When you operate a service-based business like an accounting practice or some other financial services firm, one of the biggest assets you have is yourself.
There may be a lot of other CPAs out there, particularly in the area where you’re operating. But nobody does what you do quite like how you do it – and that kernel represents the rock-solid foundation upon which your online presence will be built.
But how important is it to have an online presence in the first place? According to one recent study, a massive 92% of all global traffic comes from Google. When tax season rolls around next year and someone who has never worked with a financial services professional goes to the Internet to try to find someone who can help them with their specific situation, the chances are high that they’ll turn to Google to make it happen.
When they do, know that 54% of all clicks go to the first three Google search results.
So with that in mind, you have a two-part equation to solve. First, you need to make sure that you’re ranking as highly as possible on engines like Google to guarantee that people are able to find what you’re offering. Next, once you’ve achieved that level of visibility, you need to make sure that what they find is content that can help inspire them to take action and build trust and a sense of authority in terms of who you are and what you do.
Those two elements are what make up your online presence, and that is something that won’t just develop overnight. Much like your career and the very business you’re now promoting, it needs to be built over time. Getting to that point isn’t necessarily difficult, but there are a few key tips, tricks, strategies, and best practices that you’ll want to rely on along the way.
What’s an Online Presence?
But before you can get to any of that, you need to first establish a clear picture of what an online presence actually is. It doesn’t just refer to having a website, for example. It also has to do with the blogs, white papers, and other types of relevant content that are found on that website.
It involves online reviews that you collect. Your Google Business Profile. Thought leadership that you put out into the world, including by way of videos, podcast appearances, and more. Your website and SEO also play a big part in it.
It’s all of these things, all working together, that will help people get a sense of who you are as a financial services professional and why they should be paying attention in the first place.
To use a metaphor, think of it a bit like building a house. In terms of the tools that you use, you’re not just talking about a hammer and some wooden boards. A hammer, on its own, is meaningless. You also need a vast amount of other resources, not to mention expertise, to make sure that the house ends up exactly the way you want it to. Building an online presence as a financial services professional will be very similar, which is why having a clear picture of what that means at the outset will help tremendously.
Get Your Story Straight
Next, you’ll need to establish a clear vision for the exact online presence you’re trying to build. That is to say, WHO are you and WHY should someone choose you over another competitor?
You’re not just a financial planner, an accountant, or another financial services professional. Most career pros rely heavily on referrals, and to get to that point, you need to understand what you do for people. What pain point do you help them solve? What specific way can you make their life better than it is right now?
Outline what people would need to get to reinforce that online presence. Is it step-by-step strategies? Thought leadership? Local content that supports your financial services niche?
Building a successful online presence requires a strategy, and you can’t develop a strategy unless you know exactly what people are supposed to take away from the online presence you’ve worked so hard to build.
Putting the Pieces in Place
Finally, building your online presence as a financial services professional means making sure that all the right pieces are in the right places over time. Cultivating an online presence that reflects who you are, what you do, and why it matters is less the product of any one major move and is more about a series of smaller ones, working together. Collectively, they make sure that any time a potential client engages with you online, they see exactly what they need to put their trust and faith in you moving forward.
For accountants and financial planners, a website is often the first – and sometimes only – touchpoint a prospective client will have before making contact. It’s more than just a digital brochure – it’s a platform that communicates your credibility, experience, and unique value. A well-designed website should project professionalism while remaining approachable. It should be easy to navigate, with clear sections outlining your services, background, credentials, and client testimonials if available.
Again – it demands repeating that what is especially important in the financial services field is trust. Your website should instill confidence through clear, jargon-free language that helps visitors understand how you solve their financial problems. A strong homepage should include a compelling value proposition and invite users to take the next step, whether that’s scheduling a consultation, downloading a resource, or subscribing to your newsletter.
Mobile responsiveness and security are also non-negotiable.
Most accountants and financial planners also serve clients within specific geographic areas, which makes local SEO a critical strategy for being found online. Local SEO helps your firm appear in search results when someone in your area types in phrases like “tax accountant near me” or “financial advisor in Cleveland.” One of the most powerful tools for this is a fully optimized Google Business Profile. If you haven’t claimed yours yet, that’s the first step. Once claimed, make sure it includes accurate information – your address, phone number, business hours, and a link to your website.
Your website should also be optimized with relevant keywords that your target clients are likely to search for. This includes incorporating terms like “retirement planning for small business owners in Austin” or “CPA tax prep Baltimore” into your page titles, content, and meta descriptions. The goal is to ensure that when someone looks online for the services you offer in your location, your name appears – preferably near the top.
Finally, especially when you’re talking about a field that is based heavily on your reputation, like is true with financial services, remember that LinkedIn remains a highly effective platform for showcasing your expertise and expanding your professional network.
Your LinkedIn profile functions as a digital resume and reputation builder, so it’s essential to keep it up to date and aligned with the services you offer. Start by ensuring your headline and summary clearly articulate what you do and who you help. This is your opportunity to speak directly to your ideal client or referral partner in a way that’s both personable and authoritative.
In the end, it’s equally important to remember that building an online presence as a financial services professional is not something that you “set up once and forget about.” Once you’ve built it, you need to maintain it.
That will involve making sure that you’re still proactively going after all the local SEO keywords that will keep you visible and relevant. That means always updating your website to guarantee that the user experience is as strong as it can be. That means updating business directories across the Internet and posting on social media.
The amount of time it takes to accomplish these things can quickly add up, which is always problematic, considering that you already have a full-time job that is monopolizing all of your time.
The good news is that tools like Surefire Local exist that can help enormously to that end. Rather than turning to one tool for social media management, another for content creation, another for directory listings, and more – you get everything condensed into one single platform that puts the power of your online presence at your fingertips.
It’s a tool designed both to make sure that you’re in total control of those elements of your financial firm’s online presence that need to be updated and that you’re able to free up as much time as possible so that you can focus on providing the best service that you can to your clients, which in and of itself is the most important benefit of all.
If you’d like to find out more information about building a financial services professional online presence or have any additional questions about the best practices and strategies that accountants and financial planners should be using to increase visibility and stay top-of-mind, please don’t hesitate to contact our team today. You can also click here to schedule a Surefire Local demo so that you can see how much time there is to be saved by a powerful, all-in-one marketing platform that works for you.