Local SEO for Accountants: A Guide to Better Local Search Results for Accounting Firms

People and businesses use the internet to find an accounting firm to manage their finances. Many individuals and companies use the internet to collect information about the accounting firm they’re considering. No matter how skilled you are, you may struggle to get new clients if people can’t find your business online. 

Every accounting firm needs to have a strong online presence. A strong online presence can help your accounting firm get noticed and build credibility and trust. Accounting firms that serve a particular geographic area will want to attract local clients-businesses and individuals in their service area. 

An Introduction to Local SEO 

Local accounting firms need a winning local SEO strategy to get local clients. Local SEO is the practice of improving a local business’s visibility in local search results on Google. If done correctly, local SEO can help increase website traffic and conversion rate and improve your local ranking on Google. 

Here are some tried and tested ways to improve your local SEO. 

Set up Your Google My Business Profile 

Google My Business is a tool that local businesses can use to list their location on Google Maps and local search results. Businesses can also provide other details. 

Here is a brief step-by-step guide to create your GMB profile. 

➢ Create a Google account using your business’s email address 

➢ Go to Google’s My Business gateway. Click Manage Now 

➢ To check if a business has created a profile by the name you want to use, type your business name. Does your business name pre-populate? A profile by the same name exists. You can claim the ownership of your Google My Business listing. If your business name doesn’t appear, add your business to Google

➢ Type the business name and select a category. Ensure that your business name matches the official business name 

➢ Add your business address for your profile. If you deliver products to your customers’ doorstep, be sure to specify service areas

➢ Fill in your contact information and add website link 

➢ Verify your business 

➢ Provide other details such as business hours. Add photos and business description

Note: Ensure your business name, address, phone number, or NAP are consistent online. Whenever you move your business to a new location or change its name, update your profile, ensuring that it reflects accurate and up-to-date information. 

Get Customers Reviews 

People trust online reviews by real customers more than advertisements. Online reviews, as new social proof, can influence consumer buying decisions. Positive local reviews can help you earn brownie points, with Google improving your chances of ranking higher. 

To get more customer reviews, simplify the process of writing reviews and posting them. Use incentives such as discounts, store credits, publicity on social media, free content, and shopping coupons to motivate buyers to write reviews. Target satisfied customers. Follow a process to ask customers to leave reviews. Automate it wherever possible. Drop emails requesting customers to write reviews at the right time. If you mail customers at the wrong time, recipients may mark your messages as spam. 

List Your Business on Other Web Directories 

In addition to setting up your GMB profile, list your business on other reputable directories such as BOTW, About Us, Spoke.com, Bing Places, and Super pages. Be sure to provide accurate and up-to-date business information. Keep information consistent across directories, or Google may have difficulty deciding which information is correct, and your business may not show in search results. Get rid of any duplicate listings. 

Write Local Content 

Create content discussing local news, events, local announcements, and local laws or regulations. Include local keywords in your content. To build authority, add schema markup to author bios. Create FAQ pages that answer questions your target audience has about your services. Write case studies. Create an About Us page that provides information about your business. 

Content creation is a time-consuming process. It requires specialized skills. If you are struggling to come up with content ideas, outsource content creation to an Atlanta SEO company with an in-house content team. 



Add Location Pages to Your Website 

If you have multiple offices in different locations, create a page for each location. Optimize for local phrases. Keep business information such as business hours, business name, and address on these pages accurate and up-to date. When creating a location page, remember to add a Google Map. Write unique content for each location page. 

Create separate pages describing your services, such as tax preparation for businesses and individuals, auditing and so on. 

Implement a Winning Local Link Building Strategy 

Reach out to other ranking sites requesting them to link to you. Write guest posts. To get high-quality backlinks, create authority content. Submit your website link or URL to multiple reputable web directories. 

Host community events and conferences or sponsor meet-ups. Network with local influencers. Get local citations, claim unclaimed mentions and reclaim lost links.

Link building can be complicated and time-consuming. If it seems like an uphill battle, hire a local SEO company near you to spearhead the effort to get authority links. 

Be active on Social Media 

Local businesses should build strong social media presence. When used correctly, social media can help businesses engage their local audiences and create a community. 

Set up business accounts on all major social media sites. Create impactful, shareable social media content. Create posts to discuss local events and upcoming product launches. Host webinars, do giveaways on different social media sites to grow your social media following. Make sure customer complaints are resolved in a timely manner. 

WSI Biggs Digital is an established digital marketing agency serving Atlanta. We have extensive experience developing winning local SEO strategies. To consult a local SEO specialist, call (404) 682-2991.