SEO for accountants: why your website looks like everyone else's (and what to do about it)

Search "SEO for accountants" and the first page is mostly lists. Nine strategies. Fourteen strategies. Sixteen strategies. Most of them are written by software companies or agencies in the UK and the US, and most of them say the same thing.

One of the results that actually ranks is a Reddit thread asking why most local accounting firms have such poor websites. That's a pretty fair question.

I was talking to an accountant I know recently about marketing. They don't do any. Not because they think it doesn't work, but because they can't see what they'd get back for it. SEO felt vague. And all their work comes from word of mouth anyway, so the website is basically a business card.

I get it. And I think a lot of practices are in exactly the same spot.

The thing is, a business card website and good SEO aren't that far apart for an accounting firm. You don't need a content machine. You need a site that tells Google (and your referrals, who will look you up before they call) exactly what you do and who you do it for.

Here's what I'd actually look at if you run a practice in Australia and want more of the right enquiries from Google. It's shorter than sixteen strategies, because most practices only need to get four or five things right.

First, figure out what you're trying to rank for

Most accountants want to rank for "accountant [suburb]". That's fine, but it's also where every other firm in your area is fighting, along with the directories.

The searches that tend to bring in better clients are more specific. "Accountant for tradies." "Tax accountant for property investors." "SMSF accountant Sydney." "Crypto tax accountant." These have lower volume, but the person searching has already told you what they need. They're closer to picking up the phone.

I pulled the Australian numbers from Ahrefs to check this. Monthly searches are Ahrefs' estimates. Difficulty is their 0 to 100 score for how hard it is to get onto page one.

The broad terms are where the big firms and directories fight it out. The niche ones are close to empty. "SMSF accountant" gets two-thirds the searches of "tax accountant", at a fraction of the difficulty. And "accountant for doctors" or "NDIS accountant" are searches a small practice could realistically own within months.

If you already do a lot of work for tradies, or doctors, or property investors, that's your SEO strategy. You just haven't written it down yet.

If your website says "we offer a full range of accounting and tax services to individuals and businesses", Google has no idea which of those searches you should show up for. Neither does ChatGPT.

Your service pages are doing most of the work (or not)

The pattern we see over and over on professional services sites: one "Services" page with eight bullet points, and a blog nobody has touched since 2021.

Each service you actually want more of should have its own page. Not 300 words of "we pride ourselves on". A real page. Who it's for, what's included, roughly what it costs, what the process looks like, and the questions people ask you on the first call.

That last bit matters more than people think. You already know what new clients ask. "Do I need to register for GST?" "Can I claim my car?" "What happens if I'm late on my BAS?" Put those questions on the page and answer them properly. That's exactly what Google's AI Overviews and ChatGPT are looking for when someone asks a question.

Google Business Profile is not optional

For anything with a suburb or "near me" in it, the map pack sits above the normal results. You get there through your Google Business Profile, not your website.

The basics:

• Pick the right primary category (Accountant, Tax preparation service or Bookkeeping service. Choose the one you most want to be found for).
• Same business name, address and phone number everywhere: your site, your profile, your Tax Practitioners Board registration, the CA ANZ or CPA Australia "find an accountant" listings, and Xero's advisor directory.
• Ask for reviews every time you finish a return for a happy client. A simple text with a link works fine.

One thing I'd be careful about: don't offer a discount for reviews. Google doesn't allow it, and we've heard of a lot of reviews being filtered in Australia this year. It's also on the ACCC's radar: reviews that have been paid for or incentivised without being disclosed can count as misleading under consumer law. For a firm whose whole business is trust, that's not worth the risk.

Make sure your site doesn't contradict itself

This one surprises people. AI tools and Google both read your whole site, and they don't trust businesses that say different things in different places.

We regularly find things like:

• "Over 20 years' experience" on the homepage, "established 2011" on the About page
• "Available 24/7" in a banner, with office hours of Monday to Thursday in the footer
• A partner's name spelt two different ways
• Three different phone numbers across the site and directories

None of these will tank you on their own. Together, they make you look less credible than the firm down the road that has its story straight. It takes an afternoon to fix.

Show who's actually doing the work

People hire an accountant, not a logo. And it's what happens after a referral: someone hears "talk to Sarah at [your firm]", Googles her, and if there's a proper page about Sarah, that's where they land. Your team page should have real names, real photos, qualifications (CA, CPA, registered tax agent number) and a line or two on what each person specialises in.

This is also one of the clearer signals Google's quality guidelines look for: who wrote this, and do they know what they're talking about? If your blog posts are written by "Admin", that's a missed opportunity.

What about blogging?

Honestly, most accounting firm blogs don't do much. "5 tax tips for end of financial year" has been written ten thousand times, and Google now answers a lot of those questions itself.

What does work is writing about the things only you can write about. A real example (anonymised) of how you restructured a client's business. Your actual view on Division 7A changes. The questions your clients asked most this tax season. That's content nobody else can copy, and it's what AI search tends to cite.

My rule is simple. Before you publish anything, imagine it goes viral. If you'd be happy with every client, competitor and future hire reading it, put it up. If not, don't.

And real data beats theory. One chart from your own practice ("what our clients actually claimed for home office this year") is worth more than a page of general advice anyone could have written.

How long does it take?

For a small practice with a reasonably clean site, give it around six months before you judge the map pack and niche service pages. Ranking for "accountant Sydney" against the big firms and directories takes a lot longer, and for most practices it's not worth chasing.

How do you know if it's working?

This is the bit that puts most accountants off, so it's worth being specific. You don't need to trust an agency report full of "visibility" charts. Track three things:

• Calls and form enquiries from your website and Google Business Profile (both can be tracked for free)
• Which searches people found you on, from Google Search Console
• One question on your new client form: "How did you hear about us?"

If those three numbers aren't moving after six months, something's wrong, and you should be asking hard questions of whoever's doing the work.

The short version

If I could only do five things for an accounting practice, it'd be these:

1. Pick two or three niche services and build a proper page for each.
2. Clean up the Google Business Profile and start asking for reviews.
3. Fix anything on the site that contradicts itself.
4. Put real people, with real credentials, on the site.
5. Stop writing generic tax tips. Write what you actually know.

None of it is complicated. It just tends to get skipped.

If you want a second opinion on where your practice's site stands, get in touch. We'll tell you what we'd fix first, even if it's something you can do yourself.

FAQs

How much does SEO cost for an accounting firm in Australia?

Our SEO retainers start at $3,500 a month, and we build each one around what the practice actually needs. A firm that needs new service pages and a few good links costs less than one competing across multiple cities. Be wary of anything much cheaper that promises page one. Someone is cutting corners somewhere.

Do accountants still need a website if most clients come from referrals?

Yes. Referred clients still Google you before they call, and more of them are now asking ChatGPT about you too. If your site is thin or out of date, some of those referrals quietly go elsewhere.

Should I focus on SEO or Google Ads?

Ads get you enquiries this month. SEO keeps working after you stop paying. Most practices we'd point to Google Business Profile and a few strong service pages first, then add ads during tax season if capacity allows.