Stop Being Invisible: A Guide to SEO for Accounting Firms

Modern SEO is considerably more difficult than SEO in 2010.

That’s largely because, with AI being able to generate entire articles in a matter of minutes, you have to work harder to stand out and prove your expertise.

But notice how I said “more difficult” but not “less effective”?

That’s because with modern search engines prioritizing authority and expertise more than ever, they have gotten very good at matching user search intent with the right content.

This means that if you can demonstrate real expertise, the traffic you attract is more qualified than ever.

In this article, you’ll learn practical SEO tactics that will help the right clients find you and turn your website into a lead generation machine that works while you sleep.

Let’s go!

How Does SEO Work for an Accounting Firm?

SEO, or search engine optimization, is the process of making your website show up when the right people are searching for what you do.

SEO for accountants works fundamentally the same as in most industries.

Google crawls your website, evaluates your content, and decides where to rank you relative to everyone else competing for the same searches.

The goal is to appear high enough in keyword rankings to attract relevant website traffic (i.e., people who are actively looking for accounting help).

Over time, that authority compounds, and it will pull your rankings and traffic up with it.

As an example, Pilot, a bookkeeping and accounting firm, gets thousands of traffic per month from keyword searches like “bookkeeping services” and “small business accounting services.”

Here’s how it works in practice.

You target specific keywords based on the accounting services you offer and the clients you want to attract.

For instance, a firm focused on e-commerce businesses might target “bookkeeping for Shopify sellers.”

Or, a tax-focused firm might go after “tax planning for self-employed Canadians.”

You then write highly valuable, relevant blog posts or other types of resources targeted toward your ideal clients.

Do this consistently over time and it tells search engines that you know what you’re talking about, who you serve, and that people are finding your content useful.

What About AEO, GEO, and AIO?

You may have started seeing these terms floating around lately.

Here’s what each stands for:

• AEO = Answer Engine Optimization
• GEO = Generative Engine Optimization
• AIO = AI Optimization

They all refer to essentially the same thing:

Optimizing your content to appear in AI-powered search tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google’s AI Overviews.

Here’s an example of Google AI Overview in action when I asked it about the best coaching programs for accounting firms. 😉

That doesn’t mean ditching your SEO efforts completely.

(You’ll risk losing your authority by doing that.)

Rather, think of them as a new layer to the search engine game, similar to how keyword stuffing was penalized to improve the overall quality of Google search results.

I’m sure you’ll find no shortage of people arguing over this. 🙂

But to keep things simple:

The best thing you can do for both traditional SEO and AI-driven search is write content that your readers will find truly helpful and valuable.

In other words, content that answers their questions and addresses their real pain points.

SEO Gets People to Your Door, But How Do You Grow Your Firm?

In the next section, I’ll share SEO tactics to help your accounting firm show up in front of the right people.

But getting found is only one part of the equation.

Once someone lands on your website, you’ll need to convert them into clients, price your services profitably, and make sure they’re not leading to overwork for your team.

That’s what you’ll learn in my free Future Firm newsletter.

Three times a week, I share strategies that you can implement right away…

So you can grow your accounting firm into a business you enjoy without figuring it all out the hard way.

19 SEO Tips to Improve Your Accounting Firm’s Visibility

Tip 1: Setup Google My Business

46% of all Google searches are seeking local information.

This means keywords with the phrases “near me,” “nearby,” etc.

For example, if someone in Montreal were looking for a local accounting firm, they would type something like this into Google:

As you can see, my previous accounting firm, Xen Accounting, shows up early on in the search results and on Google’s recommended map.

That’s because I had previously optimized the website for local search results.

Optimizing your local SEO profile and getting yourself on the map starts with setting up and completing your Google My Business account.

(It’s easy, and Google will guide you through the process.)

Having an optimized Google Business profile is one of the strongest (and easiest) SEO tactics, so make sure not to overlook it!

Tip 2: Write Quality Blog Content

Your blog is a great way to drive traffic to your site if you can optimize your posts for SEO purposes.

If your blog post is highly relevant, is of high quality, and satisfies search intent, Google is much more likely to want to rank you on their first page.

Google search is very smart, so it knows what blog post is of high quality and what will satisfy search intent, and what won’t.

No matter how the rules of the game change, high-quality content will always be at the core of an effective SEO strategy.

