Websites for accountancy practices: 9 ways to make yours less naff
If your website makes you cringe, it’s probably time to do something about that. Here are some tips for fixing your accounting website.
Photo by Mediamodifier on Unsplash
Websites for accountancy are a tough nut to crack. You should feel proud to show it off, excited to click through each page, delighted by how the design and copy come together.
But that’s rarely the reality. Especially if you can’t find regular time or budget to do something about it. So, let’s do something about it together.
I’ve audited accounting websites, reviewed what works, and drawn on my years of experience working on websites for accountants to put this guide together. On this page, I share nine things you can do to make websites for accounting firms less naff. Each section ends with a ‘task’ that should help you improve your website. You’re welcome!
Some of these recommendations are things you can do yourself – without an accounting website agency or independent contractor. Others, you’ll need help from someone who gets accounting, website copy, SEO, and design. I can help you there.
Why practice websites don’t work
Websites for accountants can go wrong in a number of ways. Pinpointing exactly where you’re going wrong is key to making the right fixes.
A few searches online proved to me that there are common mistakes practices are making, that could be putting paying clients off. These include things like:
A lack of human-ness, through the use of stock or AI photos and a dry, technical, or unrelatable tone of voice
Too much industry jargon that’s hard to connect with as a business owner
A lack of distinctive personality, where websites for accounting firms all sound the same
Weak, unspecific language that doesn’t explain your services or the benefits of working with your practice
Weak button text like ‘learn more’, and ‘read more’, that doesn’t inspire action
Confusing website structures that mean your most popular service pages are buried beneath several other pages
Wasted space above the scroll*
No examples or case studies of how you’ve helped clients win in their businesses
Not calling out the software you use, since your clients are probably looking for accountants who use specific providers for easy onboarding
*If you’re not familiar with ‘above the scroll’, this refers to the space on a website that users see as soon as they land on the page, before they scroll down. This is some of the most important real estate on your website, particularly on your home page. It’s your chance to capture attention and inspire users to stick around by telling them exactly what you do, who for, and why you’re brilliant at it. Bland copy and weak button text won’t do you any favours here.
Can you actually fix your own accountancy website content?
I get it, websites for accounting are expensive. Design, copy, and development come at a cost. If you can do some stuff yourself, you can save some money.
Let’s be clear: there are definitely some things you can take care of yourself.
If you have access to your website via a content management system (something like Squarespace, Wix, or Wordpress), you can probably make small tweaks yourself.
For example, you can review the button text across your website and make it more compelling. Switch out the ‘Read the case study’ for ‘See how this client saved £££’ – or something a bit more enticing. You can also review your images and update them with recent photos of your team and descriptive alt text for accessibility and SEO.
Bigger changes that concern your website tone of voice, design, and SEO tend to require more expertise. For example, if you have some old website pages that no longer bring in traffic, you might work with an SEO writer to optimise them. If your content feels stale, boring, or no longer representative of your practice team, you should work with a website copy specialist who can help you find your voice.
If you need to go deeper to figure out why your accountancy website content isn’t working and what changes will help you drive more traffic and connect with clients, you should hire help.
1. Remember who you’re talking to
Before you make any changes to your accountancy website content, you need to get clear on your target audience. Do you work with small businesses? Or freelancers? Perhaps you work with the hospitality industry, or tradespeople.
Everything on your website is written for them, your ideal clients. Without a clear picture of who they are, you’ll struggle to speak their language.
If you have existing clients in this space, sit down with them and ask about their business needs. This is something you probably already do as their advisor, but this time, take notes of the language they use.
Listen to the words they use to describe their challenges, opportunities, and the business itself. What topics keep them up at night? What are their goals and ambitions?
Your website content should convince these clients that you can take away the pain and get them closer to their ambitions. It should show you understand the unique challenges they face, and have the skills to help them overcome these challenges. Use Plain English language – not accountancy speak – and get sector-specific if your clients work in a particular industry.
It’s your website, but it’s for clients. The better you understand them, the easier it will be to develop a website that attracts them.
Your task: Write down 3–5 sentences in your client’s own language that they use to describe their biggest challenges, and use these as a reference when updating your website copy.
2. Treat SEO seriously, not stuffily
Jamming your website content full of keywords is a terrible, terrible idea.
Remember, it’s humans you want to buy from you. If your content barely makes sense and doesn’t read naturally, no one’s going to stick around to fill out your contact form. If you want more traffic, aligned prospects, and a better engagement rate on your website, you need clear, informative, enjoyable content.
Try to answer the questions your clients have when they start working with you on your website. Many of these will be obvious – they’ll want to know how much services cost, what industries you work with, which specific services you offer, and the software you use. Answer these questions clearly and deeply on your website. Your clients will appreciate it, and the search engines will too.
Your task: Make a list of the top five questions new clients usually ask you and draft answers for your website, making sure they read naturally.
3. Make your ‘About page’ about your clients too
Contrary to popular belief, your About page shouldn’t be an origin story and a handful of partner bios.
At least, it shouldn’t just be that.
Clients are looking to learn about you through the lens of their own interests. They want to understand the things about you that benefit them. They want to know how well you can service them. They want to know what makes you different from every other practice listed online.
