SEO for Accountants: Attract More Clients With SEO for Your Accounting Firm

Accounting is one of the most competitive industries in the world. With so many firms vying for the same clients, you need a way to stand out and to make your company grow.

One of the best ways to stand out from your competition is to rank highly in search engine results pages (SERPs). Most Internet users won’t look past the first page of search results, so if you don’t rank highly, potential clients could overlook your website and your firm.

With search engine optimization (SEO) for accountants, your firm can earn a top spot in search results, which can translate to more traffic, leads, and revenue.

What is SEO for accountants?

SEO for accountants is the process of improving your accounting firm’s website so that it shows up more often for keywords potential clients are already searching for, like “CPA for small business in [City]” or “bookkeeping help during tax season.” 

Due to SEO’s consistent results, 50% of marketers agree that it is the most profitable digital marketing strategy. Well-implemented SEO for accountants should make your site easy for search engines, like Google, to read and understand. When your site is easily understood, it is easier to index, which means that it can be served seamlessly to users who are looking for your firm.

All in all, SEO includes roughly 200 individual ranking factors that all help you succeed online. All these factors help you convey trust, credibility, and authority, which are crucial in a high-trust industry, like accounting. Additionally, it helps you attract the type of clients who are searching for exactly what you’re offering.

Why is SEO for accounting firms important?

SEO for accounting firms is important because it allows you to reach the highest number of potential clients. If it’s done right, SEO will target the customers that need and want your services, and earn valuable traffic to your website.

To make sure you can earn those leads, you can use a few tried-and-true SEO methods on your site.

Top SEO strategies for accounting firms

Your accounting firm can use different types of SEO services to grow your online presence and attract more potential clients to your organization. The following SEO strategies will give your website the foundation it needs to grow:

1. Research keywords that are relevant to your industry
2. Create valuable SEO content for each accounting service
3. Optimize for local SEO
4. Don’t forget about user experience
5. Perform regular SEO audits
6. Build backlinks from trusted sources
7. Conduct technical SEO
8. Keep up with performance reporting 

1. Research keywords that are relevant to your industry

Keywords are among the biggest factors in determining whether potential clients can see your accounting firm’s website in their search results. As a result, you need to make sure that you show up for the services you want them to get from you, like tax preparation, audits, or bookkeeping.

For a small or medium-sized accounting firm using short keywords, like “accounting firm,” won’t drive results. That’s because these keywords are highly competitive, and they’re usually dominated by big brands. Plus, they’re not descriptive, so you don’t know the intent or background of the person searching for it.

Your best bet is long-tail keywords, which accurately represent your client’s search intent, include more specific search terms, and have a lower search volume. The longer keyword phrases are also essential for aligning your search terms to voice search and AI trends, which are big in 2025 and beyond.

Some examples of appropriate search terms that help you rank higher on search engines, voice, and AI search include:

• “Certified tax accountant for freelancers in [City]” instead of “Accountant [in the city]”
• “QuickBooks bookkeeping for startups” instead of “bookkeeping”
• “Individual income tax filing help near me” instead of “tax services”

2. Create valuable SEO content for each accounting service

After you have your keywords laid out, it’s time to use them on your site to bridge the gap between what your ideal clients are searching for and the services your firm provides. You need numerous pages on your website targeting different keywords.

We highly recommend dedicated pages for each of your service offerings, the kinds of clients’ you’ve served, how long you’ve been in business, and what sets you apart. 

These kinds of pages build trust between you and the reader by showing your expertise and experience in accounting, which creates a connection between you and a potential client. The more helpful content you can give them, the more likely they’ll be to convert into a paying client.

And speaking of conversion, your pages should all include some way for a visitor to convert. Use a call to action at the end of your page like “Contact us today!” and provide a form field or a link that allows visitors to give you their contact information. Once you have that valuable information, you can contact them directly to nurture that lead into a paying client.

In addition to article pages on your website, a blog is another great way to create content for your readers. Blogs are beneficial because you can use them to target your most valuable keywords, they’re easily sharable on social media, and Google loves when a website has a high number of pages.

3. Optimize for local SEO 

Many accounting clients are looking for proximity when choosing their accountant, especially during tax season, audit season, or other high-pressure times. Local SEO ensures you appear in front of high-intent clients nearby. 

When done right, local SEO enables you to rank high for searches, like “accountant near me,” “tax preparation in [City],” and “bookkeeper for small business in [City].” Here are some tips for local SEO optimization:

• Claim your Google Business Profile (GBP): Your GBP shows valuable information like the address of your firm, ratings, and hours of operation. These results also show up at the top of results pages, so if you’re listed there, you’ll be one of the first firms clients see
• Collect and manage customer reviews: You’ll attract more accounting clients by showcasing client trust signals, like encouraging online reviews from happy customers and responding to them promptly and professionally. Showcasing your credentials, such as CPA and AICPA certifications, to prove you’re qualified and experienced. 
• Create localized service pages: Are you offering your accounting services in different service areas? Then create content for each of those areas, say Raleigh, Greensboro, and Charlotte in North Carolina. These help you show up in searches specific to each city or town.
• List on local directories: Listing your accounting firm on local business directories like Yelp, Chamber of Commerce sites, and accounting-specific directories boosts your visibility and credibility. 

