The EmbryoGraph: The Accountancy Industry

Whether you’ve received an EmbryoGraph of your very own or have been following us on social media recently, we’re sure by now you’ve seen the expansive research we’ve recently released. Aiming to show businesses how they compare along SEO-related measures such as domain rating, inbound link quality and number of keywords, we hope the businesses of Manchester and Greater Manchester will be happy with how well they are currently performing, or act if they are concerned with their results.

Over the following weeks, we’ll be breaking down the industries we’ve covered, discussing those within them that are performing well and those that could do with some improvement. In our first post, we take a closer look at the accountancy firms included, providing discussion of our data and industry trends, as well as tips for improvements.

DISCUSSION OF EMBRYOGRAPH DATA – THE ACCOUNTANCY INDUSTRY

The accountancy firms ranged from those such as Alexander & Co who offer services in property, retail and forensic accounting to companies such as MWA Accounting who focus more on payroll, tax and business accountancy.

To see how the companies we included performed, please refer to the table below:

*DR: Domain Rating according to Ahrefs.

**IP: Number of Links.

Keywords

On the EmbryoGraph, the number of keywords a website is found for is shown by the shading of its circle. Simply, the darker the circle, the more keywords that website appears for, allowing a website to be more easily found when customers type those all-important words and phrases into their browser when looking for businesses such as yours. Other benefits of keywords include page optimisation, higher browser rankings and therefore increased traffic to a website.

As you can see above, businesses that are performing well in this respect include Hurst (1,264), Sedulo (1,301), Cowgill Holloway (1,111) and Alexander & Co (1,044).

Companies that have considerably lower keyword results include GCC Accountants (4), Everetts Accountants (7) and Sadiq, Metcalfe and Co (3). One company, Bhandari & Co, currently ranks for 0 keywords.

DR: Domain Rating

The size of the circle is proportionate to a website’s domain rating (DR), which is the strength of a website’s overall backlink profile. The stronger the backlink profile, i.e., the greater the number of websites that link back to yours, the bigger the circle. Search engines give more credit to websites that have a higher number of quality backlinks, generally considering them more relevant to a user’s search query, therefore appearing higher in a SERP. Quality backlinks include industry-related blogs, articles and other accountancy firms.

Businesses that have the strongest backlink profile include Pomegranate Consulting (39), Beever & Struthers (32), Sedulo (32), Alexander & Co (30) and My Accountancy Place (28). Contrastingly, there are quite a few companies that have ‘0’ strength, including CWP, MWA Accounting, Ali and Co Accountants and Christian Douglass.

IP: Number of Links

Whereas DR refers to the strength of a website’s backlinks, IP looks at the total number of links, determining each’s quality. In our EmbryoGraph, the thicker a circle’s border, the more links that website has from others. If the border is also solid, then overall, that website has good inbound links compared to others in the industry. If, however, the border is dashed, then link quality may be lacking in comparison. Poor links, such as those from unrelated websites, duplicate content sites and those that are penalised by Google can drastically reduce a website’s ranking.

With a solid (and the thickest) border, My Accountancy Place has the best IP, even though their IP (82) is less than that of Hurst (116), Sedulo (140) and Alexander & Co (176). Interestingly, many companies seem to have a dashed border, suggesting it may be an industry norm, though one that is not healthy for a business that wishes to grow online.

OUR TOP SEO TIPS FOR GROWING YOUR ACCOUNTANCY BUSINESS ONLINE

To Build Quality Backlinks

We recommend you read our blog post, ‘BUILDING BACKLINKS IN THE FUTURE’ which offers great advice including:

1. Use Ahrefs: Ahrefs finds your unlinked mentions in articles and blogs, allowing you to contact authors to link to your website. You can also set up keyword alerts to find posts that relate to your market.
2. Updated Competitor Content: See what guides, eBooks or posts are already ranking well for your competitors and update them with your own expertise and spin. Then promote these to websites that would appreciate a fresh perspective.
3. Answering Q&As: Identify online magazines and forums such as Accountancy Age, AccountingWEB and Accountancy Daily that discuss industry trends and provide answers to your clients’ most burning questions.
4. Guest Posting: Create valuable content that a related website would want to publish, therefore giving your business great exposure and a beneficial link back to your website.

To Use The Right Keywords

1. Consider the language a potential client may use when searching for your services, such as ‘business accounting support’ and ‘business financial services’. Tools such as Keyword Planner can be a great help.
2. Ensure your pages are optimised with keywords that relate to the topic or service being promoted. The creation of a keyword map can really help you visualise your pages and the phrases you should be including.
3. For that extra boost, bid on keywords that will ultimately help your website rank.

WHAT TRENDS ARE HITTING THE ACCOUNTANCY INDUSTRY IN 2019?

According to Victoria Hoffman of Hubdoc, advancements in machine learning and artificial intelligence will continue to help firms automate tasks such as data entry and document collection among other tasks, giving them more time to offer advice (and therefore value) to their clients.

Further, client experience will be a key differentiator between accountancy companies, being even more important than price and the actual service itself. Businesses should consider every possible interaction, from the customer journey online and client onboarding to workflows and reports. A seamless service will increase client retention too.

‘’Data driven marketing will be essential to maximise a firm’s growth.  A keen understanding of the buyer’s journey will be paramount.  Firms will need to strive to know where consumers are at every stage of their purchasing path, answer the questions that are being asked, and build deeper relationships and trust.’’ – Amanda C. Watts, founder and managing director of TwentyTwo Agency

For additional advice on how to improve your website’s performance, please call our dedicated SEO specialists today on 0161 327 2635.