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SEO for accountants: Generate more accountancy leads - BSD

Published 14 June 2022 · Updated 3 October 2026

Illustration for seo for accountants: a practical guide from Bark Street Digital

SEO for accountants: Generate more accountancy leads

 

The accounting industry is incredibly competitive, with thousands of large and small accountancy firms in each part of the UK. In 2022, most people search the internet to find the right accountancy firm for them. They will view your business website, company reviews, and social media accounts when making the decision on which firm to use.

One of the biggest challenges that accountant business owners face is having their accountancy website and details of their business found online due to the vast amount of accountancy firms that exist. SEO for accountants is one of the best ways to help your potential customers find your website online.

SEO for accountants: What is search engine optimisation (SEO)

SEO is one of the most useful digital marketing strategies used by businesses to get their web pages noticed online. It works by implementing strategies to ensure your website pages reach an optimal position within the search results of Google when someone makes a search query related to your business services.

 

For example, if a potential client were to search the term “accounting services London,” thousands of results will be shown to the searcher. The best place for your website to get found within these results is on the first page, preferably within the top three results. Ask yourself, when you search for anything on Google, how often do you view pages that are listed on the second page of the results section? Never? This is why implementing an SEO strategy is so important for your business.

 

Tips for improving your accountancy firm’s SEO

 

  • Create a free Google Business Profile account: Creating a Google Business Profile listing is great for local SEO. This listing will help your accountancy firm appear within the Google maps section when a potential client makes a local search on Google. The key to ensuring your business ranks highly on Google maps is to ensure you add as much information to your Google Business Profile account, get reviews from clients, and keep your profile updated to include new business hours etc.
  • Conduct an SEO audit on your website: Many marketing agencies offer free SEO audits on websites to help you determine why your website pages are not ranking highly on search engines, For some there may be broken links, slow loading pages, missing meta tags and website errors. For others, it may just be a case of optimising your written content to ensure it includes specific keywords to target certain phrases.
  • Research your competition: Review your competitors’ websites- what are they doing that you’re not? Is their website faster than yours or better optimised for mobile? Are they adding regular content to their website? Which keywords are they ranking well for? When you know what your successful competitors are doing to rank well, you can implement these strategies into your marketing plan and do them better in order to outrank them.
  • Add regular content to your website: Google loves fresh content. Update your old pages or add new pages in the form of blog posts to ensure Google notices your webpages and views your website as relevant and worthy of ranking on the first page. Your content should be relevant, up to date and informative.
  • Incorporate specific keywords into your content: When writing content fir your website, you should first do some keyword research to understand exactly what your clients are searching for. There are many tools online that can help you with keyword research – or you can ask us to do it for you. The best keywords to target within your content are the less competitive, highly searched keywords. Longtail keywords are usually less competitive and are becoming more commonly searched due to the rise in voice controlled technology. When you have identified which keywords you would like to target, write your content based on these keywords.
  • Add SEO plugins, such as Yoast to your website: If your website runs on WordPress, the use of SEO plugins, such as Yoast will help you to rank higher on search engines by providing tips on improving your SEO, such as adding meta descriptions, including keywords in your meta descriptions, adding internal and external links to your content, adding images and adding alt descriptions to images.
  • Link building: Link building is a very effective method of improving your SEO for accountants. It lets Google know that other websites find your website’s content useful. Organic link building, however, can be quite difficult and it can be a slow process. Reach out to others within the accountancy industry, such as a supplier, and ask them to include a link to your website within their content if they are planning on writing anything of relevance to your accountancy firm.

 

How can Bark Street Digital Assist?

Bark Street Digital offer many types of digital marketing and SEO services to all types of businesses, including accountants and many other financial services businesses. We will work alongside your accountancy firm to help you reach your long term business goals.

We have tons of experience in providing marketing services to all types of businesses, and we especially enjoy working with those who offer services such as accountancy.

The main services we offer include, SEO- both technical and content, social media management, website design, development and management, and setting up and managing PPC paid ad campaigns. We offer a range of fixed retainer packages and alternative payment methods, tailored to suit your business needs. We work with businesses of all shapes and sizes, from large companies, to small start-ups and established SME’s.

