SEO Guides, Tips & More!

A key challenge that many accounting marketers face is getting their hands on “good” content that will attract the right kind of prospects to their website. Often a compliant we encounter from new clients is they can attract prospects to their website but are low fee opportunities the firm does not want. Examples include an individual that needs assistance with tax compliance, small nonprofits with a limited budget, or even worse individuals attempting to get free advice. Once the frustration subsides they ask the obvious question, what can we do to fix the problem? After all who wants to invest time, money and resources only to get unqualified prospects?

Much like there is a golden rule in life there is also a golden rule in digital marketing. What you talk about on your website and blog is what you will attract. If all the website discusses are tax issues and changes that impact individual taxpayers, then expect to attract individual taxpayers. If the content focuses on issues and challenges that construction companies are facing in accounting, operations and administration, then expect to attract these types of companies. The bottom line is that to attract the type of prospects the firm wants, it’s imperative to write/talk about the issues, topics and challenges relevant to your prospects. Although it may sound easy, accomplishing this can be a perplexing task as there are many obstacles on the path to success. To help clients, prospects and others understand how to tackle this task, I have provided some tips to guide you through the process.

Tips for Attracting High Value Prospects

• Define Your Target Audience – A common mistake that many accounting firms make is not understanding their target audience. Most partners can tell you the industries the firm serves and can maybe even give a revenue range, but are challenged to come up with additional specifics. It’s important to define the target audience using detailed metrics. Now just because the firm serves companies in 12 industries doesn’t mean the content needs to focus on companies in all these industries. Often it makes sense to take it slow and focus on a subset of industries. The more focused the audience the more specific the content being developed can be. Without a clearly defined target audience, it’s almost impossible to identify content that will be attractive.
• Find Out What’s Important – Once the target audience has been identified the next step is to uncover what is most important to each. This is an area where many accounting marketers struggle. They honestly don’t know too much about the pain points that audience members are facing and as a result are unable to drive meaningful content development. It’s no secret that accounting, tax, audit and regulatory compliance subjects are complex and often even intimidating (especially for new marketers), but that doesn’t mean you have to give up. I regularly advise clients to meet with their industry/niche leaders and find out what clients have been asking about. Inquire about what challenges clients in their industry are facing. What recent changes will impact them? Once you have this information it’s easy to guide content development efforts, whether the content is developed internally or with the assistance of an outside vendor.
• Attack the Topic – Many firms make the mistake of writing about an issue or topic once and then moving onto something else. As much as is practical I suggest writing about a topic or series of topics on a regular basis. Consistency is important when it comes to getting noticed and rewarded by Google and other search engines. When possible attack the topic from various perspectives. Be sure that content not only covers the facts but also how it will impact clients/prospects. What information do they need to know? How will they be impacted? What do they need to change/consider as a result? The more you can focus on the prospect’s perspective the more effective the content will be at generating interest.

Learn the Formula

We have found that to be successful in attracting qualified prospects the firm needs to create quality content and publish it, CONSISTENTLY, over a specific period of time. Case in point, we worked with a client to create 6 articles on various issues concerning construction companies. In an 8-week period the content was published and optimized. The results? They received 2 inquiries from qualified construction companies seeking assistance with both tax and audit issues. This was not a coincidence. Google rewards websites that CONSISTENTLY publish targeted content. So, give it a shot and see for yourself. What do you have to lose?

Contact Us

Although SEO is no longer a new concept for most accounting marketers, the content marketing aspect of it is still a challenging area. If you have questions about the steps you can take to stop attracting unqualified prospects to your site, FlashPoint can help!We’d love to help you on your journey.