Building a successful accountancy website
When it comes to being visible in the search engines, the work starts with your accountancy website build. Regardless of how many keywords you use, how much meta data you add and how compelling your calls to action are, your site is going to struggle to perform in the search results if the basic building blocks aren’t in place.
So whether you’re creating an accountancy website for your new venture or having a site refresh for your well-established firm, here are eight dos and don’ts to bear in mind.
- DO put SEO research first
Well-ranking accountancy websites start their journey with SEO research. Before you have a single element designed, or add a single paragraph of content, you’ll need to understand the factors that influence search engine rankings.
Websites that rank well are built to optimise page speed, minimise unnecessary plug-ins, contain clear code, and include the relevant structured data. All these features lay the groundwork for high rankings, as they provide signals to the search engines regarding what your site is about and how good the user experience is.
- DON’T choose a bad hosting platform
If you have a timeframe in which to complete your accountancy website, it can be tempting to opt for a generic hosting platform. Drag and drop website builders often leave you with unnecessary code, which impacts how quickly and smoothly the site loads. Using a poor platform can also limit which features you’re able to implement, preventing you from scaling up your site as your business grows.
- DO optimise user experience
Good website design for accountants doesn’t just look pretty, it also provides an optimal user experience. This means that the site is easy to use on mobile devices, offers simple and intuitive navigation, and loads quickly. Your designer might have suggestions about where to place certain elements based on the natural movements of the eye, or advice about the use of imagery, colour, font, and white space. It’s worth bearing these recommendations in mind, particularly when they’re backed by research.
- DON’T rely on plug-ins and JavaScript
Plug-ins and JavaScript can impact the load times of a page, which will in turn limit your website’s ability to rank highly in the search results. Both elements can offer benefits, but try to use them sparingly, and ask your developer to implement them in a way that doesn’t negatively affect page speeds. Also bear in mind that, while JavaScript can make an accountancy website more dynamic, not all browsers have it enabled, meaning some users won’t be able to access any functionality that it offers.
- DO leave plenty of time for content creation
Content creation is a core part of your website and SEO strategy. When creating websites for accountants, we at Whitefish Marketing never recommend a blanket migration of content from the old site to the new. There should always be some reviewing and rewriting that takes place, even if a full package of new content isn’t required.
Many businesses begin by saying they’ll do the content themselves – and then find out that creating good copy with the relevant keywords in place is harder than it seems. The copy then becomes a last-minute project that doesn’t necessarily reflect your brand, or has to be outsourced at elevated costs due to the tight timescale.
With that in mind, begin your content reviews or writing early in the project. Carry out extensive keyword research before you start, and structure content intuitively, with landing pages and detail pages that each provide a clear subject. Engaging a professional copywriter can be hugely beneficial, as it takes the work off your hands and ensures that the text is structured optimally and contains all the appropriate keywords.
- DON’T forget about meta data and schema
Elements such as meta data and schema markup help the search engines to identify what your site is all about, which in turn helps with indexing and ranking. Title tags and meta descriptions can be applied to each page and not only let search engines know what they are about, but also provide a short summary of what users can expect when they click on a link to the page.
Title tags and meta data should ideally include your primary keyword, and should also include a location term to help your rankings for local search. An example might be:
VAT services for Kent businesses | ABC Accountants
Adding schema markup, meanwhile, is directly for the benefit of the search engines, and helps them to understand the name, logo and contact information of your business, any key individuals that operate within it, the business’ location, its products, and more. It’s added to the code of relevant pages to help them rank better for different types of content.
- DO implement a sitemap
Including a sitemap is a simple yet vital part of good SEO. The sitemap does exactly what it suggests: it maps out each of the pages on your website and offers a navigation point that directs how to get to each. It provides any bots crawling your site with a clear idea of what your website contains, how your pages are structured, and where to rank them.
- DON’T neglect internal linking
In addition to a sitemap, you should internally link landing pages to one another. This helps users to navigate your site and find other content that’s related to that which they’re viewing. It also helps bots to identify the key pages on your site, and enables any new pages that are added to rank quicker, by associating them with existing pages.
Links can be placed in the header and footer of the page, as well as in the copy. When creating internal links, think about the anchor text you use. For example, in the phrase, “View the latest changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax here”, you’re better off using ‘changes to Stamp Duty Land Tax’ as anchor text than the word, ‘here’.
Create a successful website
If you’re looking to create a new website or refresh your existing one, get off to a flying start with help from Whitefish Marketing. As accountancy marketing specialists, we will ensure your website is designed and developed for success, right from the outset. Chat to our experts today to learn more.
