Local SEO for Accountants:
If you’re not using local SEO for accountants to your advantage yet, your firm is likely missing out on valuable client opportunities. Potential accounting clients actively search online for local financial services every day. Some are probably typing “accountant near me” into Google search as you read this!
Without a strong local SEO strategy, these valuable client opportunities go directly to your competitors.
But don’t worry! We’ll explain what local SEO for accountants is and how you can use it to connect with prospective clients at the exact moment they’re searching for your expertise.
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Turn leads into customers and get started today. We’ve partnered with finance and real estate brands around the globe with digital marketing campaigns, including SEO, content creation, lead generation, and beyond. Get results with the pros in your niche – we’re not a generic agency that works with everyone.
What Is Local SEO for Accountants?
Local SEO optimizes your online presence to attract potential clients in your specific geographic area.
When business owners search for “tax accountant near me” or “small business accountant in Boston,” a well-optimized local presence helps your firm come up on top of the search engine results pages.
Similar to traditional SEO, you’ll need to do keyword research and optimize your web pages with relevant keywords in the right places.
But local SEO goes beyond just your accounting firm’s website. You’ll also need to pay attention to factors like your Google Business Profile and other local SEO efforts that we’ll break down in this guide!
Traditional SEO vs Local SEO
You’ve likely heard about traditional SEO – the practice of optimizing your website to rank well in search engines. Fewer people talk about local SEO, but this lesser-known strategy often delivers remarkable results and helps more people in your geographic area discover your accounting services.
Traditional SEO
Traditional SEO focuses on improving website visibility in national or global search results. For example, you might create a blog post about “tax deduction strategies for small businesses,” and this piece of content will compete with accounting websites across the country.
Traditional SEO is a great marketing strategy for accountants. It helps you to:
- Attract potential clients who need accounting services from across the US (or even worldwide, depending on your focus and goals)
- Create valuable evergreen content that continues driving traffic long-term
- Build your overall domain authority, which benefits all your SEO efforts
- Position your firm as a thought leader in specific accounting niches
If you want your website to appear high on Google search results, start with these SEO keywords for accountants.
That said, traditional SEO for accountants is highly competitive and takes longer to see meaningful results. You may also attract leads that are located in areas where you don’t offer your services or don’t have a license.
Local SEO
Local SEO targets potential clients in your geographic area. So, instead of competing for broad terms like “small business tax preparation,” with local SEO, you’re focused on location-based searches such as “small business tax preparation in Phoenix.”
Many accounting firms overlook local SEO in favor of broader marketing strategies, but it can be an incredibly lucrative marketing strategy when done right.
Research shows that 4 in 5 consumers use search engines to find local information, and 60% of mobile users have reached out to a business directly using the search results.
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Why Local SEO for Accountants Matters
Local SEO for accountants gives you a direct way to connect with potential clients who are actively searching for your services and are based in a geographical area you actually serve.
When someone searches for accounting services, they usually need help soon – whether it’s tax prep or bookkeeping. Local SEO puts your firm in front of these potential clients at exactly the right moment.
Here’s what local SEO can do for your accounting firm:
- Attract ready-to-convert clients in your area who need accounting services now
- Build visibility in your town, city, or state
- Stand out against larger accounting firms in local search results
- Boost credibility with client reviews and complete business listings
- Create a strong presence on Google Maps where local clients search
- Reach potential clients who specifically want a local accountant
- Strengthen your reputation in the local business community
If you want to add local SEO to your digital marketing strategy but don’t know where to start, learn more about our local SEO services.
Want to DIY? Then we’re sharing 10+ lucrative strategies that’ll get your firm on top of organic search results below!
What Is the Best Strategy for Local SEO?: 10+ Lucrative Strategies
1. Focus on Local Keywords
Your website content needs to include terms that local clients use when searching online. Every search engine optimization strategy is unique, but if you want to improve rankings for your local accounting firm, this typically means adding your city, neighborhood, or service area to your main keywords.
For example, instead of just “small business accountant,” use “small business accountant in Chicago” or “tax preparation services in downtown Philadelphia.”
Here are a few key places to add local keywords:
- Page titles and headings
- Meta descriptions
- Image alt text
- Service pages
- Blog posts
- Contact page
Focusing on the right keywords will improve local search rankings, but be careful to avoid keyword stuffing. You should only use your targeted local keywords where they feel human and natural.
Google can drop your page rankings if you’re using too many keywords on purpose, so overdoing it can actually hurt your SEO performance.
2. Optimize Google Business Profile
Your Google Business Profile is very important for local SEO success. A complete, accurate profile helps you appear in Google Maps and local search results. Make sure to:
- Fill out every section of your profile
- Add high-quality photos of your office
- Keep business hours up to date
- List all your services
- Post updates about your firm regularly
- Choose accurate business categories
- Add special attributes (like “women-owned” or “veteran-led” if applicable)
Here are examples of well-done Google Business Profiles for accountants in New York City.