Here are some writing tips:

• Write for your ideal client, not for Google. Ask yourself: “Would my best client find this genuinely useful?” If the answer is no, start over.
• Cover a topic fully. A 2,000-word guide that answers every question around one topic will almost always outperform five shallow 400-word posts.
• Use headers, short paragraphs, and bullet points to make your content easy to skim. If it looks like a wall of text, most readers won’t even try.
• Answer the actual question someone typed into Google, not a slightly different question you’d rather answer.
• Include your own experience and opinions. Generic content that could have been written by anyone can easily be generated. Google will ignore content like that.

So focus on quality, rather than quantity, to help get your blog posts to the top of the search engines!

Tip 3: Research Relevant Keywords

You could write the absolute best blog post in the world, but if no one is interested in that topic, that blog post will be useless from a strategic standpoint since it will net you no traffic.

To solve this, use a keyword research tool to show you how many searched for a keyword (i.e., a search query) in Google each month and to tell you how hard it will be to get your blog post ranking on Google’s first-page search results.

As an example, using the free Ahrefs keyword generator, the “how to do a cash flow projection” keyword produces the following result:

You can see that over 100 people search for this keyword each month (i.e., decent volume) with an easy keyword difficulty.

This means that, compared to other, more in-demand keywords, your content can rank for this keyword if your content is helpful and you prove your expertise in your content.

Tip 4: Write About Topics, Not Just Keywords

Following up on the last tip about researching relevant keywords, this step takes it a bit further.

There used to be a time when just writing the keywords gets you far.

But that’s not the case anymore. Instead of writing keywords, you have to write about the keywords.

Google wants more than just keyword-focused posts, it looks for content that shows real expertise and authority.

This is part of Google’s EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness), which helps Google figure out if content is high-quality, reliable, and created by someone who knows what they’re talking about.

Here’s a good breakdown of what the EEAT guidelines are:

Instead of writing a bunch of short posts for each keyword, focus on covering a full topic that shows you’re an expert.

For example, instead of writing one post called “What is a Tax Deduction?” and another called “Top 5 Tax Deductions,” combine them into a helpful guide like “The Ultimate Guide to Tax Deductions for Small Businesses.”

This gives your readers more value and shows Google you know what you’re talking about.

Tip 5: Get Backlinks

A backlink is a hyperlink from someone else’s website to your accounting website.

The process of getting backlinks is called link building.

Here’s an example of a backlink from Karbon’s blog page back to my site:

A backlink gives a signal to Google that others are talking about you and that your website is valuable, useful, and credible.

The more relevant backlinks you have, the better it will be for your SEO.

Not all backlinks are created equally though. A link from an authoritative website that isn’t related to what you won’t mean much.

Also, keep in mind that this SEO strategy usually involves reaching out to people to ask for a link.

Before jumping into this SEO strategy, I’d recommend a bit of research. This guide from Backlinko is a good place to start.

Tip 6: Write Guest Blog Posts

One of the most effective ways to build backlinks is to write guest posts for other websites in your niche.

The pitch is simple:

You provide a high-quality article for free, and in return, you get a link back to your site.

Keep these things in mind:

• Target websites that are relevant to your niche and have real authority. A link from a respected accounting or small business publication is worth far more than a link from a random blog.
• Don’t just pitch any topic. Pitch something genuinely useful to their audience. The better the post, the more likely they’ll say yes.

It takes some effort to land these, but a handful of quality guest posts on the right websites can move the needle in your SEO.

Tip 7: Use Internal Links

In tip 4 you learned about what a backlink is, which required you to get a hyperlink back to your site on someone else’s site.

Internal linking is even easier.

An internal link is just a link from one page on your website to another page on your website.

You can see in the example below, that one of blog posts links to another of my blog posts.

For example, let’s say you have a really important blog post on your site, and there are 15 other pages on your website linking to it.

This tells Google that this is a high-value article and that they should pay closer attention to it, which can help improve that page’s chances of ranking higher on Google.

Tip 8: Optimize Existing Content

Have you written a whole bunch of blog posts months or even years ago?

Good news! We can optimize those to show up more favorably in Google’s search results.

Here’s a nifty tool called Surfer SEO that I’ve been using to optimize not only current but past content as well:

Pop in the keyword you’re targeting (in my example, it was “tiered pricing”) along with the contents of your blog post, and the tool will analyze the current top 10 Google results and let you know what other keyword and content you should add to your blog post to improve your SEO score.

It’s a pretty neat way to help with your organic search results.

Tip 9: Speed Up Your Accounting Firm’s Website

Google wants its users to have an excellent experience and that won’t be possible if they send their users to websites that are slow as molasses.

Use Google PageSpeed Insights to see how fast (or slow) your desktop and mobile website is.

To do this, I recommend…

Tip 10: Get Help With Technical SEO

You’ll probably need some help in this area, as improving your technical SEO, is, errrr… technical.

