blogs about? There are various tools you can use to find keywords that you can write blog posts about.

SEM Rush helps to give you questions related to your keywords
Also asking helps you find questions your audience is search
Answer the public gives you ideas as to what questions are being asked

6# Create strong pillar pages and cluster pages

Pillar pages are pages that dive deep into a subject. Whilst pages can’t cover everything possible, pillar pages can be from 1500 to over 10,000 words.

Here you need to look at what topics are suitable for you to be using as pillar pages and which should be cluster pages.

Cluster pages, also known as content clusters or topic clusters, are a strategic content organisation approach used in SEO.

It involves creating a main pillar page that covers a broad topic comprehensively. This pillar page acts as a hub, linking to and supporting multiple related subtopic pages.

The subtopic pages delve deeper into specific aspects of the main topic, providing in-depth information and linking back to the pillar page.

Cluster pages help search engines understand the content’s context and relevance, improve website authority, and enhance user experience by offering comprehensive and interconnected information on a particular subject. This approach can boost search engine rankings and drive organic traffic to the website.

For example, you could create a guide called: Accounting For Small Businesses, the ultimate guide.

There’s always going to be too much information just for one page, therefore if you make a guide like this, you can create cluster pages that further explore the topic, for example,

Setting up payroll for small businesses
Best HR software for small business
How to save on tax for small businesses

These pages should be internally linked, which helps search engines and users find the information they want.

#7 Write guest blogs on other websites

Guest posts as they are known are when you create content for another website.

This is usually best for brand new websites or websites that have been neglecting their SEO for years, as ideally, it’s better to have the content on your website but if you’re not getting any traffic, it can be better to put it on another website that is getting traffic.

Guest posting can provide several advantages for accountants who are looking to establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry and increase their online presence. Some of the benefits of guest posting for accountants are:

Increased visibility: Guest posting on high-traffic websites and blogs can increase your visibility and help you reach a broader audience. This can help you establish yourself as an authority in your field and attract more clients.
Backlinks to your website: Guest posting can also help you build high-quality backlinks to your website, which can improve your search engine rankings and drive more traffic to your site.
Networking opportunities: Guest posting can also provide networking opportunities with other professionals in your field. This can lead to collaborations, partnerships, and referrals.
Building your brand: By sharing your expertise and knowledge through guest posting, you can build your brand and increase your credibility.
Improving writing skills: Guest posting can also help you improve your writing skills by allowing you to practice writing for different audiences and styles.

Guest posting can be a valuable tool for accountants who want to increase their visibility, build their brand, and establish themselves as thought leaders in their industry. It helps to get exposure for you and your business and also shows the search engines that your brand is trusted

#8 Optimise content already on your website

Likely, you’ve already got some content on your website.

In some instances, it can be better to just delete the pages and redirect them to the new pages you’ll create. This is best for website pages that don’t get any impressions in search engines.

But if you are getting impressions, you can improve your current content, by adding to it, creating images, optimising the title and description tabs and a lot more.

Optimising existing content on a website can help improve its performance in search engine rankings, increase traffic, and enhance user experience. Here are some steps you can take to optimise your website’s existing content:

Conduct a content audit: Start by conducting a thorough analysis of your website’s content to identify pages or posts that are performing poorly or need updating. Look for outdated information, broken links, missing images, and other issues that may affect user experience.
Optimise page titles and meta descriptions: Make sure your page titles and meta descriptions are concise and descriptive, and include relevant keywords to help search engines and users understand the content of your pages.
Update content: Refresh outdated content with new information, statistics, and examples. Make sure the content is relevant and up-to-date with the latest trends and best practices.
Improve readability: Use headings, subheadings, and bullet points to break up long paragraphs and make content easier to read. Use clear and simple language and avoid jargon or technical terms that may be confusing for your audience.
Add internal links: Add internal links to other pages or posts on your website to improve navigation and help search engines understand the structure and hierarchy of your website.
Optimise images: Compress images to reduce page load time and improve user experience. Use descriptive file names and alt text to help search engines understand the content of your images.
Promote content: Share your updated content on social media and other relevant channels to drive traffic and increase visibility.

By following these steps, you can optimise your existing content to improve its performance and enhance user experience. Remember to monitor your website’s analytics regularly to track the impact of your optimisation efforts and make adjustments as needed.