We understand that when it comes to marketing, one size does not fit all, which is why we offer bespoke packages to suit each business’ needs at competitive prices. Have a look at our services page to find out how we can assist.

If you would like some free initial advice on SEO for accountants, or if you require a quote for our services, feel free to contact us using the forms on our website, or contact our Director, Stacey Owens at stacey@barkstreetdigital.co.uk.

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A practical framework for sEO for accountants: Generate more accountancy leads

Search behaviour changes, but the underlying job stays consistent: make it easy for the right person to find, understand and trust the most relevant answer. That requires sound technical foundations, clear page intent and genuinely useful information. Rankings alone are not the finish line. The page must also help a visitor decide what to do next.

Start with the customer and the commercial goal

Write down the specific customer you want to attract, the problem they are trying to solve and the action you want them to take. This prevents sEO for accountants: Generate more accountancy leads from becoming a disconnected task. Review the language customers use in calls, enquiries, reviews and search data. It often reveals concerns that a generic keyword list misses.

Next, define the commercial outcome. More traffic can be useful, but qualified enquiries, booked appointments, suitable applications or sales are clearer measures of value. Agree what a good enquiry looks like and make sure the page or campaign answers the questions that usually prevent that person from acting.

Build evidence and clarity into the experience

People need reasons to believe a claim. Use accurate service details, transparent explanations, relevant examples, genuine reviews and clear contact information. Avoid unsupported superlatives. If evidence is not available, explain the process and the standards used instead of inventing a result. This creates a more trustworthy experience and gives the content substance.

Structure also matters. Lead with a direct answer, then develop the detail under descriptive headings. Use examples where they improve understanding, connect related pages with useful internal links and remove anything that exists only to repeat a phrase. A reader should be able to scan the page and still understand its main recommendation.

Measure, learn and improve

Create a simple baseline before making changes. Record the relevant visibility, engagement and enquiry measures, then review them on a regular schedule. Look for patterns over time rather than treating a single week as a verdict. Where possible, compare lead quality as well as volume so growth does not come at the expense of relevance.

Improvement should be deliberate. Test one meaningful change, such as a clearer proposition, a stronger answer to a common objection or a simpler enquiry path. Keep what helps and document what you learn. Revisit the content when services, customer questions or evidence change. This approach keeps sEO for accountants: Generate more accountancy leads accurate and useful without chasing every short-lived trend.

Common mistakes to avoid

Do not copy a competitor's plan without understanding its audience, authority or budget. Avoid publishing vague content that could belong to any business, and do not hide the next step behind unnecessary friction. It is also important not to confuse activity with progress. A full calendar or a longer report is not valuable unless it supports better decisions and better-fit enquiries.

Finally, allow enough time to learn. Strong marketing compounds when useful pages, clear messages and reliable measurement work together. Review the strategy regularly, but do not abandon a sound direction because of normal short-term variation. The objective is a dependable source of visibility and demand that supports the wider business.

SEO for accountants: Generate more accountancy leads - BSD FAQs

How long does SEO usually take to produce results?+

SEO timescales depend on the website, competition and work already completed. Technical fixes can be noticed quickly, but meaningful organic growth commonly develops over several months. Establish a baseline for visibility, qualified visits and enquiries, then review trends monthly rather than treating day-to-day ranking movement as a verdict.

What should an SEO report measure?+

A useful report connects search activity with business outcomes. It should explain changes in relevant visibility, landing-page engagement, conversions and qualified enquiries, alongside completed work and next priorities. Rankings can provide context, but they should not replace measures of whether the website is attracting and helping the right people.

Does every business need the same SEO strategy?+

No. Search demand, competition, geography, sales cycles and website condition vary considerably. A local service business may prioritise location relevance and Google Business Profile accuracy, while an ecommerce company may need product architecture and feed quality. Research should determine the plan instead of forcing every business into the same checklist.

What is the most common SEO mistake?+

A common mistake is publishing pages for keywords without giving the reader a useful answer or a clear next step. Strong SEO brings technical accessibility, relevant content, credible evidence and a good customer journey together. Repetition and shortcuts may create activity, but they rarely build dependable visibility or qualified demand.

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