Google My Business

Creating a Google My Business Page

Creating a Google My Business page

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Our Smart Cow ‘Marketing Minute’ videos are here to provide you with quick marketing tips for successful online lead generation for your business.   

In our previous video we talked about the benefit of Google My Business. Our advice is that you make sure you have set up your business on this directory before you even think about setting up your social media accounts or creating a website.

This is because Google is one of the most popular search engines so it is essential that you are on it as it’s another way to help prospects find you. It also helps with your ongoing search engine optimisation strategy and improving your online presence.

Watch our latest video where Simon Cripps gives you an overview of how to get started on setting you your Google My Business page.

Create a Google My Business Page

Google My Business set up

  • Log into your Google account that you associate with your business or create an account if you do not already have one.
  • Then go to google.com/business/
  • If you are not already registered, then enter your business name, and follow the steps to enter your business category, your location, areas you serve and then contact telephone and website URL if you have one
  • Select a method to verify your listing and away you go.

That’s your Google My Business page set up in a nutshell.

Watch out for our next set of Marketing Minute videos as we delve into a little more detail as to how you can best optimise your newly set up page.

SEO agency Croydon 

If you need help then give us a call at Smart Cow on 020 3137 1826 or book a free consultation to discuss our SEO services and other digital marketing tools such as social media management, Pay Per Click (PPC), email marketing and CRM – read more about our marketing services.   

 

Why we recommend setting up your Google My Business page

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In our Smart Cow ‘Marketing Minute’ series of videos we provide a snapshot of marketing top tips for online lead generation for your business. 

In this video, Simon Cripps tells us why setting up or optimising your Google My Business page is one of the first things to look at when marketing your business online.  

Get Google My Business

Search Engine Optimisation

If you look at our blog, we’re always shouting about the benefits of Google My Business as part of your Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) strategy. This is about your business rising organically in Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs).

Therefore, having a Google My Business page means your business is detailed on one of the biggest search engines. So, getting this page in place is something you should do before having a domain name, website or social media account.

Remember, this is Google’s directory of business and you need to be on it. 

What Google My Business offers

Essentially, Google My Business is a free tool that lets you manage how your business appears on google search and maps. 

Google My Business shows your business location, contact details and opening hours.

It offers the opportunity to upload and share photos and updates showcasing your products and services.

The directory also offers a place for customers to write reviews about your business. This provides a great place for you to source testimonials for your website and sharing on social. When people search online, they often look for reviews so a recommendation from a happy customer goes a long way to encourage prospects to your website.  

Importantly you can access insights into your search results to help you understand your target audience so you can tailor your ongoing inbound marketing strategy.  

SEO agency Croydon

To get started, go to Google My Business and follow the simple steps to manage your account. If you need help the give us a call at Smart Cow on 020 3137 1826 or book a free consultation to discuss our SEO services and how to improve your organic rankings.  

We can also work with you on your digital marketing strategy including a mix of tactics such as social media management, Pay Per Click (PPC), email marketing and CRM – read more about our marketing services. 

 

Digital marketing for accountants

Accounting firms: Kick start your inbound marketing campaign

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With so much happening online today, ensuring your accountancy firm has share of voice online is essential for new business and growth. While ensuring your existing clients are well looked after, in this current climate it’s no longer possible to simply rely on repeat business or referrals.

At the centre of all your online activity should be your website, but how do you get potential clients to your site?

Here we give you an overview of how to kick start or enhance your online inbound marketing campaign for your accounting practice.

Set up your Google My Business page

If you haven’t already set this up then make sure you action it as soon as possible. We’ve got a series of videos coming up to give you the ins and outs of this directory but safe to say that as it is one of the largest search engines, then having your business listed with address, contact details, opening times, web URL and services then you are already helping your optimisation strategy to lead people to your business.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

Before starting your inbound marketing campaign, make sure that your own website is optimised for search engines. There are many tools available to run against your site to see where improvements can be made to your site is more effective. We found Semrush a great tool, although also many free options and plug-ins you can have for your browsers.

If your website design and build was some time ago make sure that is is mobile responsive. Check how the web pages look on your smart phone and that it’s easy to read and navigate.

We can provide a free website review which will highlight some key areas you can focus on initially.

Also take a look at our Boost your SEO blog for some quick fix top tips for your SEO strategy.

Create a persona

Do you know who you are marketing to? One of the best ways to understand this is to create a marketing persona. This is an imaginary character based on your target audience and current client base.

Once you’ve created a persona it makes it much easier to understand how to market to them, what language to use and what online marketing channels would be best.

Here’s our tips on creating an online persona for your firm.

Website structure

You need to make sure your website is structured to make it easier to navigate so that visitors can quickly and simply find what they’re looking for.

This makes a much better experience for your visitors and also lowers the bounce rate which will negatively affect your site in search engine results pages (SERPs).

We can work with you to review your site so that the website functionality is spot on for your prospects.