#9 Make sure there are no technical SEO issues

One of the most important is website performance, which can impact both user experience and search engine rankings.

Checking the website speed is essential to ensure that users can access the website quickly and easily. Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights or GTmetrix can help assess the website’s load time and page speed.

Another important factor is mobile-friendliness, which is crucial given the number of users who access websites via mobile devices. Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test can help assess whether a website is optimised for mobile devices.

Broken links can also hurt user experience and search engine rankings. Checking for broken links can be done using a broken link checker tool, which scans the website for any broken links.

Other important factors to consider include the website’s XML sitemap and the robots.txt file. A sitemap helps search engines crawl and index a website’s pages, while a robots.txt file tells search engines which pages to crawl and which to avoid.

Checking for these can be done using sitemap and robots.txt checker tools.

Also, website security is also a crucial factor, and using HTTPS is essential for website security. It’s also a ranking factor for search engines, so using a website security checker tool can help ensure that the website is using HTTPS.

#10 Check that your website is loading fast

Website speed refers to how fast a website loads on a user’s browser. It’s crucial to have a fast-loading website because it affects user experience and can impact your website’s search engine rankings. Here are some ways to check the speed of your website and why it’s important:

Use online tools: Various online tools can help you check your website’s speed. Some popular tools are Google PageSpeed Insights, GTmetrix, Pingdom, and WebPageTest. These tools analyse your website’s loading speed and provide recommendations for improving it.
Check page load time: Page load time refers to the time it takes for a webpage to load completely. It’s an essential metric to monitor because users are more likely to leave a website that takes too long to load. The ideal load time for a webpage is around three seconds or less.
Optimise images: Large image files can slow down your website’s loading speed. You can optimise images by compressing them without losing quality or reducing their size.
Minimise HTTP requests: Every time a user visits your website, their browser makes several HTTP requests to the server to load various elements such as images, CSS, and JavaScript files. Reducing the number of HTTP requests can improve your website’s loading speed.
Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN is a network of servers located in different parts of the world. It caches your website’s content and delivers it to users from the server closest to their location, reducing the loading time.

It’s essential to have a fast-loading website because it affects user experience and can impact your website’s search engine rankings.

Users are more likely to leave a website that takes too long to load, which can increase bounce rates and decrease conversions.

Additionally, search engines like Google use website speed as a ranking factor, and slow-loading websites may rank lower in search engine results pages.

#11 Write catchy Meta titles which are SEO optimised

SEO Meta titles are what people see in search engines just above your website name. The page title is directly related to SEO and you should use a keyword as close to the start as possible.

This doesn’t mean you should be stuffing keywords in and that’s it, try to be creative and find one which will satisfy the search engines and make the user click through.

For example

Accounting tips for small businesses

23 accounting tips to help small businesses grow.

Which one are you more likely to click through to?

People love numbers and the added help small businesses grow is a phrase that will directly connect with your audience. Every business is different but one of the things they all have in common is that they’ll want to be bigger than they currently are.

#12 Use internal linking

Internal linking is the practice of linking pages within a website. It involves creating hyperlinks on a page that lead to other pages on the same website.

Here are some benefits of internal linking for accountant SEO:

Improved website navigation: Internal linking helps to improve website navigation by providing users with clear pathways to relevant content on the website. This enhances user experience and encourages them to stay on the website longer.
Increased page authority: Internal linking helps to distribute authority across a website. By linking to other relevant pages, the authority of the linked pages is shared, which can improve their search engine rankings.
Enhanced user engagement: Internal linking can encourage users to explore a website further by providing them with relevant content on related topics. This can enhance user engagement and reduce bounce rates.
Improved indexation: Internal linking can help search engines crawl and index a website more efficiently. By providing clear pathways to relevant content, search engines can better understand the structure of the website and index it more accurately.
Keyword relevance: Internal linking can help to improve the relevance of pages for specific keywords. By linking pages with relevant anchor text, the relevance of the linked pages can be enhanced, which can improve their search engine rankings.
Promoting conversions: Internal linking can help to promote conversions by linking to relevant pages such as contact forms or service pages.

