Two-thirds of your prospects might be ignoring you.

Do you ever feel like you’re being ignored?

If you’re not in one of the top 3 spots on the search results, you’re probably right.

In fact, among those searching for an accountant online, 67% click on only the top 3 results.

CPA websites that are any lower  - even in the 4th spot – are missing out on up to two- thirds of potential clients.

So, the obvious question is…

How can you get to the top of Google and Bing and stop being ignored?

The answer is surprisingly simple. All you have to do is… write.

What do I mean?

Well, Google and Bing love fresh content on your website.

The more new content you provide, the more likely they’ll be to list you higher in the results.

Why Do Search Engines Love Fresh Content?

Let’s look at this from the search engines’ perspective.

Their goal is to deliver the most relevant results when someone searches. They want to show the best website or web page, the one with the most timely information.

The more relevant the results, the more people use their tool – and the more money they make with advertising.

In fact, their entire business model is predicated on the need to show timely results.

So you need to give them what they want by adding new pages and content to your site on a regular basis.

What Kind of Content Should You Update?

You should refresh any of the content relevant to your firm – such as:

• new tax information
• changes in accounting practices
• your services
• updates to your firm

And don’t ignore…

• blog posts
• your home page

How Often Do You Need to Update?

The more often, the better.

But, with a busy accounting practice to run, you should strive for at least once a month.

What If You Hate to Write?

If the idea of sitting in front of a blank computer screen fills you with fear and loathing, here are some tips.

1. It doesn’t have to be grand literature. Just focus on getting the information across.
2. Don’t worry about using big words or impeccable grammar. Use a conversational tone and it will be easier to read.
3. Start your sessions by writing for 5 minutes without stopping. It gets the creative juices flowing and loosens you up.
4. Consider investing in speech recognition software, which types for you while you talk.

If you still can’t face it – or you want help with one of your site’s pages, such as your blog – we can help with that.

We now offer Custom Copywriting services.

In an easy, quick phone interview, you tell us what you want on the page, and our writers craft it into compelling, error-free copy.

This is a stress-free way to keep your site updated.

And at $1.00/word, it pays for itself.

If you add just 300 words a month to your site for $300, your site has a much better chance of rising to one of the higher spots in Google.

And once you get to one of the top 3 positions, you’re exposed to 67% more traffic. If just one of those searchers each month becomes a client, your investment has paid off.

Make Your Website the One They Visit

If you’re not getting enough new clients from your website, check your position in Google and Bing. You want to be in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd spot.

If you aren’t, adding fresh content to your site on a regular basis can make a huge difference. The search engines will view your site as being more relevant, which makes them far more likely to move you up to the top.

Once you’re there, you capture 200% more visitors than when you’re lower on the search results.

So get started writing today!

And if you need help, sign up for our Custom Copywriting services.

Brian O'Connell, President

Believe it or not, if you want your website to get noticed by the search engines, you have to tell them.

Google and Bing actually rely on you – well, more precisely, on the information on your website – when deciding where to list you on the search results pages (aka “SERPs”).

But it’s not just the content of your pages that helps them. The search engines’ automated spiders that crawl the Web for content don’t read every single line of text.

In addition to the content on your pages, the spiders go to the coding behind your website. Within these codes are the clues they need about what the website is, how well it relates to the site’s content, and how high they should rank it.

If you want your website to rank well and bring in more business, you need to make sure your codes are filled out with the proper information.

Three Important Codes

The three important codes, or meta tags, for website ranking are…

• Page Title
• Description
• first-level Header, or H1

Page Title

The Page Title text appears within the <title></title> tag.

The text you supply within these codes appears in the very top bar of a browser when you view a web page. It also shows up as the “headline” of your site on the SERPs, as seen in this example:

Here's how the Page Title appears on the search engine results page.

Description

The Description meta tag appears this way in the code: <meta name=”description” content=.

Everything that comes after this tag shows up as the 200 characters or so that describe the site on the SERPs.

