Accounting firms have a search problem most businesses do not: demand is seasonal and spiky. Individual tax return searches surge from July, business advisory enquiries cluster at year end, and BAS deadlines create predictable waves. A site that ranks in October for a term people search in July has missed the year.
The other distinctive feature is that a new client is usually worth years of recurring fees. That changes the maths on what an enquiry is worth and how much friction is tolerable in capturing one.
What accounting firm sites need
- Service pages that match the searches – tax returns, BAS, SMSF, business advisory and bookkeeping are separate searches, not bullet points on one page
- Client-type segmentation – sole traders, companies and individuals want different things and should not share a page
- Onboarding that does not create admin – digital document collection and e-signature save more hours than most firms expect
- Software fluency stated – Xero, MYOB and QuickBooks are search terms in their own right and a real filter for clients
- Fixed-fee packages where you offer them – the market has moved this way and firms still hiding fees lose enquiries to those that do not
- Content timed to the calendar – published well before the season it targets, not during it
The seasonality trap
Ranking takes months. If you publish a page about individual tax returns in July, you are publishing into the peak with no ranking history, competing against pages that have been indexed for years. The page will do very little in its first season.
The firms that do well here publish months ahead – tax time content in autumn, EOFY content well before June. It feels early and it is exactly right. The content needs time to be crawled, assessed and ranked before the demand arrives.
Common questions
When should I publish tax time content?
Months before the season. Ranking takes time, so content published in July for July has no history behind it. Autumn publication for a July peak is about right.
Should an accounting website list fees?
Increasingly yes. Fixed-fee packages have become common enough that firms hiding pricing entirely lose enquiries to those being upfront.
Do I need separate pages for each service?
For anything you want enquiries in, yes. A BAS search and an SMSF search have nothing in common except that you offer both.
Does mentioning Xero or MYOB matter?
Yes, on both counts. They are searched terms, and clients on a particular platform actively filter for accountants who use it.
Talk it through
Tell us about your practice and we will come back within one business day. See also website design and local SEO.