Internet Marketing for CPAs: Blogging to Attract Leads

Today, even a beautiful, informative website is not enough to attract new leads. Right now your potential clients are searching the internet for quality content in the form of timely, authoritative accounting advice and industry news.

So how do CPAs establish their firm as a local voice of authority? Inbound marketing—a content-driven internet marketing strategy—gives you several platforms to showcase your expertise and improves your search engine ranking (SEO).

One crucial element of effective inbound marketing is blogging. However, your blog should not be a place where you post a few articles and then hope the content ranks in search engines. Blogging is an on-going marketing tool to help meet your firm’s objectives.

Internet marketing for CPAs means meeting company objectives that include

·         delighting your current customers with ongoing, quality accounting advice, which will cause them to endorse your services to friends and family;

·         becoming an invaluable resource for taxpayers in your town;

·         establishing your reputation as an expert; and

·         attracting new customers.

To help accomplish these goals, CPAs must include weekly blogging in their marketing strategy. In this article, you will learn why you must publish high-quality posts every week and how to optimize each post for search engines.

Why CPAs Must Blog

It’s simple: Regular blogging means you are creating new content for search engines to “crawl”. And if you optimize your articles with keywords, you will see not only an increase in traffic but also in qualified visitors.

Content marketing is the solution for today’s marketers, and if your competition isn’t already blogging, they soon will be. So, let’s get started.

Create a List of Keywords

Keywords are words and phrases that people will type into a search engine to find accounting advice in your area. The most effective keywords are long-tailed ones that are two to four words long. Create a hierarchical list of long-tailed keywords that best represent your services or those that will be popular blog topics. Be sure to include your town name, state, or county in some of them.

Here is a sample list to help you get started:

1.       2015 tax preparation

2.       North Carolina tax tips

3.       Dare County accountants

4.       2015 income tax tips

5.       small business accounting advice

6.       Nags Head tax consulting

7.       NC income tax tips

8.       federal income tax preparation

Over time, you will likely revise your list after you study which keywords generate the most web traffic. Install a tracking analytics service, such as Google’s. Google offers a basic analytics service that is free, plus an option for more in-depth features for a fee.

Use your long-tailed keywords in the following ways:

·         Article URLs: For example, instead of publishing a blog post URL such as “www.cpacompany.com/tax-tips,” use specific titles like “www.cpacompany.com/2015-nc-tax-tips.” Separate keyword terms with hyphens, not spaces or underscores.

·         Article Titles: Title your posts with specific terms. For example, use “2015 NC Tax Tips for Small Businesses” instead of “Tax Tips.” Never use obscure, vague, or “clever” titles for the sake of creativity—it is important to be clear, not only for your users but also for search engines.

·         Article Text: Place your keywords in the first or second sentence of each article. Then use the same phrase a couple more times within the page. Be sure that you do not stuff a post with key terms as your content might be identified as “spammy” by search engines.

·         Image Titles:  Title image file names with keywords. For example, instead of using the default image title automatically created by your camera, such as “IMG12345.jpg,” name it “income-tax-tips.jpg.” Also, never leave spaces in your image titles, always separate words with hyphens.

·         Image Tags: If you have a content management website such as WordPress™, make sure that you fill in the “alt” tag option with keywords (up to four words). Alternate tags not only help improve your site’s SEO, these tags describe images to blind users.

·         Meta Data: WordPress makes it easy to insert keywords into your posts’ “meta titles” and “meta descriptions.” The meta description is the descriptive paragraph that appears under individual blog article meta titles in a search query results listing. However, never populate the “meta keywords” field as this meta data is now considered obsolete by Google.

Craft SEO-Friendly Titles

Professionals who blog regularly know that dreaming up new titles can be a challenge. But you not only need a catchy title, you need a search-engine-friendly one. You must ask yourself what your potential clients are looking for on the internet. They are often searching for advice, so title your article accordingly. Here are a few examples:

·         “How to…”

·         “2015 Tax Laws on…”

·         “10 Accounting Tips for…”

Format Articles for the Readers

·         Avoid lengthy paragraphs.

·         Always include relevant images that are neatly aligned with the text.