Here’s an example of the Description of Virginia Accounting Services in the Google search results:

Virginia Accounting Services' Description text is outlined here in red.

H1 Tag

Finally, the <H1> tag is for the major headline on each page. In the example below, “Payroll” is the H1 – and you can see it shows up as the biggest header on the page:

"Payroll" is the first-level header, or H1, on this page.

Now you know which codes are important to the search engines.

But what’s the best content for these meta tags?

Simply put: keywords.

Your Keywords Should Appear in These Codes

You should try to get your top 3 or 4 keywords into all three of these meta tags. That way, when the spiders crawl your meta tags, they find out what your website is about – a crucial step in figuring out how high to rank you.

For most accountants, the best keywords to use are:

location + top first and second service offerings

For example, Virigina Accounting Services focused on the following keywords, all of which can be found in the Page Title and Description for their home page (see above examples):

• Norfolk VA CPA
• Newport News VA
• tax
• accounting
• payroll

For more on which keywords to pick, check out this blog post on keywords.

We Can Help

If you’d like some guidance adjusting the code behind your site, we can help. The Search Engine Optimization (SEO) consultants at CPA Site Solutions are keenly aware of these and many other issues that affect your place in the SERPs.

Give us a call at 1-800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com to talk with one of our SEO specialists.

And stay tuned to our advanced SEO services coming in May by subscribing now to our blog.

Once you get inbound links to your site, you get noticed... and there's an easy way to get them!

Getting attention from the search engines can be a challenge. They don’t make it easy – you can’t just throw up a website and expect to show up on the first page of search results the next day, or even the next week or month.

Luckily, a few tricks of the trade can boost your reputation with the search engines.

Links from other websites are one of these tricks. Links are like votes of popularity. They show Google, Bing, and AOL – the top 3 search engines – that you’re a relevant site worth paying attention to.

Unfortunately, getting inbound links can be as tough as fitting in with the cool crowd in high school – which is why a lot of CPA websites are missing this vital feature.

But there is an easy way to get 30-50 links – enough “votes of popularity” to win you a nod of approval from Google and enjoy a rise in the listings.

What is this secret weapon?

Directories.

Directories – The Low-Hanging Fruit of Links

Each profile in a directory delivers one high-quality inbound link.

Here are some of the directories that work well for CPAs:

• Accountant-Finder.com
• Google Places
• Yahoo! Local
• Yellowpages.com
• America’s Best Companies

America's Best Companies is an example of a directory for small businesses. CPAs can create a profile in this directory and, in exchange, get a link to their website.

Setting up profiles in a variety of profiles accomplishes two important marketing goals:

1. It gives you a link per listing – which is important because each link prompts Google to list you higher in the search results.
2. It acts as a source of direct traffic from potential clients.

How to Get Listed in Directories

You could research the top 50 directories and set up a profile on each. It would take about a week – 20 to 50 hours of legwork.

Or our team of SEO consultants can do it for you.

When you sign up for our Local SEO service, we list you in the 96 directories that our research has shown to be the most effective for accountants, including Google Places and Yahoo and Bing Local.

For most accountants, the nearly 100 directory listings that come with our Local SEO package give them enough links to shoot them up to the first page of search results, which leads to a huge increase in business for them.

The service also includes Google Analytics and one hour of coaching and instruction. Google Analytics is a powerful metrics tool that enables you to see just how many visitors your new directory listings are bringing in and what parts of your site are the most popular.

Our Local SEO package is available for a low one-time fee of $499. That’s literally thousands less than what SEO firms charge.

Get yourself into the best business directories and see your online popularity swell, along with your client base. Sign up for Local SEO services today.

Brian O'Connell, President

The holy grail of online marketing is a top listing on the search engine results pages (affectionately termed “SERPs”).

It’s surprising how important the top position really is. Being in the first, second, or third position versus even fourth or fifth can represent a lot of new prospects and a healthy chunk of revenue.

Why? Studies show that consumers looking online are remarkably predictable. They consistently go for the top several listings and automatically devalue those lower down.

