Search Engine Optimization for Accounting Firm Websites
Posted: September 7, 2011 Filed under: Accounting, Accounting Firm Marketing Strategies, Accounting Firms, Marketing for Accountants | Tags: search engine optimization, search engine optimization for accounting firms, SEO, SEO for accounting firms 4 Comments »Having a website for your accounting firm that’s not optimized for search is like throwing a party but not telling anyone about it. How are people supposed to come if they don’t even know it’s happening?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of improving your website’s visibility in organic search engine rankings, so it can be more easily found by the people who need your product or services. (Organic listings fall directly below paid listings in search engine results, and the closer you are to the top, the more traffic you will get to your website.)
Any search engine’s goal, whether it’s Google, Bing or Yahoo, is to deliver the most relevant, quality websites in the search results to provide users with the information they need. In order to rank high organically, you have to first understand what the search engines consider to be important in order to optimize your website accordingly.
What makes a website relevant? Although search engines don’t reveal the algorithms they use to rank websites, they factor in things like how your site is laid out, where your important information is located, key terms found in web text and meta tags, and the number of quality inbound links there are to your website.
So, where do you start? The best place to begin is to figure out where your current site is lacking – what parts of it are not set up to be search engine-friendly.
That’s where Katie Tolin, marketing director at accounting firm Rea & Associates, Inc. in New Philadelphia, Ohio, began her SEO research for her accounting firm’s website.
“Not only was our site built in frames, it had a splash page, drop down menus, no site map and no custom web links,” Tolin said. “If there was a way to prevent web crawlers from finding our site, we were using it.”
Prior to Tolin’s SEO endeavors, which started in 2005, virtually all of her firm’s web traffic came from direct links, or people searching for the firm by name. After her firm merged with another (whose website outranked them in the search engine results) partners began asking why the other site appeared higher in the search engine results and how they could fix this.
When Tolin began researching SEO, it quickly became clear that changes needed to be made to her firm’s website, but also that there were too many issues with the current website to optimize it. The only way to start optimizing for SEO was a total redesign.
Tolin said the new website was designed to have the right site architecture from the start.
“I used a content management system that allowed me to customize page titles, page addresses, meta tags, descriptions, etc. This gave me the ability to optimize every page of my website,” Tolin said. “I also made sure we had a site map – one little thing that can make a big difference – and strived to keep important content no more than three pages deep so it can be more easily found by search engines.”
These changes to the firm website led to a 50 percent increase in traffic and unique visitors, but even more importantly, it increased the firm’s conversion rate. On average, Rea & Associates adds more than 150 people per year to its distribution list simply because the visitors asked them to.
What is Tolin’s recommendation to firms considering SEO to improve their website ranking?
“Potential clients are forming opinions about your firm that may not be true. Don’t let them think you are old-fashioned, out-dated and not up-to-speed with the latest technologies if you aren’t.”
Not everyone has the time and resources to do the optimization in-house. If you fall into that category, look into outsourcing it. Although it costs more do outsource the effort, Tolin says the amount of new business generated from the website is substantially higher than what is spent on optimization.
“These are real companies paying us real dollars on an annual basis for our services,” said Tolin. “Leads generated through our website are from quality companies that simply choose to find vendors online.”
Tolin recognizes that consumer behavior is changing and that the majority of people now research their purchases online before making them and you need to be easily found.
“We live in a society where people are judged by their presence,” she says. “We form opinions based on what we see, but also what we don’t see. If you can’t be found online, that says something about you.”
Three Ways to Apply Google’s Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT) to Your Accounting Firm’s Marketing Strategy
Posted: July 26, 2011 Filed under: Accounting, Accounting Firm Marketing Strategies, Accounting Firms, Marketing for Accountants, Social Media | Tags: accountants, accounting firm marketing strategies, accounting firms, Google, Google eBook, Zero Moment of Truth, ZMOT 1 Comment »
In 2005 Proctor & Gamble coined the term “First Moment of Truth” (FMOT) to describe the interaction between consumers and products on a store shelf. FMOT referred to the initial few seconds a consumer spent with a product in person, deciding whether or not it was something he or she wanted to purchase, and was considered to be a very crucial moment for marketing and brand messaging.
And although FMOT interactions still take place and are still critical moments, an even more important interaction is taking place between consumers and brands, before FMOT even has the chance to occur – a concept Google refers to as the “Zero Moment of Truth,” or ZMOT.
In a recently released eBook, “Winning the Moment of Truth,” Google’s managing director of U.S. sales and service, Jim Lecinski, explains how, with the proliferation of Internet use, particularly via mobile devices and tablets, another step needs to be added to the traditional three-step process of stimulus, shelf and experience. That additional step is ZMOT, defined as the moment when a consumer begins the process of seeking out information about a product or service.
Before the Internet existed, the process went something like this:
- Woman sees ad on television for a new laundry detergent. (Stimulus)
- Woman goes to the store and sees the product on the shelf. (FMOT)
- Woman buys product, takes it home and uses it to wash a load of laundry. (Second Moment of Truth – or SMOT)
Today, that process is a bit different.
Consider the example we just used. The television commercial still acts as the stimulus – it creates awareness and interest. But now, instead of the next interaction between customer and brand occurring at the store, it occurs when mom opens her laptop or pulls out her Smartphone and types the name of the detergent into a search engine.
That’s ZMOT – the moment a consumer accesses a plethora of online resources, including product reviews, blog posts from people who have tried the detergent, videos from the manufacturer about why the detergent is unique and efficient, product coupons, and any other type of information available in digital form. It’s the moment a consumer decides if the product is really worth checking out at the store, or, more importantly, whether or not to buy it.