·         Avoid using industry-specific jargon. Some people will leave your site if your articles are too technical. Plus, most potential clients will not be typing jargon into a search engine.

·         Break up long pages of text with subtitles, horizontal rules, bulleted and numbered lists, images, and/or subtle graphics.

·         Studies show that web users struggle while reading long lines of text. So, instead of stretching text across the full length of a blog page where there is no built-in sidebar, use columns of text like those in a newspaper.

·         Use text bolding for emphasis only. If you bold large sections of an article, you will lose the power to highlight a particular idea.

·         Unless you are formatting poetry or short quotes, never center-align large sections of text.

·         Limit text colors and font sizes. Stick with your site's predefined formatting theme.

More Blogging Tips

1.       Promote one keyword phrase in each article. Don’t attempt to stuff an article with three different long-tailed keywords.    

3.       Make sure that your blog articles contain 500 to 600 words.

4.       Use unique, relevant images and graphics.

5.       Include a call-to-action link in each article that takes visitors to a page on your website where they supply their contact information in exchange for a valuable content download such as a free whitepaper, eBook, or training video.

6.       Share your articles through your social media accounts.

7.       Encourage comments and always post timely replies.

With time, CPA firms will witness an increase in web traffic and lead conversions when they combine blogging with other inbound marketing efforts, such as social media interaction, email newsletters, and content offers.

Need help getting started with inbound marketing for CPAs? Contact the experts at 855-372-8392.

We look forward to helping our customers CREATE leads, CONNECT with customers, and GROW their business.

Real Estate Marketing: Blogging on the Rise

A recent study released by LinkedIn showed that 87% of content marketers are using social media platforms as part of their marketing tactics. Of those marketers, 91% prefer LinkedIn over its competitors.  Twitter and Facebook account for 85% and 81%, respectively. Real estate agents, in particular, see social media as an affordable platform to increase their visibility in the market, deliver improved customer service, and provide timely feedback and customer engagement. But there are other marketing tactics to consider.

Just behind social media, articles on websites (81%), and email newsletters (80%), blogging is making strides. Despite its affordability, businesses disregarded blogging as an effective tool just a few years ago. Today, blogging is seen as a sufficient development and marketing tool for most businesses, including real estate. There are a number of reasons for the increase in blog activity, and these are just a few:

• Blogs are now highly regarded as credible sources of news, insight, and information.

• Blogs do exceedingly well in internet search engines, thereby increasing traffic to your website.

• Blogs can be used to develop relationships with prospective homebuyers and sellers as well as nurture existing relationships with current customers.

• Blogs are more apt to be shared socially. As aforementioned, 87% of content marketers are using social media to gain recognition. Blog sharing through these channels will, not surprisingly, increase the amount of influence you have in your market.

• Real estate agents are creating leads and gaining customers as a result of blogging.

For your blog to be effective, you will need to gain an audience by establishing a reputation of expertise and developing content that will drive potential customers to your website.  Perhaps you’re wondering what kind of content will attract this attention. The most important thing to focus on is the customer.

Real estate agents are in the business of helping people buy and sell their homes, and this process comes with a lot of questions. By providing content that will suffice as answers to your customers’ concerns, you will develop authority and a voice in your market. You may also consider using blogging as a means to show your knowledge of the real estate market, the current housing trends, as well as real estate and mortgage news updates.

If you’re interested in blogging but don’t know where to begin, Paveya’s experts can help.  If you plan to start a blog or already have an existing one, we have a few helpful tips to consider:

1. Be consistent.  People tend to follow blogs similarly to the way they watch the news or read their favorite newspaper or magazine. They want information that they can rely on and in a timely fashion. If your posting becomes erratic, people may forget to follow you. To prevent this from happening, schedule your blogs to post on a specific timeline.  Consistency proves your sincerity towards your blogging and your business.
2. Format your blog in a professional manner. Providing a clear format—one that includes headlines, short paragraphs, bullet points, and images—will give your readers a chance to skim the content. Poor formatting will likely turn readers away.
3. Be precise. Write on specific topics and avoid ambiguity and general references. Your customers want explicit answers to their questions.
4. Develop unique content. If you find information that you want to share, be sure to site your sources. However, your goal should be to establish a voice of expertise in your subject matter, so original content is best.

