Accountancy firm leads
Many companies, accounting or otherwise, often overlook basic elements of their content marketing, which could help them to generate leads. Once a piece of content is produced and shared, it tends to get left in the blog archives without further attention. Or a service page isn’t updated for several years.
A content refresh is a valuable part of SEO strategies for accountants, enabling you to repurpose old content, thereby saving you the effort of creating something new. By breathing life into a languishing article, you can generate more traffic and leads with relatively little effort.
Of course, content marketing for accountants has its own challenges, so a content refresh must be approached in the right way to be effective. Here’s how to optimise your accounting content to boost views and conversions.
When to refresh accounting content
When people have a query around accounting, they go to the search engines for an accurate, up-to-date answer. If the content on your service pages or blog is out of date, users are unlikely to see it as credible for a current question.
With that in mind, it’s worth reviewing content every 6-12 months, or if anything significant has changed, such as IR35 regulations or tax guidelines. There are some other signs your content might need looking at too, including:
Broken links – If there are links to old articles or pages that are no longer live, you’ll need to assess whether you have an alternative page to link to, or whether you need to refresh your content.
Decreased organic traffic – If you notice a reduction in organic traffic to a page, it may be time to update it. Check your Google Analytics data to spot any downward trends in traffic.
Outdated sources – If you’re referencing studies, articles, or events that are no longer relevant, it’s time to update your article or page.
Change of approach – If your accountancy practice has changed its approach or services, or has undergone a rebrand and this isn’t reflected in your content, it’ll need to be addressed.
How to carry out a content refresh
If it’s been a while since you took a deep dive into the content on your website, or you’ve encountered any of the above issues, it’s time to refresh your accountancy practice’s content. Here are some simple ways to achieve this.
- Perform a content audit
The first step to refreshing your content is to carry out an audit across the site. This can be done over several weeks or months if you have a large number of pages. Begin by setting up and logging into Google Search Console. Then open the ‘Search results’ report and check the boxes for ‘total clicks’, ‘total impressions’, ‘average CTR’ and ‘average position’.
You’ll then need to toggle to ‘Pages’ to view the URLs that generate impressions and clicks, and have keyword rankings. This report will show you which pages are performing and which are not; those with a position of six or below are ready for a refresh.
- Perform updates
Export your list to keep tabs on which pages you’ve updated over time. You can make a variety of improvements to will help with your SEO, such as:
- Updating the page’s meta data, particularly the title tag
- Ensuring your primary and secondary keywords are included in the copy
- Updating any broken or outdated links
- Adding or editing content to incorporate current advice or regulations
You can then monitor the performance of the pages you have updated on Google Search Console to see if the changes have made a difference.
- Carry out a content gap analysis
A content gap analysis identifies any content that your competitors have that your website doesn’t. Of course, if they offer a particular service that you don’t, you shouldn’t add that content, but if there are content opportunities that will be valuable to you, you can find and exploit them.
The accounting industry is hugely competitive, so it’s useful to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing and using it to inform your strategy. There are SEO tools you can use to make this process easier, and these will show you any keywords for which your competitors are ranking and you are not.
With this information you can set about filling in the content gaps that have been revealed.
- Update case studies and reviews
Are your case studies several years old? Have you got reviews or testimonials on your site that have been there for a long time? Refreshing your case studies and adding recent testimonials to your site can help to ensure that potential clients are getting the most relevant and up-to-date information on your business.
In terms of tax and accounting, things change at a rapid pace, so if you’re displaying outdated case studies, users are going to wonder why there haven’t been any more recent successes. You can turn old case studies into articles and link to newer ones from your service pages.
For example, if you helped a client to streamline their finances and grow their business, you could write a ‘top tips’ article about how users can cut costs and maximise revenue.
How does a content refresh earn leads?
By refreshing your content, you’re opening the door to attracting additional traffic. Engaging, fresh content is picked up by the search engines, which can give your website greater visibility. With greater visibility in the search results comes the potential for more traffic – and if you have provided useful and relevant content that establishes your authority, you can persuade a passive reader to become a client.
Help with a content refresh
Content refreshes can be a time-consuming task, for which many accounting practices don’t have the time or resource. Here at Whitefish Marketing, we’re a specialist marketing agency for accountants, and can perform a content audit and create engaging content on your behalf. Chat to us today about our content and SEO services for accountants, and find out how we can help.
