Having worked as a practice development consultant for the accounting industry for fifteen years, I have seen dramatic changes in marketing for CPA accountants. The biggest change has been in the use of the Internet and websites.
Websites have become mandatory for all accounting firms to maintain an “up to date” professional image. If a public accounting firm does not maintain a website, the public may have a parallel perception that the firm is not “up to date” in understanding the laws, rules and regulations of the business. The Accountant could easily find himself in the embarrassing position of explaining to a potential client why he neglected to have a website. The CPA only gets one chance to make a first impression; it better be a powerful “updated” first impression.
In addition to the image, a CPA accountant must design the website to attract new external customers. Many websites today are designed primarily with a focus on accommodating existing customers. While this is important, it should not be the main focus of the CPA website. The website should be developed to attract a potential customer and make them respond by contacting the CPA. Also, the website should be designed to direct potential customers through internet search engines to the site.
The Internet has become the modern interstate for the website. When the “Interstate” was built years ago, many businesses decided not to move their businesses along the Interstate. As a consequence, many companies went bankrupt. The companies that relocated prospered. CPAs need to move their internet marketing efforts through their website. The accountant who fails to do so may jeopardize the future of their business, while businesses that have a website will prosper and prosper.
As companies relocated during the construction of the Interstate, their position along the Interstate determined much of their future success. This is also true with Accountant websites. Where a CPA Accountant ranks your business website will influence the future success of the business. CPA Accountants whose Website is highly visible to Internet traffic will see much higher growth than those who lack visibility or are hard to find. Similar to the Interstate, the Internet has very few high visibility locations and many low visibility locations. Consequently, it is extremely important to have a knowledgeable professional preparing a CPA accounting firm’s website who can develop it with high visibility.
In a major metropolitan city, there may be thousands of CPA accounting firms vying for a few valuable positions on a search engine that will provide great visibility. Imagine thousands of CPA firms competing for a first page listing. If the CPA Accountant firm is adopting a template that is common to many other template websites, your firm will never stand a chance. Your company must use a professional website developer who will not use a common template for the website. The professional must also give individual attention to developing the CPA Accountant’s website using techniques and strategies independent of the standard keyword phrases. Remember, if the CPA Accountant’s website developer is performing the same service for you that he or she is providing to the thousands of other CPA accounting firms competing for the few visible positions, your firm will not succeed. There are many website development companies available for accounting firms today, but the one company that stands out is “Infoworkz Solutions Group”.