For additional blogging and real estate marketing tips, contact Paveya at 855-372-8392.

We look forward to helping our customers CREATE leads, CONNECT with customers, and GROW their business.

Internet Marketing for CPAs: SEO Tips

Gone are the days when passing out brochures or promotional items, sending holiday greeting cards through the post office, or throwing a customer appreciation party will bring new customers into your office. Even a website is not enough. Today, potential clients are searching the internet for quality content and connecting with social media friends to find the best CPA in their town. So, to attract qualified customers, CPAs must embrace inbound marketing, a content-driven internet marketing strategy, or risk being trumped by the competition.

Effective inbound marketing starts with a website that is optimized for search engines (SEO). In this article, you will learn the basics of SEO that will benefit any CPA firm.

CPA Marketers

As a CPA, part of your job is marketing, and your ultimate marketing goals are

·         to delight your current customers with ongoing, quality accounting advice, which will cause them to endorse your services to friends;

·         to become an invaluable resource for taxpayers in your town;

·         to establish your reputation as an expert; and

·         to attract new customers.

To accomplish this, CPAs must begin by examining the performance of their website. If your website is not listed in the top pages of search queries related to your niche industry, many potential clients will not recognize you as a voice of authority or they might not even know that you exist.

Keywords

Keywords are words and phrases that people will type into a search engines to find your services. For example, use long-tailed keywords in:

·         Page URLs: Instead of publishing a page URL such as “cpacompany.com/services”, use titles like “cpacompany.com/tax-consulting” or “cpacompany.com/accounting-services”. Publish separate pages for each of your CPA services and populate it lightly with keyword phrases. Keep in mind that must people will not use CPA-specific jargon to search for your services, so, unless you are targeting industry professional, remove it.

·         Page Titles: Title your pages with brief, specific words. For example, use “Small Business Accounting” instead of “Accounting."

·         Page Text

·         Images:  file names and “alt” ta."

Quality Content

Social Media

Social media for CPAs? Absolutely. If you post insightful and useful tips for your followers, you can expect to pick up new clients with time. Interact with your followers. Use this potentially wide-reaching platform to answer accounting questions and offer tax tips. Headlines such as “10 Common Tax Mistakes to Avoid”, “5 Changes to Tax Laws Every Business Owner Must Know”, or “Tax Exemptions for Homeowners” will keep your users tuned in.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing begins with a website that is optimized for search engines (SEO), a social media campaign that engages followers, and a blog populated with high-quality content.

Blogging

Some CPAs dismiss marketing as a waste and believe that you just need to do a great job for clients or have lunch with a few possible referral sources and awesome new clients will consistently appear over time.  Their fear of the unknown world of marketing and potentially wasting money prevents them from being open-minded and even trying to understand its value.

The “Definers:” Other accountants choose to define marketing as whatever feels most comfortable for them.

“Marketing is a brochure.”

“Marketing is a website.”

“Promotional items are marketing.”

“Marketing is advertising.”

Accountants with this mindset will “check the box” that they have done “marketing” and made the proper investment.  What the “Definers” haven’t done is check out what their marketing-savvy competitors are doing to grow and even win over their clients!  The fear factor prevents these professionals from taking a hard look at what’s going on around them and embracing current marketing strategies to compete.

FEAR OF FAILURE

You didn’t enter in the CPA profession to write creative blogs, build engaged audiences on social media, speak to the media as an authority or shoot videos for your firm’s website.  Another reality check –> whether you like it or not, marketing is part of your job!  The fear of not being good at particular forms of marketing is often accepted as an excuse, and these professionals – including Partners – are granted passes to not participate.

But what if your competitors push their CPAs out of their comfort zones?  What if they mandate participation in marketing and provide training to their professionals from day one on the job?  You may not see the impact of “no marketing” immediately, but over a period of time your firm will find it very challenging to win substantial new clients.  You and your firm will be left behind.

If your firm has been paralyzed in some way by a fear of marketing, don’t try to make up for lost time in an ad-hoc, random and frenzied fashion.  Hire or consult with an experienced marketing specialist who will be able to relate and understand the dynamics at play and develop strategies and programs to get your accounting firm on the right track.  It’s never too late to conquer your marketing fears!