3. Create Location-Specific Pages
If your firm serves multiple areas, you should create dedicated pages for each location. For example, if your accounting firm has offices in both Philadelphia and Boston, you might create pages titled “Small Business Accounting Services in Philadelphia” and “Small Business Accounting Services in Boston.”
Each page should provide comprehensive information about that specific office, such as your address and the services available. You can also make the page more valuable by including area-specific content, such as local business resources or relevant tax information.
4. Get Local Reviews
Reviews from past clients play a big role in your local search engine ranking. So, when offboarding clients, make sure to ask them to share their experience and leave a review on Google.
You should also:
- Respond to every review promptly
- Address negative feedback professionally
- Make it easy for clients to leave reviews with direct links
- Thank clients who take the time to review your services
Online reviews kill two birds with one stone: they help you improve your local SEO profile, and they also build trust with potential customers.
5. Maintain NAP Consistency
NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone number. For local SEO – and just general business! – purposes, it’s essential that this information is accurate and identical everywhere it appears online.
Check these places:
- Your website
- Google Business Profile
- Social media accounts
- Business directories
- Professional association profiles
- Review sites
Even small inconsistencies can hurt your local SEO – not to mention you might lose leads who’ll try to reach you at an incorrect email address or phone number.
6. Create Local Content
Just like with traditional SEO, your local SEO can greatly benefit from starting a blog and regularly publishing valuable, location-specific content.
You can create detailed articles about local tax deadlines, state-specific business regulations, financial considerations for businesses in your city, and any other topics that your local audience might be searching for.
Strive for a healthy mix of traditional and local SEO content. If you’re not sure where to start, learn more about our SEO blogging and content marketing services!
7. Optimize for Mobile
Most people use their phones to search online. In fact, statistics show that 64% of searches are carried out using mobile phones, compared to just 35% of desktop searches. So, making sure that your website looks good and is functional on all screens is very important for online visibility.
Many website builders automatically adjust for mobile view, but sometimes important details are lost in the process. Make sure that:
- Your website layout automatically adjusts to different screen sizes
- Your buttons are functional and easy to use
- Business information is obvious and easy to find
- All internal links are working properly
- Load times are fast
- If you have any interactive maps, make sure they work well on smaller screens
It might not seem like it, but mobile optimization is essential for a successful SEO campaign. Google and other search engines might lower your rankings if your website is dysfunctional on mobile.
8. Monitor Local Competitors
Understanding your local competition helps you identify opportunities to stand out. Look at other accounting firms’ websites to see what services they emphasize, how they present themselves, and what SEO keywords they rank for. You can use a tool like Ahrefs to check that.
Don’t try to copy your competitors’ strategy. Instead, look for gaps in their content that you could fill. For example, if competitors aren’t creating content about local tax rules or industry regulations, this could be your opportunity to become the go-to local expert in these areas.
9. Build Local Backlinks
A backlink is when another website links to yours. When it happens, it’s like they’re telling Google “This accounting firm is trustworthy and worth checking out.”
Local backlinks are especially valuable because they come from other businesses and organizations in your community. They show search engines that you’re an active, respected part of your local business scene.
Here are a few ideas on how to build local backlinks:
- Join local business organizations and have them list back to your website from their directory
- Participate in community events and link to your website in the description
- Partner with local schools or libraries
- Write guest posts for local business blogs
- Contribute to local news websites
- Create content for community newsletters
We can help you build backlinks as a part of our SEO services.
10. Clean Up Your Technical SEO Foundations
Creating high-quality content is important for search engines, but Google won’t rank it on the first page if there are issues with your technical SEO. It might not even be able to crawl (=find) your website or the content you create.
Consider doing a comprehensive SEO audit of your website and checking these key technical elements:
- Proper title tags and meta descriptions
- Short, readable URLs that include your target keywords
- Working links (no broken or dead links)
- Clear website structure and navigation
- XML sitemap submission to search engines
- No duplicate content issues
- Image optimization (size and alt text)
- Internal linking between pages
Technical SEO can be tricky, and it’s often one of the most important reasons why people hire SEO experts.
11. Track & Analyze Your SEO Strategy
Your SEO journey is going to be constantly changing and evolving, so it’s important to know what works and what doesn’t. You can use tools like Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and keyword research tools like Ahrefs or Semrush to track your SEO performance and refine your strategy.
Additional local seo Services We Offer For accountants
In addition to these services, we offer:
Our Framework for local seo for accountants
VISION
When you’re ready to have your financial brand grow through your content, we’re here to help you become more visible as an authority in your niche by creating your content backed by our three pillars below.
Our goals when implementing content marketing strategies for alternative lenders are to increase traffic, leads, and conversions for your organization. Allow us to operate in our areas of expertise by creating content that converts and optimizes your content with SEO.