Internal linking is a valuable SEO practice for accountants as it improves website navigation, increases page authority, enhances user engagement, improves indexation, improves keyword relevance, and promotes conversions.

By incorporating internal linking strategies into their website, accountants can improve their search engine rankings, enhance user experience, and attract more potential clients to their websites.

#13 Write meta descriptions that talk to your audience

When writing meta descriptions for accounting services, it’s important to keep them concise and under 155 characters.

This means highlighting the most important aspects of the page without going into too much detail. Including relevant keywords in the meta description can help search engines understand the content of the page and improve search engine rankings.

Another key aspect is to focus on the benefits of the accounting services offered, highlighting how they can help potential clients and what sets them apart from competitors.

It’s also important to use an effective call-to-action to encourage potential clients to take action. This could be anything from “Contact us today for expert accounting services” to “Learn how our accounting services can benefit your business.”

Each page should have a unique and descriptive meta-description that accurately reflects the content of the page, this will help the page to have lower bounce rate. Avoid using the same meta description for multiple pages on your website.

Finally, write the meta description in natural language that reflects the tone and style of the website. Avoid using technical jargon or overly promotional language.

This will help potential clients understand the services offered and encourage them to engage with the website.

#14 Use google my business for local SEO

Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool provided by Google that allows businesses to manage their online presence and appear in local search results. Here are some benefits of using Google My Business for accountants’ SEO:

Improve local search visibility: With Google My Business, accountants can appear in local search results when potential clients search for accounting services in their area. This can help increase visibility and attract more clients to the business.
Manage business information: With GMB, accountants can manage their business information, such as contact details, hours of operation, and website URLs. This ensures that potential clients have accurate and up-to-date information about the business.
Showcase services and reviews: GMB allows accountants to showcase their services and reviews from clients. This can help potential clients learn more about the business and make informed decisions about whether to contact them for services.
Increase website traffic: By appearing in local search results, GMB can help drive more traffic to the accountant’s website. This can improve website performance and lead to more potential clients contacting the business.
Gain insights: GMB provides insights into how potential clients are finding and interacting with the business. This information can be used to make informed decisions about SEO and marketing strategies.

Using Google My Business can provide significant benefits for accountants’ SEO by improving local search visibility, managing business information, showcasing services and reviews, increasing website traffic, and gaining valuable insights.

#15 Get reviews

Reviews are a crucial aspect of any SEO strategy for accountants. Reviews can have a significant impact on a business’s online reputation and search engine rankings.

Positive reviews from satisfied clients can help to build trust and credibility with potential clients. Reviews act as social proof and demonstrate that the accountant has a history of providing high-quality services.

They can also be a key factor in local search engine rankings. Google and other search engines use reviews as a signal of a business’s relevance and authority. The more positive reviews a business has, the higher its search engine rankings are likely to be.

Increased click-through rates: Reviews can help to increase click-through rates from search engine results pages. A business with a high number of positive reviews is more likely to attract potential clients than a business with few or negative reviews.
Valuable feedback: Reviews provide valuable feedback that accountants can use to improve their services. Reviews can highlight areas where the accountant excels and areas where they need to improve.
Improved user engagement: Reviews can improve user engagement by providing potential clients with relevant and helpful information about the accountant’s services. This can encourage users to spend more time on the website and increase the likelihood of them contacting the accountant for services.
Competitive advantage: Positive reviews can give accountants a competitive advantage over their competitors. A business with more positive reviews is likely to attract more potential clients than a business with few or negative reviews.

Getting reviews is an essential aspect of accountants’ SEO strategy. Positive reviews can help to build trust and credibility, improve search engine rankings, increase click-through rates, provide valuable feedback, improve user engagement, and give businesses a competitive advantage.

By encouraging clients to leave reviews and responding to reviews promptly, accountants can improve their online reputation and attract more potential clients to their business.

Do it yourself or get outside help

Now you know the important aspects of SEO, it’s time to implement changes to your website. If you’re struggling to find the resources in-house it’s all about outsourcing to an SEO company like Klub Clicks.

Starting an SEO campaign is easier than you think and if you’ve already got an established website that’s getting a little bit of traffic then it’s certainly easier than starting on a brand-new domain that’s only been around for a few weeks.

SEO for accountants: 15 ways to get clients rolling in