How Accounting Firms Can Build A Website To Get Higher Search Engine Results

If you’re running an accounting practice, odds are you use your website as a way to gain clients through organic search results. However, when the time comes for interested clients to find an accountant to help them with their specific needs, your website can be a needle in a haystack.

While getting your website to appear higher on search engine results should be one of your priorities if you want to improve how your services are marketed, getting successful search engine results for your accounting practice is easier than you think. This blog is for you if your accounting practice’s website could use a search engine optimization boost. 

What Is SEO / Search Engine Optimization?

SEO is an abbreviation for "search engine optimization." In simpler words, it refers to the process of upgrading your website so that it appears more prominently when people search for products or services linked to your company on Google, Bing, and other search engines. The higher your pages appear in search results, the more likely you will draw attention and attract new and existing clients to your accounting practice.

Further reading: 8 Accounting Technology Innovations for Building Your Accounting Firm

How does SEO work? 

SEO works by optimizing a website's content, doing keyword research, and acquiring inbound links to raise the ranking and visibility of your website. While results are normally visible on the search engine results page once a webpage has been crawled and indexed by a search engine, SEO efforts might take months to materialize completely.

What are SEO rankings? 

This is how search engines select where to place a certain web page on the results page. Rankings range from zero to the final number of search engine results for the search, and a web page can only rank for one place at a time. A web page's rating may fluctuate over time owing to age, competition in the search engine results page, or algorithm changes made by the search engine itself.

What are some general SEO principles I should know? 

It’s important to remember that SEO results are improved if the search engine sees that your website is regularly updated. Running a blog post is a simple method to keep your website’s content refreshed. Think about it this way: You have years of experience as an accountant, and to stay on your toes, you must regularly stay informed on the industry’s latest trends. Turn that knowledge into marketing material by writing a weekly blog about tax tips, industry trends, or any other subject you can pull from your perspective within the industry and market your existing services. 

When you’re managing your website, you should also be sure to keep your tag structure consistent. It’s also good to relate or try to match what a user would search so you can rank higher. 

Further reading: Best Strategies For Managing Accounting Firms

What are website meta tags and descriptions? 

Meta tags are invisible tags that supply search engines and website visitors with information about your page. In a nutshell, they make it easier for search engines to discern what your content is about and are thus essential for SEO.

Because meta tags are used in the head part of an HTML document, they must be written in your CMS. Depending on the platform that runs your website, this might be easier or more difficult: a solution like WordPress or Webflow will have a separate area for meta tags like canonical links or meta descriptions.

The meta description is a snippet of up to 155 characters - an HTML tag - that explains the content of a page. Search engines include it in search results when the term being searched for is included in the description. As a result, optimizing it is critical for on-page SEO.

Characteristics of a good meta description are: 

• Maximize the number of characters you use. Ideally, you should keep it around 155 characters. 
• Use active voice and make it actionable.
• Use your focus keyword.
• Show specifications, where possible.
• Make sure it matches the content of the page.
• Make it unique. 

What are tips to get better SEO ranks

• Run competitor analysis to see how your website could be ranking for certain keywords. A source like Ahrefs helps analyze what trending keywords there are; once you know this, you can create content around those keywords.
• Increase the number of backlinks for pages you want to see improvements in the rankings.
• Create good copy. The point should be that when individuals are scrolling through your website, they get value from what they’re reading. Go above and beyond to write copy that people may search for. The copy you write should let visitors learn who you are and why they should pick your accounting firm for their needs. 
• 301 redirects might help you optimize your website. If you have a 4XX error page, it is best to redirect it to one that the Google web crawler can track and determine whether or not it is worthwhile for the user to view. It makes the experience better for the consumer. Use a single redirect instead of many redirect chains to make it easier for web crawlers to explore your site. Redirect chains slow down page loads and mislead search engines.

How can Taxfyle help? 

It takes time to improve your firm's marketing by boosting its website SEO results. And when you’re dividing it between busy work and clients, it can be hard to dedicate what you need to help your firm get new clients organically. 

There’s a solution to finding more time during the day without having to worry about hiring more staff, increasing overhead, or trimming clients. With Taxfyle, you can outsource your excess work to our network of licensed and verified accountants across the country. 

By outsourcing domestically with Taxfyle, your staff and partners have more time freed up, enabling you to augment your firm: from value-added connections with your clients to optimize your website with SEO best practices.

Don’t wait until it’s too late. Outsource today to give your firm the boost it needs.