Tina Sharkey, chairman and global president of BabyCenter, says in Google’s eBook: “You’ll see the same thing happen whether the topic is the Tooth Fairy or accounting software for a 20,000-person corporation. People look for others who have been in the same situation as they are now. They know that fellow consumers (unlike advertisers) aren’t trying to sell them something.”
What does ZMOT mean for your accounting firm?
How can you take advantage of ZMOT and use that initial opportunity to promote your accounting services to potential clients searching the web for a solution to their needs? The answer is fairly simple: be present and relevant. We’re not just talking about search engine optimization or running Google AdWords – we’re talking about creating a digital presence that answers questions you anticipate your target audience asking.
Here are three things you can do to make sure your accounting firm wins at ZMOT.
1. Create a short video.
Develop a short (1 – 2 minute) video for your accounting firm’s website. Not only will creating a video improve your organic search engine ranking, but it’s a great way to be present at ZMOT. Use the video to introduce prospective clients to some of your accounting firm staff. Let them explain in their own words why your firm is unique and what sets it apart from other accounting firms. Explain what you do differently for your clients and list the reasons they should choose your firm. Allowing your potential customers to make a connection with your staff helps to establish a preliminary relationship and will develop loyalty with your firm.
2. Institute a corporate message board.
There’s no better testimonial than a client who loves your accounting firm and is able to clearly articulate why. Creating a message board for your website and allowing clients to ask questions, start discussions and provide feedback of your services, allows prospective client to view honest opinions about your firm from real people who want to provide helpful information to others, and not trying to sell them anything. It’s also a way for you to interact with your target audience in an honest, constructive way.
3.) Establish a social presence online.
Google’s 2011 ZMOT study found that “37 percent of shoppers found online social sources to be an influential driver when making decisions. That was up from 19 percent in 2010 – nearly doubling in one year.” The top online social activities among shoppers included finding online referrals from friends, seeing the brand mentioned on a social networking site, becoming a fan/follower of a brand, and reading a blog that discussed the product. Making sure your firm has a solid social online presence will ensure your firm is in the places where your potential clients are most likely to seek out information about you.
Accounting Firms on Facebook: Five Ways to Take Your Page from Drab to Fab
Posted: May 31, 2011 Filed under: Accountants and Social Media, Accounting, Accounting Firm Marketing Strategies, Accounting Firms, Accounting Professionals, Facebook, Marketing for Accountants, Social Media | Tags: Accountants and Social Media, facebook, Social Media, social media for accounting firms, social media strategies for accountants Leave a comment »
So, your accounting firm created a Facebook page.
Great! Now what?
Ideally, your first reaction to that shouldn’t be “Wait, there’s more?” But if it is, fear not. Today’s post is going to give you five actionable items that will make your firm profile less of a page and more of a totally fun place to hang out.
We’re also going to show you some examples of accounting firms who have fantastic Facebook pages, which will give you some ideas you might be able to incorporate into your own page quickly and easily.
1.) Share (if it’s useful and relevant.)
Your accounting firm’s Facebook page is a great forum for sharing information with clients and potential clients. If you’re not sure what kind of information you should post in a status update, here are some examples:
- Your firm opens a new office location across town.
- A new tax law that may affect your clients goes into effect.
- Your firm wins an award at a national conference.
- You’re hosting a webinar and inviting clients to attend.
- Your firm is going to be attending a trade show next month.
- You have a new digital brochure to pass along to clients.
- You snapped a few candid shots of employees during the workday.
- You found an interesting article about the accounting profession.
- Your firm raised a bunch of money for a local charity at a fundraising event.
2.) Integrate
Does your firm use Twitter? If so, you can link your Twitter account with Facebook so that whenever you update your Twitter feed your Tweet automatically shows up on the company’s Facebook page. How about a blog? If your firm maintains a blog it’s a great idea to share a link to the post in your status update or use a Facebook application like Networked Blogs to automatically feed your firm’s blog into the Facebook page.
If your firm is super social media savvy, you may even integrate its Flickr feed, YouTube channel or Tumblr. The point is – bring your information together and display it collectively to give it better visibility and make it easier for clients to access it.
3.) Interact
Give clients a reason to come to your Facebook page and interact with them. If someone posts a comment or question, respond to them. If it’s a hot topic, you can create a discussion thread and ask your Facebook friends to participate. Create a client survey through one of Facebook’s survey applications and distribute it via your Facebook page. Create a “Contact Us” page or invite clients to write a review of your firm. Let Facebook friends sign up for company newsletters.
If you engage your Facebook friends by allowing them to complete certain tasks, they will be more likely to come to your firm’s Facebook page to interact with you. And, as we’ve mentioned before, interaction builds relationships and trust, which are essential to growing your accounting firm’s business.
4.) Humanize
Give your firm’s Facebook page a human touch. The easiest way to do this is to show pictures of real people who are working hard to make clients’ lives easier. Create a team page with contact information of key employees. Post pictures of your employees participating in local charity events, attending a trade show, having fun at a company outing, or working with a client.
Your photo page on Facebook will communicate volumes to clients; you want it to show your firm is made up of people who enjoy their jobs and care about their clients.
5.) Observe
Have you looked at other accounting firms’ Facebook profiles? You can learn a lot about what to do (and what not to do) just by checking out other pages. You may come across a Facebook application you’ve never heard of or just pick up some ideas on what to include in your status updates. There are many accounting firms on Facebook doing an excellent job maintaining their firm pages.
Here are a few of the best accounting firm pages I’ve found on Facebook. Pay close attention to the pages they’ve created, the content of their updates, their photo pages and the applications they are using to interact with clients.
