Running an accounting firm means you’re already juggling client deadlines, tax season chaos, and endless regulations. The last thing you want to worry about is whether potential clients can find you online, and running an SEO audit for accountants.
But if your competitors are showing up on Google when people search for “CPA near me” or “tax preparation services” and you’re not, you’re missing out on a steady stream of qualified leads who are actively looking for accounting services.
SEO requires multiple moving parts to work together, but when they do, you get consistent online visibility and more clients. If you’re not sure where to start, follow this audit to get your website ranking in search engine results pages.
What Is SEO for Accountants?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of making your accounting firm’s website more visible when people search for accounting services on Google and other search engines.
When people look for accounting services or answers to the questions that have to do with accounting, your accounting website should appear as the answer to their questions.
When Google sees that your site provides valuable, relevant information about accounting services, it’s more likely to show your website to people looking for those services.
The benefits of SEO for accounting firms include:
- Consistent lead generation: Qualified prospects find you when they’re actively looking for accounting services.
- Builds credibility: Higher search rankings signal trustworthiness to your potential clients.
- 24/7 visibility: Your website works for you around the clock, even when you’re not online.
Accountant SEO services have a high ROI. According to research, SEO drives 1,000%+ more traffic than organic social media, and SEO leads have a 14.6% close rate.
Search Engine Optimization Essentials
Getting SEO right for accounting firms requires focusing on several key areas:
- High-quality, relevant content: Generic blog posts about “tax tips” won’t cut it. You need content that addresses specific accounting challenges your ideal clients face, written in the language they use.
- Technical website health: Slow loading speeds, broken links, and a mobile-unfriendly design hurt your search rankings. Your website’s backend needs to be clean and functional.
- Local SEO optimization: Your Google Business Profile, local citations, and location-specific content need to be dialed in so you show up for “accountant near me” searches.
- Keyword research: Focus on specific accounting services/topics and geographic areas where you can realistically compete and win.
- Trust signals and authority: Client testimonials, case studies, professional certifications, and consistent NAP (Name, Address, Phone) information across the web help establish your firm’s credibility with both search engines and potential clients.
Learn more about how to get more clients as an accountant.
How Do I Do an SEO Audit for Accountants?
An SEO audit is a systematic review of your website to identify what’s working and what’s missing. The process involves checking both the technical aspects of your website and how compelling the content that you publish is.
1. Check Your Website Speed
Slow websites kill conversions and search rankings. If your site takes more than 3 seconds to load, potential clients will leave before they even see your services. Google also penalizes slow sites in search results.
Use these free tools to test your speed:
- Google PageSpeed Insights: Shows speed scores and improvement recommendations.
- GTmetrix: Provides detailed performance reports and identifies what’s slowing you down.
- Pingdom: Tests load times from different locations.
Common speed issues for accounting websites include oversized images, too many plugins, and cheap hosting. Most speed problems can be fixed by compressing images, removing unnecessary plugins, and upgrading to better hosting if needed.
2. Identify Relevant Keywords
Keywords are the search terms your potential clients type into Google. You need to know which ones matter for your accounting practice and whether your website is optimized for them.
Start by brainstorming what your clients search for when they need accounting help. Then use keyword research tools to see search volume and competition levels. At our SEO agency, we use a premium tool called Ahrefs, but you can also use free SEO tools like UberSuggest.
Avoid overly broad terms like “accounting.”
They’re too competitive and won’t bring qualified leads. Instead, focus on long-tail keywords, which are the longer and more specific phrases like “small business tax preparation” or “QuickBooks bookkeeping services.”
3. Analyze Local SEO
A local SEO strategy helps you show up in search results when people search for accounting services in your area. Even if your accounting business offers services virtually, many clients prefer accountants who are located nearby.
Check these key local SEO elements:
- Google Business Profile: Is it claimed, complete, and actively managed with recent posts and reviews?
- NAP consistency: Are your Name, Address, and Phone number identical across your website, Google, and directory listings?
- Local citations: Do you appear in local business directories like Yelp, Yellow Pages, and chamber of commerce listings?
- Location pages: If you serve multiple cities, do you have dedicated pages for each location?
Search for your main services plus your city name to see where you currently rank. If competitors consistently outrank you, your local SEO needs work.
4. Check Title Tags and Meta Descriptions
Title tags and meta descriptions are the clickable headlines and preview text that show up in Google search results when you look for something.
Every important page on your site needs unique, compelling title tags and meta descriptions that include relevant keywords.
For example, your homepage title might be “Smith & Associates CPA – Tax Preparation & Bookkeeping in Denver, CO.”
Common title tag and meta description mistakes include:
- Missing or duplicate titles: Every page needs a unique title tag.
- Too long or too short: Keep titles under 60 characters and descriptions under 160 characters.
- No keywords: Include your target keyword for each page in the title tag and meta description.
- Not compelling: Bland descriptions won’t get clicks even if you rank well.
Review your top 10-15 pages and rewrite any title tags or descriptions that are missing, duplicated, or poorly written. Then, learn about these accountant marketing strategies.
5. Audit Your Content
Content is what attracts potential clients to your website and convinces them you’re the right accountant for their needs. Your content needs to be helpful, relevant, and easy to find.
Look at your existing pages and blog posts.
Are they answering questions your clients ask? Do they cover the specific services you offer? Thin, outdated, or irrelevant content hurts your search rankings and doesn’t help visitors understand how you can help them. Focus on the following:
- Service pages: Detailed descriptions of what you offer and who it’s for.
