A Robust SEO Strategy Is Key to Growing Your CAS Practice
If you’re looking to grow your client advisory services practice’s reach and revenue, it’s time to invest in search engine optimization. Here are some tips for getting started.
By Jeremy Estey | Digital Exclusive – 2024
Relying solely on tax-related services for practice and revenue growth can feel like a rollercoaster ride. While a firm may have a decent number of clients, most of their transactions will be one-offs, which lead to unsustainable and often unreliable revenue generation. Unsurprisingly, many firms that are seeking more reliable and predictable revenue streams are moving toward offering client advisory services (CAS) to bring in other types of business.
CAS clients offer an attractive opportunity for recurring revenue, as it often comes with monthly retainers that create a steady stream of income. But to grow this business line, firms need to invest in attracting these new clients. The good news is that there’s an efficient and effective way to drive in new business—search engine optimization (SEO).
SEO is the process of improving your website’s content to help search engines like Google, Microsoft Bing, and others understand the products and services you offer, among other important details that influence your search results rank and visibility. Ultimately, the more visibility your pages have in search results, the more likely your website traffic will grow.
Today, SEO is a critical marketing tool to drive for reaching potential clients and attracting new business. When searching for a new product or service online, most customers are likely to choose one of the top five suggestions that appear in the search engine results. In fact, according to the Search Engine Journal, more than 25% of Google searchers click on the first organic search result.
Here are some tips for implementing SEO strategies on your website to grow your CAS practice.
- Identify Target Keywords: Utilizing targeted keywords related to your CAS services will help you get in front of your ideal clients. Think about what your potential clients are searching for and focus on using these keywords throughout your website’s content. For example, “business advisory services” or “financial planning for small businesses.”
- Optimize Your Website: Make sure your website is effectively using your target keywords. This includes updating service pages and creating informative blog posts. You'll also want to improve the structure and speed of your website, among other things.
- Boost Your Local Searches: Many of your clients are likely local individuals and businesses, so ensure you show up in Google’s local search results. Having your Google business profile up to date and claimed is crucial.
- Post and Update Content Often: Remember, content is king with SEO. Make sure your content is current and addresses your ideal clients’ pain points. Use your content to educate clients about the benefits of your CAS offerings and why they need them. Generally speaking, the more helpful and informative your content, the more likely it is that both current and prospective clients will trust your firm. Whenever possible, demonstrate why your firm is the best choice to solve their accounting challenges.
- Establish Backlinks: Backlinks are established when other websites link back to the content on your website. Backlinks are essentially votes of confidence that signal to search engines that your content and website is valuable and trustworthy content. The more high-quality links from trusted and relevant websites, the better your search rankings will be!
Shifting from marketing tax services to advisory services doesn’t have to be overwhelming—a robust SEO strategy can help by cutting down time spent following up with leads that go nowhere and scrambling to attend networking events. Let SEO do the heavy client acquisition lifting and help ensure a more sustainable and profitable business.
Jeremy Estey is the founder of AmberSky Marketing Ltd.
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