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If you're an independent accounting firm looking to onboard more clients in your area then you're going to want to read this post. I'm going to share the three things that you can do right now to rank higher on Google when people in your area are searching for the services that you offer.

When you're looking for information on something or trying to do some research where's the first place that you go? Typically, it's probably Google!

Your clients are doing the exact same thing when they're looking for information for accountants in their area. If you're looking to get more calls, more clients, and more Business, it is important to improve your ranking in you area’s Google searches.

So, how do you rank higher on Google?

There are several factors that actually influence local search rankings and Google is constantly changing its algorithms, but I'm going to share three of the most important things to consider that will actually help you outrank other firms in your area and it's not going to take forever to do, I promise.

Before I dive in, if you would like to get a free report of your accounting firm's current local SEO performance and rankings compared to other firms in your area, I want to offer you a completely free report.

All you have to do is go to atheartcreative.com/SEO and type in your firm’s name. This will get you a completely free report that includes, keyword search rankings, review rankings, and so much more. It's a really valuable tool I honestly think you should go check it out you have nothing to lose.

First is your Google Business Profile

A Google Business Profile is the first and most important thing you need to focus on when ranking higher in local searches. This is your business' page on Google and it includes your business' name, address, hours of operation, and other basic information.

You can claim your profile for free and it's important to make sure that all the information is accurate and up-to-date. You can also add photos, videos, and special offers to help attract new clients.

Google will display several Google Business Profiles related to a user's search on Google. So, if a business owner in your area searches for Accountants in your "city or town's name", they will be presented with a list of local accounting firms and their Google Business profiles. The firms will be ranked based on a combination of several factors, including their proximity to the firm, the firm's review rating, website traffic, and so on.

Ensuring that you own and update your accounting firm's Google Business Profile is imperative to increasing your ranking in local search results.

The Second Biggest Impact on Local Search Results is Reviews

Online reviews are becoming more and more important in all of our client's marketing plans. They can be a valuable tool for increasing your visibility, generating leads, and building credibility - but only if they are used correctly.

One of the most important things to remember when using online reviews is that they should be used to supplement other marketing efforts, not as a replacement for them. Reviews should not be the only thing you focus on; instead, use them to reinforce your other marketing activities.

Obviously, the best way to get positive online reviews is to provide excellent service and let your customers do the talking for you. Make sure you respond quickly to any complaints and take care of them quickly and efficiently. Then sit back and watch your business grow!

I suggest to our clients that they ask their clients if they would be open to sharing their feedback or providing a review. Using a link in their email signature, a link in their E-sign software when delivering documents, or even having an iPad in the office to allow clients to leave a review or share feedback.

Your clients will be more engaged with leaving feedback or a review if their asked to do so!

The Third thing to Work on is On-Page SEO Optimization

Onsite SEO is one of the most important, yet often overlooked, aspects of a marketing campaign or marketing for a website.

It involves optimizing your website's content and structure so that it appears as high as possible in search engine results pages for relevant keywords or phrases. For example, if somebody's searching for bookkeeping or bookkeeping help, you're going to want to make sure that your site is optimized for those key phrases and that they include the word bookkeeping.

This can be a complex and time-consuming process, but there are a number of things you can do to improve your onsite SEO.

One of the most important is to make sure your website's content is original and high quality. Google favors websites with fresh, unique content and will rank them higher than those with duplicate content, low-quality content, or with sites that don't actually update very often.

This comes back to a previous post that we’ve done. It's about building that content pillar model, whether you're doing a podcast, video series, or a Blog, my recommendation would be to have a written version of that content. For example, these posts start as a video for our YouTube channel, we then take the transcript for that video and turn it into this Blog. We rework the transcript into sections and then format it with headers and such. Then that is something that Google can actually take information from, the release of that blog, which is original content, and is new on our site. This then helps with our Google search rankings with other marketing firms in our area.

Another important factor is the use of keywords and keyword phrases. You should include them throughout your website's text, titles, meta descriptions, and anchor text (the text you use to link to other pages on your site).
You should also make sure your website is properly structured so that search engines can easily crawl and index its contents. This includes using correct HTML tags, setting up 301 redirects for moved pages, and creating XML sitemaps.

Now, that probably sounds like a lot of jargon. It is but, if you have somebody managing your website for you, or have built it for you, make sure they follow proper best practices for search engine optimization for your website now.

Bonus Tip & Wrap Up

You can also get your accounting firm set up on other local directories and online listing services similar to Google My Business, such as, Yahoo Local, Yelp, and Bing. The importance of being on these additional directories is that Google crawls these sites and it can help improve your local search rankings.

By following these three SEO tips, and our bonus tip, you'll be well on your way to ranking higher in search results and getting more traffic to your website. That means more leads and more sales for your accounting firm.

If you're interested in more content just like this, be sure to check in every Tuesday for a new post!

Thanks for reading!

Need some additional help? Book a FREE Discovery Meeting today, here, to chat about how I can help!

I'll see you next time.

About the Author

Bryton Udy is the Founder and CMO of atHeart Creative, and host of the Accountant Marketing Mentor YouTube Channel. Dedicated to helping accountants simplify their marketing and communications so they can grow their accounting, bookkeeping, and financial planning businesses, he is passionate about harnessing creative marketing to support the independent accountant.

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