Keywords

It is worth making sure you know which keywords are appropriate to your business. Be specific. Think about what you would type in the search function to find what you are looking for to help you get a list of the right keywords.

This forms part of your content marketing strategy. Initially we recommend you review all your website content to ensure that it is up to date. Then consider adding a blog or news feed. The reason we suggest this is that it allows a space for you to add regular, fresh content to your website which will incorporate those keywords.  

The more you use the keywords in fresh content, the more chances you have of being found by search engines. If you are an accountancy firm phased in Croydon then makes sure that you regularly say this on your website. But not only that, be a more specific in content and write blogs with keywords in titles or H1headings.

Take a look at our article, why blog, as this has some great tips on keywords, internal and external link building as well as Google My Business.

Inbound marketing agency for accountants

This is just a short overview of the key areas to implement to kick start your inbound marketing. Lay these solid foundations so that you can build on this for your ongoing inbound strategy. Here’s some further reading to help:

We specialise in marketing as well as working closely with many local businesses in Croydon and London area. Take a look at our digital marketing services for accountants including website design and development, social media management, Pay Per Click (PPC) and more.

Digital marketing for accountants

6 digital marketing tactics for accountancy firms

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With many of us now remote working and embedded in the virtual world, the importance of presence online has never been so important.

If you’re an accountancy practice looking to ramp up online marketing activity or need a little advice on where to start, here’s our lowdown on the digital marketing tactics to think about and incorporate into your marketing strategy.

Website optimisation  

We always start with a website review. Take a look at the content and check that it’s up to date. Then delve a little deeper and check whether all the information is on your website that you would except if you were a visitor to the site.

Don’t make it difficult for people to find things. Don’t be fancy. Make your menu and page content clear so that it’s easy for your website users to navigate. Be informative and professional, yet friendly and approachable.

When reading through your current website content, in the back of your mind always be thinking about what people search for when they are looking for accountancy services. These phrases should then become your keywords. Then make sure you have these keywords within content on your website.

Having keywords in your H1 and H2 headers will also help highlight what’s on that page to search engines.

On the backend make sure that you also have your meta descriptions and alt tags completed. This will also help with SEO (Search Engine Optimisation).

Read more about SEO with our blogs, Improve local SEO by creating local content and 6 SEO tips to improve search ranking.

Blogs

Don’t ever think that blogging isn’t for an accountancy practice. With the amount of regular updates for businesses from HMRC, and a lot more right now, there’s heaps of information to be talking about and informing your existing clients as well as your prospects. Be factual with content – offer tips, latest government updates, industry statistics and insight.

Writing blogs or having a news page is a great way to get fresh content onto your website which is what you need to help your accountancy practice be found in search engine results pages.

It’s a great way for you to add in those keywords you’ve researched too.

Google My Business

Make sure you’ve populated Google My Business with details of your firm. This is free to do and at the very least make sure you get the basic information up there about your company, such as website, telephone number, contact email and opening times. This all helps with SEO and it’s another place that you can be found in search.

You can have the chance to add updates too. So you can repurpose your blogs and add the content here as well. It adds quality links back to your website which is another thing that search engines look for to help understand the authority of your page.

Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click (PPC) is a great way to help increase traffic to your website. We recommend having a specific landing page created for a PPC campaign so that when people you are targeting click on an ad they will be taken to a relevant page. This helps reduce bounce rates and attracts quality leads.

A well targeted PPC campaign can help give you a real boost in search results and a way to reach your potential customers.

Social media marketing

A Facebook or Twitter account with up to date detail of your firm ensures you have visibility on two of the largest search engines. Whilst it may not lead to direct sales, they are great brand awareness platforms.

LinkedIn is a great channel for accountancy firms. With LinkedIn it’s worth remembering that you’re networking. It’s not about selling it’s about creating that business relationship.

So, if you’re not already regularly posting on a social media platform, perhaps now is the time to explore this for your accountancy practice. Look at your competitors and see what social networks they have presence. It makes sense to be in the same place.

Read our blog on the different social media platforms and how to use them for more insight.

Email marketing

A targeted email marketing campaign can have a significant impact on Return on Investment (ROI). What’s great about email is you can repurpose content you already have from blogs or it’s a great way to highlight updates to services.

But what’s key is that you make your email campaign personal. Really think about the person who has signed up to receive your emails and what they want to hear about. They are a target audience so think about how your email can benefit them. If it’s sharing news about latest legislation that they should be aware of or some interesting stats that can help their business planning or growth, then that’s of interest.

Our blog on email marketing benefits for your business has some further detail on the structure of your emails, through to the importance of mobile optimisation and analysis.

Digital marketing for accountants 

We provide digital marketing for accountants with bases in Croydon and London. 

Take advantage of our free website review and download our Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing to help you on your digital marketing journey. Or book a free consultation to chat further about your goals for your accounting practice and we can tailor a proposal for you.

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