Link building tactics
Local SEO is a key part of digital marketing for accountants, and acquiring links forms the backbone of your efforts. Gaining links from local sites that have relevance to your website is essential if you want to improve your presence in local search results (i.e. results for a query that contains the name of your town and nearby areas, such as ‘accountancy firm in Folkestone’).
Here, we look at some tried and tested local link building tactics that will help you perform better in the search results.
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Guest post on relevant local sites
One of the best and most proven local SEO strategies for accountants is guest posting on relevant websites. The search engines reward the acquisition of high-quality backlinks from trusted sources, so the first step is to seek out businesses that are both local to you and within your niche.
As an accountant, you might contact legal firms, the local Chamber of Commerce, or business coaches to pitch a post. If you offer wealth management services, you could also get in touch with funeral directors, life insurance providers and pension providers. Consider their audience and how you can tailor the content of your article to suit their clients.
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Get featured on resource pages
A link on a resource page is helpful to both your business and to clients looking for your services. In order to get featured on the resource page of an authoritative website, you’ll need to first create something of value to the local community. This might be a guide to local business rates and taxation, for example. You’ll then need to search for sites that may find it useful to link to your content, and offer it as a resource. The sites will ideally have a decent domain-level authority rating that will strengthen the kudos of your site.
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Local directory submissions
The time of extensive directory submissions to boost rankings is long over, but that doesn’t mean they are altogether obsolete. In fact, listing your business in local directories can have a positive impact on SEO for accountants, particularly if you’re selective about where you post listings. Local sites such as Business Directory Kent or the directory of a local newspaper or lifestyle magazine can be worthwhile.
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Research competitor backlinks
There are plenty of tools that will help you find out which sites are linking to competitors but not to you. Start by finding locally based competitors that rank well in local search results, then use a tool such as Ahref backlinks or SEO spyglass to make a list of sites that would be useful for you to have a link from. Then approach them for opportunities, either with a guest post or by offering to augment an existing article of theirs with data from your own research.
Get help with link building
Searching for link-building opportunities and creating content for them can be time-consuming. If your business is looking for assistance with its local SEO performance, Whitefish Marketing can help. As a specialist marketing agency for accounting firms, we have over a decade of experience helping companies improve their position in the search engine results, and can tailor a strategy to suit your goals. Contact us today for a consultation.