Technical SEO is the process of making sure that your website meets the requirements of modern search engines.

Again, it’s technical, but a good web developer should be able to assist in this area.

Here’s a pretty good guide on the topic.

Tip 11: Use Yoast to Tweak On-Page SEO Optimizations

On-page SEO refers to the process of optimizing specific web pages with the goal of ranking them higher in Google.

And luckily, there are a few simple optimizations you can make through the use of a free WordPress plugin called Yoast.

At the bottom of each blog post, Yoast will show you the things you’re doing right and the things you can improve for a given keyword:

And if you don’t understand their suggestions, just click the respective links in the tool and you’ll get instructions.

Tip 12: Improve Your Meta Descriptions

A meta description is a blurb that appears under your web page link in Google:

A poorly written meta description that doesn’t generate interest in your content can lead to low click-through rates, which tells Google that your content might not be worthwhile.

Analyze your meta descriptions to see which ones might need to be tweaked to get more people clicking on your links.

Tip 13: Make Sure Your Site is Mobile Friendly

Since almost 60% of Google searches are from a mobile device, Google wants to ensure users have a smooth mobile experience.

If your site isn’t mobile-friendly, you could be losing potential clients before they even get a chance to know what you offer.

A quick way to check would be Googling your site on your phone and see how it looks.

If it’s hard to read, slow to load, or not properly set up for mobile, it’s time to speak with your web developer or digital marketing team to get this sorted.

A mobile-friendly site can make all the difference in turning visitors into leads.

If you want to learn more about attracting new clients, check out my blog post on lead generation for accounting firms.

Tip 14: Get Google Reviews

This goes hand-in-hand with the very first tip in this article.

One of the biggest ranking factors in local SEO is Google reviews:

Ask your loyal clients to leave you a Google review or make it a habit to ask for a review as soon as you land wins for your clients. Business leads and potential clients can be generated by good reviews.

If don’t know how to ask your clients for Google reviews, you can use this template that I shared on LinkedIn:

Collecting more Google reviews is one of the best strategies to bring in new clients and grow your accounting firm.

If you’re interested in more tips like this, I also wrote an article about accounting marketing strategies.

Tip 15: Seek a Professional SEO for Accountants Audit

This might be confusing for most accounting firms.

And just to be upfront, I’m not claiming to be an expert here.

If you have no clue where to start on your SEO journey or if any of the above confuses you, working an SEO professional will be helpful.

They can perform an SEO audit of your site and help you make improvements as you go.

This could be an individual consultant or a dedicated SEO agency that can focus on SEO.

Beware though: I see a lot of SEO services that are generally just a load of hot air.

Tip 16: Optimize for AEO/GEO

As mentioned earlier in this article, AEO and GEO refer to optimizing your content for AI-powered search tools.

This is still emerging territory.

Nobody has fully cracked the code on this yet.

But here’s what we do know…

AI tools are trying to do the same thing Google has always tried to do: give the person asking a question the most helpful, accurate, and trustworthy answer possible.

The mechanism is different, but the goal is the same.

Which means the fundamentals still apply.

Here are a few practical things you can do right now:

• Structure your content around questions. Use headings that mirror how your ideal client would actually phrase a search query. “What’s the difference between a bookkeeper and an accountant?” performs better than “Bookkeeper vs. Accountant” because it matches the way people ask questions to AI tools.
• Go deep on your topics. A single, comprehensive guide on “Tax Planning for Small Business Owners” will serve you far better than five shallow posts loosely related to the same subject. AI tools pull from content that thoroughly covers a topic, not content that skims it.
• Be the authority. Include your own expertise, real examples, and specific insights. Generic content that could have been written by anyone tends to get ignored by readers and AI tools alike.

Nobody knows exactly how this space will evolve.

That said, and like always, firms that focus on genuinely helping their readers will be well-positioned no matter how the rules change.

Tip 17: Apply Schema Markup

Schema markup is a piece of structured data code that you add to your website’s HTML to give search engines more context about your content.

Think of it as a translator between your website and Google.

It helps search engines understand not just what your page says, but what it means.

For accounting firms, here are the practical benefits:

• Rich snippets: Schema can trigger enhanced search results that display additional information like star ratings, FAQs, or business hours directly in Google’s results, making your listing stand out from everyone else on the page.
• Better content understanding: It helps search engines correctly categorize your services, location, and expertise rather than having to guess.
• Improved click-through rates: When your result shows more information upfront, more people click.