So how do you get your CPA website up there?

The bad news is, it can take a lot of time – anywhere from 6 to 18 months of continual SEO effort.

The good news is…

…there is an easy, 100% legal way to get a top listing – and it works in days, not months.

Enter: Google Places.

Register with Google Places

Google is now emphasizing local search. That means -

Google favors listings with a presence on Google Places.

(And of course, since Google rewards businesses that have signed up for this free service, any location-specific websites without a Google Places profile will be pushed down the page.)

To get in on the action, just register…

1. Go to Google Places.
2. Follow the prompts through the sign-up process.
3. Be sure to include a few of your keywords in the title of your firm and description of your services.
4. Don’t pass up the chance to add a picture and/or a video. It can really help you stand out.

And here’s a little tip:

Make sure your company’s address is listed on your CPA website’s footer. This helps Google verify your information – so you’re more likely to reach that holy grail of a top spot.

A couple weeks after taking these easy steps, you should find yourself at the top of the page.

Here’s an example of the local results that come up for “Cincinnati CPA”:

And Then – Make It Even Better

The ninja trick to making your Google Places profile even better is to get some of your clients to write reviews of your firm.

When they do, your listing is accompanied by the number of reviews and how many stars that person gave you. And it goes even higher in the SERPs.

Don’t pass up this opportunity! Ask a favorite client or two to write up a review. To do so, they just need to click on the letter balloon next to your entry, which takes them to your profile page. Once there, they choose the option for “rate and review.” It should only take 5-10 minutes of their time.

It’s worth it to urge them to do this – because when they do, you not only have an even greater chance of making it to the top, but you also build up your online reputation.

And online ratings and reviews are skyrocketing in importance. You want to show your potential clients that you’re trustworthy and competent, to maximize the chance they’ll click on your listing.

Reviews are the way to do this.

Here’s what a profile with a review looks like…

Claim Your Local Listing Today

Seeing your website at the top of the SERPs feels great.

And with Google Places, getting there can be fast and painless.

Best of all – we do it for you.

When you sign up for our Local SEO package, we take care of your Google Places profile (as well as Yahoo and Bing Local and 95 other local listings – just to make sure your online reputation is as strong as can be).

To get started with Google Places, sign up for our Local SEO service today.

Ads in the Yellow Pages. Tried - but still true?

Ah, the Yellow Pages. Such a comforting old mainstay.

Ads in the Yellow Pages have been great performers for accountants over the years – bringing in highly motivated prospects who are actively looking for your services. Much better than ads in the newspaper or on a billboard.

Of course, they are expensive – sometimes thousands of dollars.

Oh, and they’re less effective now, too, with the rising importance of the Web. Now that a lot of accountants have CPA websites, ads in the Yellow Pages are a bit misplaced.

Hmm. Maybe there’s a better way to advertise?

There Is – and It’s Called Pay-Per-Click

This statistic will make clear why Pay-Per-Click (PPC) ads are now more effective than the traditional two-inch box in the Yellow Pages:

When looking for local services, 80% of consumers now search online.

Which means, if you’re only advertising in the phone book, you’re not even reaching 4 out of 5 potential clients.

That certainly doesn’t speak well for print ads.

And PPC Is More Affordable

You may have heard that PPC is expensive.

Sure, the most competitive keywords will cost you upward of $4.00 or $5.00 per click – which can add up fast.

But two factors make PPC a better use of your advertising dollars than you may think:

1. You can set a budget. With Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter, you set up a daily budget so you always know what you’re going to spend. Once a certain number of people have clicked, your ad is turned off for the day.
2. You control when the ad runs. You can evaluate your ad’s performance through the AdWords and adCenter metrics. This gives you a good sense of when your ad leads to conversions and when it’s getting random clicks that simply pile on to your budget without getting results. Set your ad to run only during the high-impact times of the day, and you make the most of your money.

Aren’t Organic Listings More Valuable?

Organic listings – those that show up on the center of the page and are not bought - are considered more valuable…

but only if they show up on the first page.

