SEO or PPC
There are all sorts of ways to carry out digital marketing, so for busy practice owners it can be hard to know where to start. If you’re searching for an agency to help with your accountancy marketing, you might hear them throw a lot of jargon around that only makes things more confusing.
You may have heard that SEO and PPC should form the basis of your strategy, but what do these terms mean and why do you need them? And which is best if you only have the resource to invest fully in one? Here, we explain more about SEO and PPC, and weigh up which is best as a long term investment.
What are SEO and PPC?
SEO stands for search engine optimisation. It is the practice of optimising your website and content with the aim of showing Google (and other search engines) that it is the most relevant and valuable resource for consumers when they search for a specific term or question.
PPC stands for Pay Per Click, and is a form of paid advertising that gives you more control over which search terms your advertising appears for, and how high up the results page they are displayed. The more you pay, the higher your position is likely to be.
What is involved with SEO for accountants?
Optimising your website for the search engines helps to improve your visibility, giving you exposure to a wider audience and helping to ultimately generate leads. But it’s not just about shoehorning lots of keywords into your copy. For some years now, Google has placed user experience highly when ranking a site, and content that is considered to be low quality (full of unnecessary keywords and not reader-friendly) isn’t given as much authority as that which is of a high quality, and provides value to readers.
There’s also the technical aspects to consider. Behind the scenes, your website needs to be performing to a certain level in order to be ranked highly by search engines. That means pages and their elements (such as imagery and video) need to load quickly, code needs to be clean, the site architecture should be well structured, and links between pages should be included in the copy where relevant.
The final piece of the puzzle is link building. Links to your site that come from other high-quality, authoritative websites give yours kudos, signalling to the search engines that your business has credibility. Getting these links requires the building of relationships with other business owners and offering to provide content in exchange for a link back to your site. You can also obtain links through PR.
All this has the benefit not only of optimising your site’s position in the search engines for your chosen keywords, it’s also generally good practice for enhancing your online presence.
The consideration is that in a crowded and competitive marketplace, there’s a finite number of spaces on the first page of the search results. And with the first five results scooping up 67.6% of all clicks, even with the best SEO, you may not get much traffic for certain, broader search terms. That’s where PPC comes in.
What is involved with PPC for accounting firms?
Pay Per Click offers much more immediate results than SEO, which is typically a slow-burn process that takes several months to yield results. With PPC, campaigns can be turned on or off at the touch of a button, and you can get straight to page one simply by bidding highly enough for your chosen keyword.
The amount you pay for a term depends on several factors. Adding in a location, for example, such as “accounting firms in Kent” will be cheaper than bidding on “accounting firms”, as there’s less competition.
PPC is a fairly complex game, with all sorts of considerations and refinements to be made along the way. You’ll need to optimise your campaigns by showing adverts at the most advantageous times of day, bidding strategically on keywords, and setting budgets so you don’t run through your entire month’s spend within a week. Then there’s ad copy to hone, click through rates to improve, and much more.
One of the main benefits of PPC is that you can dip in and out if you choose. You can use it strategically to get brand exposure at key times, when the Self-Assessment Tax Return deadline rolls around, for example. Putting an offer on your services and advertising it via PPC can gain you a little extra business.
Of course, the main consideration for PPC is budget. If you only have a small amount to spend each month, you’re never going to be able to compete with those who have hundreds – or even thousands – to spend.
Which is best in the long term?
When it comes to the best marketing strategies for accounting firms, the ideal balance of SEO and PPC really depends on your circumstances, budget and goals. Every organisation is different, so while some will be able to afford PPC spend long term, others might prefer to choose SEO as the basis of their long term strategy, and supplement with PPC at key times in their calendar. Generally speaking, this is a sound approach, as SEO is so integral to your overall digital presence.
The effort required to execute an effective SEO strategy, however, does put some companies off trying to do it themselves. This is perfectly reasonable – with so many other balls to juggle, adding extra tasks to the mix can feel overwhelming. Choosing to use an agency that specialises in SEO services for accountants can remove the pressure of creating and implementing a strategy, enabling you to leave the graft to an expert.
Here at Whitefish Marketing, we offer SEO and PPC for accountants, and can help you design a comprehensive marketing strategy that suits your needs and budget. Chat to us today to learn more.