Now, I’ll be honest…

This is one of the more technical tips on this list and you’ll likely need a developer to implement it properly.

But it’s a one-time setup that can have a lasting impact on how your firm shows up in search results.

If you want to learn more, Google’s own Structured Data documentation is a solid place to start.

Tip 18: Regularly Update Your Published Content

Regularly updating existing content is a strategic practice that I consistently employ to ensure that the information on my website remains relevant and valuable.

As you can see on the screenshot, the published date of this very article and what it is now are different.

Changing the date is easy, but unless you didn’t update the post itself, it won’t matter much.

You have to change or add something legitimately so that the algorithm would recognize the change in dates as valid.  

Search engines often prioritize recently updated or published articles, recognizing the value of fresh and relevant content.

Overall, by revisiting and optimizing existing articles, I keep the content of my blog fresh, accurate, up-to-date, and SEO-friendly.

Tip 19: Build a Well-Designed Website

This one might seem obvious, but a poorly designed website can easily undermine every other SEO effort on this list.

Here’s why design matters for SEO specifically:

• User experience: Google pays attention to how people behave on your site. If visitors land on your page and leave immediately, that’s a signal that your content isn’t worth ranking. A clean, easy-to-navigate site keeps people around longer.
• Crawlability and indexing: A well-structured website makes it easier for search engine bots to find and index your content. If Google can’t crawl your site properly, it can’t rank it.
• Security: Search engines prioritize secure websites. If your site isn’t running on HTTPS, fix that first.

One more thing worth keeping in mind: visitors won’t read your website the way they’d read a book.

They skim, scan, and make a split-second decision about whether to stay or leave.

So design for that.

Use clear headlines, short paragraphs, and obvious calls to action.

Make it effortless for someone to figure out what you do, who you do it for, and what to do next.

If you’re looking for inspiration on what a great accounting firm website actually looks like, check out my roundup of the best accounting firm websites.

Measuring and Monitoring SEO Success

Remember, SEO is an ongoing process. Consistent monitoring and adaptation are vital for long-term success. Here are the key aspects of measuring and monitoring your SEO performance.

1. Traffic Analysis

Start with the basics: how many people are finding your site through organic search, and is that number growing?

Google Analytics is your go-to here.

Once you have a handle on overall traffic, dig into which specific keywords are driving it with Google Search Console.

Double down on what’s already working before chasing new ground.

2. User Engagement

Traffic means nothing if people land on your site and immediately leave.

Keep an eye on bounce rate and time on page. Both tell you whether your content is holding people’s attention.

If people are leaving quickly, the problem is usually either the content didn’t match what they were searching for, or the page was hard to read.

3. Ranking Metrics

Track where your target keywords are sitting in search results.

Tools like SEMrush, Ahrefs, or Google Search Console will give you a clear picture of your positions and how they’re trending over time.

Also watch for featured snippets and knowledge panels.

Showing up in these spots puts you above the regular results and above your competitors.

4. Conversion Tracking

Rankings and traffic are vanity metrics if no one is taking action.

Set up conversion goals in Google Analytics to track things like form submissions, consultation requests, new leads.

5. Competitor Analysis

Your competitors are playing the same game.

Tools like Ahrefs let you see what keywords they’re ranking for and where you’re falling behind.

Use that information to find gaps you can close.

6. Technical SEO

Run regular checks for crawl errors, broken links, and duplicate content.

You can use this with tools like Google Search Console and Ahrefs.

Technical issues can drag down your rankings over time.

7. Backlink Analysis

Tools like Moz or Ahrefs can help identify new backlinks and evaluate their authority.

Plus, not all backlinks are worth keeping.

Make sure to regularly review the quality and relevance of sites linking to you using tools like Moz.

A backlink from a spammy or irrelevant site can do more harm than good.

Ready to Increase Your Online Visibility?

There you have it!

Practical SEO tactics to help your accounting firm get found by the right people.

SEO is a long game that takes time, consistency, and commitment.

But done right, it compounds very well over time.

If you’re just getting started, set up your Google Business Profile today.

It takes less than an hour and it’s one of the highest-impact things you can do for local search visibility.

If you’re further along, take a hard look at your existing content and ask yourself:

Is this genuinely the most helpful resource my ideal client could find on this topic?

If the answer is no, that’s your starting point.

The rest will follow.

Good luck!

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Want Tons Of Leads From
Your Blog?

Download my proven 15 Step Formula ​
that I used to grow my own firm!

I’ll send you a simple guide that will boost your photography skills overnight.
Get the 28-step guide by subscribing below.I’ll send you a simple guide that will boost your photography skills overnight.
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