SEO Help from Solid Marketing Tools
As marketers, we constantly encourage accounting firms to create and share case studies and testimonials based on their work with clients. These are powerful tools that let readers picture themselves as clients of the firm and get a real sense of the benefits they could receive. That power to demonstrate in concrete terms the value of our clients’ services makes case studies and testimonials highly effective in converting prospects to new clients for the firms that utilize them.
When we explain this and show well-written examples that tell a relatable story, most firm leaders quickly realize that these marketing tools will help them communicate value and bring in new clients. Though they may not have previously thought about how critical case studies and testimonials are, few are shocked to learn how effective they can be. What does surprise them, however, is the improved SEO their firms enjoy as a result of adding case studies and testimonials to the website.
It’s true that SEO isn’t the first benefit that comes to mind when you evaluate how these tools can help your accounting firm, but they can make a significant contribution to SEO. That’s because your clients are describing their challenges, pain points, and the solutions you provided to resolve them – in their own words.
As business owners or leaders, your clients explain the difficulties they wrestle with each day and the steps you take to ease their burdens differently than you would as a CPA. When it comes to SEO, their method is superior. While the terms you use may be technically accurate, the words of your clients will more closely reflect those that potential clients enter when they begin an online search for help.
The people who need your services but haven’t yet found your firm are not accounting professionals. They don’t hold a master’s in taxation and are highly unlikely to be certified in business valuation or a similar specialty. When they go to Google and type in their concerns with hopes of discovering a suitable professional to help them, they almost certainly won’t be asking how to enhance profitability by aligning processes or requesting assistance with strategic tax credit utilization.
They’ll be looking for someone to help them clean up a bookkeeping mess, help their business make more money or tell them what to do if they didn’t file Form 941 for the past few years. When you let your clients’ words stand instead of replacing them with the “correct” terms, you show up in search results for queries like this and not just those that use the more precise words on your service descriptions.
Your clients have stories to tell – stories that resonate with readers who see themselves in the same shoes. The words they use in telling these stores are the same words that potential clients will use, to a large degree. Resist the urge to ‘clean up’ testimonials and case study content to make it match your version of how you helped your client. Let the stories clients tell stay in their words, tweaked only for punctuation and clarity (and be sure to have the entire thing reviewed and approved by the source before you publish it).
Case studies and testimonials that showcase your clients’ experiences directly rather than vicariously create a powerful impact on readers. At the same time, they provide a strong SEO boost that you simply can’t duplicate through the words of accountants – or even of marketers. Trust your clients to speak for themselves, because others who need the same services will hear their message clearly.
Blog Prepared By: Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, President
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