When you take these two things off your plate, you can focus your time, energy, and resources on YOUR areas of expertise. It’s time to stop stressing and overburdening your internal team. Outsource this area of your business to us and get it right the first time. Because not only are we experts at content and SEO, we’re experts in the finance niche.
STRATEGY
You deserve to experience what it’s like to work with us because we understand the big picture. A piece of alternative lending content marketing is never one and done.
We create content that connects to your audience, your other content, and your overall sales and marketing goals.
EXECUTION
Allow us to implement your strategy by taking massive action with one or multiple of our packages.
It’s time for you to save hours spent researching, crafting, ideating, and guessing because when it comes to your content ranking, it’s not just about your great ideas. It’s about how you execute your ideas.
ANALYTICS
We constantly keep a pulse on what’s going on data-wise in the alternative lending industry and keep you informed too.
We do this by regularly monitoring analytics through Google Analytics and Google Search Console, sending reports to our clients, taking action based on the data, and keeping content fresh and updated over time.
We’d never claim to be experts, but we are aware of the strict compliance standards within the financial industry. Moreover, refreshing content is crucial since numbers, regulations, etc., change in the financial services industry sometimes yearly.
Get A Proposal
Turn leads into customers and get started today. We’ve partnered with finance and real estate brands around the globe with digital marketing campaigns, including SEO, content creation, lead generation, and beyond. Get results with the pros in your niche – we’re not a generic agency that works with everyone.
How Long Does It Take for Local SEO to Work?
Local SEO is a long-term investment in your accounting firm’s growth, not a quick fix. Our clients typically begin seeing meaningful results within 3-6 months, but the exact timeline depends on a few important factors:
- Your starting point (whether you’re starting from scratch or improving existing SEO)
- How competitive your local market is
- The current state of your website and online presence
- How many locations you’re targeting
- The quality and frequency of your content updates
- Your Google Business Profile’s completeness and activity
- The number of reviews you collect
- How consistently you implement SEO strategies
Some improvements, like updating your Google Business Profile, can show results within weeks. Other elements, like building local authority through backlinks and content, take longer to develop.
Get in touch with us, and we’ll give you a better estimate of what to expect!
Local SEO Services for Accountants: Are They Worth It?
You could potentially try handling your local SEO on your own, but working with an SEO expert gives you several advantages. SEO – and especially local SEO for accountants – involves many moving parts, from technical optimizations to consistent content creation.
Professional SEO services help you avoid costly mistakes that could hurt your rankings and save the time you could spend serving clients. Learn more about our local SEO services or browse the Resource Hub if you want to DIY!
Frequently asked questions
Q: Do Accountants Need SEO?
A: Absolutely! Many of your potential clients turn to search engines first when looking for accounting services. Without SEO, your firm misses out on these potential connections, regardless of how excellent your services are. Even if you get most of your business through referrals, SEO helps those referred clients validate their choices because it helps you maintain a professional online presence that reflects the quality of your accounting services.
Q: Is Doing Local SEO Worth It?
A: Yes, especially if you only offer your accounting services in a specific geographic area. Many clients prefer working – or have to work – with local accountants who understand their area’s tax laws and business environment. When someone searches for “accountant near me” or “tax services in [city name],” local SEO helps your firm appear in these results. The result is a steady stream of qualified leads who are actively seeking the accounting services you offer.
Q: Do I Need a Website for Local SEO?
A: Yes, a website is essential for effective local SEO. It’s the foundation of all of your SEO efforts – you can create dedicated service pages for different locations and publish valuable, location-specific content on your blog to improve your rankings. At the same time, there are also other local SEO components that you need to maintain, such as your Google Business Profile.
Q: Is Local SEO Paid?
A: No, local SEO is not the same as paid search. Local SEO primarily involves organic (non-paid) strategies to improve your visibility in search results. You might invest in professional services or tools to implement SEO effectively, but the rankings themselves aren’t paid for like they are with Google Ads. The actual search visibility you achieve is earned through optimizing your online presence, not through paying for ad space.
Q: How Is Local SEO Different from SEO?
A: Local SEO focuses specifically on improving your visibility in your geographical service area. Traditional SEO targets broader, location-independent searches. For example, if someone searches for “small business tax deductions,” that’s a traditional SEO search – they could be looking for general information from anywhere in the country. But if they search for “small business accountant in Boston” or “tax preparation near me,” that’s a local SEO search.
Q: How to Rank High in Local SEO?
A: There are multiple things to pay attention to when it comes to local SEO, including optimizing your website specifically for local keywords that satisfy search intent, building your Google Business Profile, and featuring positive reviews from past clients. It’s also important to start a blog and regularly publish high-quality, location-specific content as well as continuously build up local backlinks.
Hire an SEO Agency for Accountants
Local SEO can be a very lucrative digital marketing strategy for accountants.
SJDS Digital Solutions is an SEO agency that understands both local search optimization and the unique needs of accounting firms. Learn about our local SEO services or get in touch!