If they’re on page 2, page 3, page 4… then very few people will see them. And all your hard work doing search engine optimization – and hard-earned money spent on it – will be for naught.

On the other hand, if you buy PPC ads, they will show up on the first page – which makes PPC a much better bet.

Good News – Accountants Aren’t Doing It Yet

For the most part, CPAs have not gotten in to the PPC business.

This is great news, because it means you can buy keywords for less money. Your ad will also be more effective.

Get out in front of the pack and get involved with PPC advertising. Do it now – before the field is saturated.

The Yellow Pages Were Great – But Now There’s a Better Solution

I don’t want to knock the Yellow Pages. They worked for a long time – and well.

But people just don’t let their fingers do the walking anymore. It’s all about online search these days – and to get your firm noticed, you must have a presence there.

PPC ads are not only affordable, but also necessary – if you want new clients, that is.

So get in now while the getting’s good.

Sign up for our Platinum package and we’ll set up and monitor a Google AdWords account for you (while you control the budget 100%).

The Venus Fly Trap wastes no time making dinner out of a visiting bug.

A small insect crawls onto a smooth green leaf. The little bug has made its way across dozens of leaves that day – but this one is different.

This will be the last leaf he visits.

The plant senses the insect’s presence and, in the blink of an eye, snaps itself shut. The bug is trapped.

Your Website Must Move As Fast As the Venus Fly Trap

Your CPA website has about 5-10 seconds to capture a reader’s attention. If nothing on your site entices visitors to stay, they move on. And you’re out of luck.

You need to take the same no-nonsense approach as the Venus Fly Trap. When you get a reader, you need to snap your jaws shut and not let them leave.

Visitors Have Just 3 Questions

Here are the 3 things people want to know when they land on a CPA’s website:

1. Will I like you?
2. Can I trust you?
3. Are you competent?

You’ve got mere seconds to answer these questions about your personality.

You Can’t Do It with Words and Pictures Alone

Words and pictures are simply not enough to immediately get your personality across to potential clients. If they have to read a “wall of text,” 9 times out of 10, they’ll go elsewhere.

There is just one way to grab your visitors’ attention quickly and immediately convey your likability and trustworthiness: a short, professionally produced video.

In fact, according to Search Engine Watch…

Video landing pages generate 4 to 7 times higher engagement and response rates than static image and text landing pages. (February 2010)

Why Is Video so Successful?

Humans make snap judgments about the people they observe all the time. Within 30 seconds, they’ve decided whether they like this person and, when looking for an accountant, whether they would want to do business with them.

Everyone’s unconscious mind evaluates others based on numerous details – their clothes, the way they talk, their smile, their tone of voice, and the words they use.

Short of meeting you in person, video is the best way to let people make these judgments. Paragraph upon paragraph of text cannot convey your personality. Video can.

Check out the video that our client, Tax Savers, Inc., put on their home page: Silver Spring CPA video.

The Easy Way to Make an Online Video

You can sign up for an online video through us – and I strongly believe that our solution is the best way to get the job done.

First of all, it’s an excellent value.

If you paid a private videographer to make a video, it would cost at least $2,000-3,000.

On the other hand, if you sign up for one through us, you pay just $649. That’s at least 60% less than the alternative.

Secondly, it’s easy. You don’t need to be artistic in the least.

We send a professional videographer straight to your office at a prearranged time that’s convenient for you.

He or she asks you a few questions, videotapes your answers, takes a few more shots of your staff and your office – and that’s it. You get a copy of the first draft and the chance to ask for edits. Together with the videographer, you settle on a final version.

Once the video is done, we post it to your home page, as well as Google Places, Yahoo!Video, YouTube, and Metacafe.

Here’s How to Sign Up

If you’d like to “snap your jaws shut” on the next visitor to your website, sign up for an online video.

We’ll call you within 1-2 business days, take down your information, and ask you the best times for the videographer to visit. It’s simple, straightforward – and devilishly effective.