- Blog articles: Content that helps with common accounting questions or challenges.
- Local content: Information relevant to businesses and individuals in your area.
Remove or update any content that’s outdated or off-topic. Google will drop your search engine rankings if you have a lot of “dead weight” content on your website, since it makes you appear unprofessional.
6. Analyze Your Competition
Your competitors are fighting for the same clients you want. Understanding what they’re doing online helps you identify opportunities to outrank them and spot gaps in your own SEO strategy.
Search for your main keywords and see which accounting firms appear in the top results. Look at their websites and content to see what they’re doing well, and how you could use their SEO performance to your advantage. For example:
- What keywords they target: Are there valuable terms you’re missing?
- Their content strategy: What topics do they cover that you don’t?
- Local SEO presence: How many reviews do they have, and where are they listed?
- Website quality: Is their site faster, more professional, or easier to navigate than yours?
Don’t COPY what your competitors in the accounting industry do, but use their success to guide your own improvements and SEO success.
7. Check Internal Links
Internal links connect different pages on your website, helping both visitors and search engines navigate your content. They also pass authority between pages, boosting the ranking potential of your content.
Review how your pages link to each other. Your homepage should link to key service pages, and related content should connect naturally. For example, a blog post about tax planning should link to your tax preparation service page.
Common internal linking mistakes include:
- Orphaned pages: Important pages that aren’t linked from anywhere else on your site.
- Broken links: Links that lead to pages that no longer exist.
- Poor anchor text: Using “click here” instead of descriptive text like “small business tax services.”
- Missing opportunities: Not linking related content together.
A good SEO strategy with internal linking helps visitors find relevant information and signals to Google which pages are most important on your site.
8. Make Sure Your Website Is Mobile-Friendly
72.59% of Google’s visitors come from mobile devices. If your web pages don’t work well on phones and tablets, you’re losing potential clients AND hurting your SEO campaigns.
Mobile issues that hurt accounting websites include:
- Text that’s too small: Visitors shouldn’t need to zoom to read your content.
- Buttons too close together: Phone and contact buttons need enough spacing.
- Slow mobile loading: Mobile users are less patient than desktop users.
- Hard-to-fill forms: Contact forms should be simple and work well on small screens.
If you’re having trouble with a mobile-friendly design, you may need to hire a professional to help you make it work. If you work with us as your SEO expert, we can connect you with a trusted designer!
9. Fix Technical SEO
Technical SEO helps search engines crawl, understand, and index your website. If there are technical issues, Google won’t be able to properly access your website, and your organic traffic will go down.
Common technical problems include broken links, missing or duplicate title tags, slow loading speeds, and crawl errors. Check for:
- SSL certificate: Your website should use HTTPS (look for the lock icon in browsers).
- XML sitemap: A file that tells search engines about all your important pages.
- Robots.txt file: Instructions that tell search engines which pages to crawl or ignore.
- 404 errors: Broken pages that need to be fixed or redirected.
- Duplicate content: Multiple pages with similar content that confuse search engines.
You can use Google Search Console (free) to identify technical issues on your site. However, most accounting firms will need a professional SEO consultant to meaningfully fix any issues.
10. Track Your SEO Progress
Even the most effective SEO strategies take time to show results, and it’s important to have a functional tracking system set up to analyze your progress.
Google Analytics and Google Search Console are free tools that provide essential SEO metrics for your accounting firm, but you can also invest in a paid tool like Ahrefs.
Make sure to monitor these SEO metrics:
- Organic traffic: How many visitors find you through search engines.
- Keyword rankings: Where you appear in search results for target keywords.
- Click-through rates: How often people click your listing when it appears in search.
- Lead generation: How many contact form submissions or other actions came from organic search.
Search rankings fluctuate naturally, and meaningful SEO improvements typically take 3-6 months to show results. If you’re not sure where to start, follow this FREE SEO Checklist.
Are SEO Audits Worth It?
Yes! SEO audits are worth the investment for accounting firms that want to grow their client base through online visibility. An audit shows you what’s preventing your website from ranking well and gives you a clear roadmap for improvement.
Instead of guessing what might be wrong or trying random fixes, you’ll have a prioritized list of specific issues to address.
This saves you time and prevents you from working on the wrong things. A professional SEO audit also gives you a strong foundation to DIY your SEO if that’s what you want to do going forward.
SEO Audit Service for Accountants
At SJ Digital Solutions, we offer comprehensive SEO audits through our SEO Health Check service.
This audit covers everything from technical website issues to content gaps that might be costing you clients. You’ll get a detailed report that identifies exactly what’s holding your website back and a prioritized action plan for fixing it.
→ Order your SEO Health Check today!
FAQs
How Long Does an SEO Audit Take?
Our SEO Health Check takes 3 business days to complete. We thoroughly analyze your website, research your local competition, and create a detailed report with recommendations on what to improve.
How Often Should You Do an SEO Audit?
It depends on who’s managing your SEO. If you have a professional handling your SEO strategy, you likely don’t need in-depth audits since they’ll send you monthly reports showing your progress and any issues that come up.
If you’re managing SEO yourself, getting a professional health check every year is a smart goal. This helps you catch problems early and identify new opportunities, since search engine optimisation best practices change during Google updates.
Do You Offer Retainer SEO Services for Accounting Firms?
Yes, we offer ongoing SEO retainer services focusing on content marketing, local SEO management, keyword research, and more.
Learn more about our content + SEO services for accountants and other financial businesses!