4. Don’t forget about user experience

User experience is a crucial part of on-page SEO optimization that determines how your clients experience your website. Implementing on-page SEO and providing clients with a seamless user experience helps you be ranked as one of the best in the eyes of Google.

Google can tell that your clients have a positive user experience if the bounce rates are low and they’re spending more time on a page. The following on-page SEO best practices will help to improve your website experience:

• Clean navigation: To make sure that your website viewers get the best possible experience, make sure that you utilize a navigation bar that helps users to easily find exactly what they’re looking for, quickly and efficiently.
• Professional design: Your web design should be clean and organized, and entice users to stay on the page. You can attract viewers with the use of multimedia like photos and videos.
• Mobile optimization: Your accounting website must be mobile-optimized so that your clients can access it at their convenience. A mobile-friendly site gives you access to the over 62% of consumers who prefer to learn about brands and their offerings on mobile devices. 
• Fast loading speeds: Nothing turns today’s busy consumers away from a business website than a slow website. To improve loading speeds, you need to compress multimedia sizes, clean up your code, and switch to a more reliable hosting provider.

5. Perform regular SEO audits

SEO is not a one-off process. It requires regular maintenance. So just like your accounting clients, your website requires regular audits so you can uncover challenges, opportunities, and ways to maintain a competitive digital presence.

More precisely, SEO audits help you identify technical issues, content gaps, keyword opportunities, algorithm changes, and trends. 360° SEO audit services involve analyzing your website’s on-page, off-page, and technical audits to ensure alignment with your business goals and timelines. 

After every audit, you need a customized report that details the findings and recommendations to help you maximize your SEO return on investment (ROI). 

6. Build backlinks from trusted sources

Your prospective accounting clients will reach out to you only if they know they can trust you, and backlinks are a major trust signal. Backlinks from other authoritative sources, such as accounting-specific directories like Accounting Today and state CPA websites, vouch for your credibility.

Building a high-quality backlink profile from trusted sources supports your online reputation and boosts your organic rankings. You must avoid low-quality, spammy links or any unethical link-building practices, like buying backlinks or submitting to irrelevant directories. These practices may get you penalized by Google.

Here are practical backlinking tips for your accounting firm:

• Publish thought leadership content that you can contribute as guest posts to local business publications and reputable financial blogs 
• Partner with complementary local professional service businesses, like HR businesses, law firms, and payroll providers, to create joint resource pages
• Get editorial mentions by sponsoring or speaking at financial events such as small business owner exhibitions or local finance seminars
• Showcase your credentials on third-party platforms, like QuickBooks ProAdvisor 

7. Conduct technical SEO 

Technical SEO is the blood that keeps the heart of SEO pumping. It helps search engines find and understand your content so they can crawl, index, and rank your website. For your accounting website to be compliant and high quality, here are some technical SEO best practices to implement:

• Enable HTTPS security to assure clients that the personal financial information they may share with you is secure.
• Submit XML sitemaps, which are similar to financial statements, to provide search engines with an overview of your site and simplify crawling and indexing.
• Use schema markups or structured data to help you show up in rich results, like the local 3-pack.
• Fix broken links and 404 errors, then clean up unnecessary redirect claims that may be slowing down your site.
• Implement a clean and logical URL structure that ensures users and search engines can access all your service pages.

8. Keep up with performance reporting 

SEO is all about driving measurable business results. So, your SEO campaign can’t be complete without tracking your performance to determine what worked and what didn’t. Performance reporting is key for justifying your marketing budget to partners and stakeholders and measuring your SEO ROI.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is an effective tool for measuring SEO performance. It helps you measure organic traffic, conversion rates, and user behavior. These metrics tell you where your website stands and reveal potential growth opportunities.

At WebFX, we make data tracking seamless for our clients with RevenueCloudFX, our marketing automation software. It makes it easier for you to prove your ROI, connect marketing to revenue, and make data-driven decisions for SEO and other digital marketing campaigns. 

Ready to grow your accounting firm with SEO that works?

WebFX is an SEO agency that specializes in SEO for accoing firms. We have a dedicated team of 500+ SEO experts who understand how valuable your time and reputation are to your accounting firm. 

That’s why, we design custom SEO strategies to drive real results and attract more long-term clients. We provide a full-service SEO experience for our partners in the accounting business, so you can stay focused on billable hours. 

Whether you want to attract local clients during tax season, stand out in a competitive market, or build long-term authority online, our full-service approach has you covered. Contact us today to start the conversation on a custom SEO strategy for your company!

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