The Key to Boosting Your Accounting Practice? It’s in the Reviews

Improve Your Accounting Practice This Tax Season and Beyond

Accountants who are loyal to traditional marketing tactics can find the world of online client reviews to be a little confusing. We don’t blame them – the internet contains so many layers, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used to your advantage.

The truth is, client reviews can be the bread-and-butter of your accounting practice’s presence online. Those who have embraced online marketing know that using online reviews to boost business can be quite the advantage during tax season and beyond.

If your accounting practice has yet to jump on the client review strategy (because there is a strategy to this), here are some reasons why you shouldn’t miss out on this opportunity to boost your website’s traffic and reputation online.

Reviews Are More Influential Than You Think

When searching for a trustworthy accounting practice, we take the experiences of other clients pretty seriously. User review websites like Yelp (along with your website) are almost always a go-to when researching the services we’re seeking. In fact, 88% of consumers trust online reviews for purchasing recommendations. Reading positive reviews can really influence a potential client’s decision to contact you – the same way that negative reviews can keep them away no matter how effective your services may actually be.

If your accounting practice has reviews online, gather the positive ones and display them on your website to help win over visitors. Making these reviews easily accessible to them is a huge power move that promotes your practice in a positive light.

Infographic by http://www.constructionmarketingassociation.org/

They’re SEO Friendly

Search engines favor websites that are updated regularly. Reviews are posted online all the time, which is why user review websites have an added boost in SERP’s. In the below image, you’ll notice that searching for “miami tax preparation” yielded Yelp as a top result. Online marketing website Moz also reports that business reviews contribute about 10% of how search engines rank websites.

Again, the more reviews your practice has on websites with high ranking power, the more traffic you can redirect back to your own website–giving you some ranking power.

How to Encourage Clients to Leave Reviews

Broaching this subject is as easy as keeping an open channel of communication with your clients. Keeping them happy is the key to obtaining a positive review, and any consumer would appreciate a business who cares about their needs and concerns. Call them on occasion to determine if they’re in need of assistance. Send them emails containing client surveys that they can fill out to encourage feedback.

Another tip is to create a Reviews/Testimonials page on your website. Here you can show off some of your latest reviews and also provide links for to the platforms where you would like your clients to leave you reviews on.

Start Building Your Online Popularity Via Client Reviews

If you’ve received a bad review, it’s no cause to freak out. One negative review won’t destroy your business, especially if it’s balanced out by a number of positive reviews.

The most important thing you can do is respond immediately to any negative review you might get. It is important to show your audience that you care about your client’s experience and are willing to provide a solution to bring a better experience to them. There are also times that negative reviews are unfair and spam like, so it is important for you to stay on top of your online reputation before your good name gets tarnished.

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Where You Should Start Building Up Reviews

It is important to remember that you should try to get reviews across different platforms to show diversity and build your online profiles as well. Here are some websites you should sign up your CPA firm for:

In Conclusion

With tax season in strong effect, it is important to help your accounting firm stand out from the competition. This is where most of your traffic comes from in the year so why not do everything possible to gain more clients? After every successful meeting, make sure to ask your client for a review as it would be truly beneficial for the growth of your practice. Many are more than willing to help – so don’t be shy.

If you are looking for ways to improve your online presence contact Clicc Media Inc today to learn more about our internet marketing services for accountants.