Because every practice is ‘proud to serve the local community’ – so what do you offer that’s different? Are you a team of tech lovers who get excited about new tools and gadgets, and offer software-optimised services? Are you a gang of crafters who love supporting sole traders and artists? Being specific will help you find clients who align with you.
Every line you write, consider what’s in it for the client. Read through your About page from a client perspective – how does this quality benefit me? What does this tell me about the service I’ll receive? Always link back to client needs.
Your task: Note down a few of the things that bring your team together. Shared interests and qualities. Now consider how these things could benefit your clients, and rewrite your About page accordingly.
4. Lead with the benefits of your services
One of the fundamental copywriting principles, one that’s drilled into us from when we’re juniors, is to lead with the benefits not the features.
This means focusing on the value your clients get out of the product or service, as opposed to the product or service itself. This is the writing that actually convinces people, and sells stuff. It’s emotive – do you want payroll services? Or do you want a less stressful month-end and more time to tuck your kids in at night? The latter is more enticing.
Here’s an example:
Your Services page heading is ‘Services for small businesses’. You list all of your services, including cash flow planning. This is okay. At least it’s clear!
But your client isn’t really buying cash flow planning. They’re buying the outcome. They’re trying to buy themselves less late-night worries about covering the bills, less fear that they can’t keep staff, more peace of mind in their business.
Here are two examples, one that leads with the service, the other that leads with the benefits.
Our services for small businesses
Cash flow planning including three and six month projections, recommendations for cost-cutting, and an action plan
Take the pressure off with our small business services
Simplify your monthly budget, get clarity on your financial picture, and worry less about paying the bills with our cash flow planning services
Be honest: which one paints more of a picture for you? Which one makes you feel something?
Your task: Audit your services page and consider whether you’ve simply listed them out, or connected each one back to client value. Extra tip – ask your clients how your services have benefited them, and rewrite its description to highlight the benefit.
5. Pick one page and fix it
Websites for accountancy are big, layered, and often complicated projects. You don’t need to make every page perfect all at once.
If you’re feeling intimidated by the prospect of fixing your website, focus on one page. Choose a page that has high commercial value, but isn’t seeing the traffic or engagement you want to see. For example, if your landlord services page isn’t getting visited, but you’re keen to push these services ahead of MTD for Income Tax, start there.
Then go through the following checklist:
Is the existing copy relevant and up to date?
Have you answered all client questions about the service, including costs, process, software etc
Is it optimised for SEO?
Are your headings clear and descriptive, do they follow the H1, H3, H3 structure and use keywords naturally?
Have you included a meta title?
Have you added alt text to all images?
Does the page work on mobile?
Is there a clear call to action for the page? Are you asking them to book a call, fill in your contact form, or send an email?
Is your button text compelling?
Does the page load quickly?
Is the page indexed?
Your task: Choose a single page with high commercial value and run through the checklist (copy, SEO, headings, meta title, alt text, mobile, CTA, page speed). Make at least one improvement today.
6. Make it flipping easy
It’s tempting to get lured in by the innovative tools at your disposal for websites. Seriously, there’s something for everything now. Custom graphics, animations, content generation – and so much more.
But be careful not to make things confusing for your audience. In fact, choose flipping easy over fancy. Make it easy to get in touch. Make it easy for clients to see which software you use. Make it easy to see if you’re qualified, accredited, and experienced.
If users have to dig through reams of content to find your contact form, you’re doing it wrong. If your services pages aren’t easily accessible on the website menu, you’re doing it wrong there too.
You can make things more simple by:
Making it possible for users to contact you from every website pages (through buttons, forms, or an email address in your header or footer)
Adding logos of the accounting and other software you use so potential clients can quickly recognise if you’re a match
Adding accreditations, logos, and badges for industry qualifications and certifications
Keeping the copy simple. Use natural, human language – read it aloud to make sure it flows
Your task: Add (or check) a clear “contact” option on every page of your website, whether that’s a button, form, or visible email address.
7. Think mobile for accountant website content
Nearly 40% of people use their smartphone to access the web, according to Forbes. So if your website doesn’t work for mobile, that’s a whole chunk of traffic you could be putting off.
As well as checking the desktop view and functionality of your website pages, make sure you also review them for mobile users. If you use a content management system, you should be able to switch between desktop and mobile view. Or, whip your smartphone out and check pages manually to see if your content is working.
Your task: Open your website on your phone and test three key pages. Note down anything that looks broken, slow, or hard to use.
8. Share your insights and refresh content regularly
Websites aren’t static – they should be evolving constantly, and need regular care and attention. Sorry if you thought it would be a one-and-done situation!
Sharing your insights and refreshing content regularly is important for making sure your website remains relevant and useful to visitors. This also shows Google and other search engines that your website is live, relevant, and contains current information. This is essential for ranking.
If you’re not making the most of your blog, you really should be. It’s not just a place for company news. Exploring industry changes, new regulations, and legislative updates shows readers that you understand key topics and can support them in these areas too.
Things you publish on your blog may also come in handy if clients need help understanding legislation – you can ping a blog post their way and help get them up to speed.
And because the accounting industry is always changing, there’s no shortage of content you can create. Your practice is likely always developing too, so making tweaks to pages and adding new content is important for attracting the right clients.
Your task: Create a simple content calendar with three blog topics relevant to upcoming changes or client concerns, and set deadlines to publish them.
9. Get help from someone who specialises in websites for accounting firms
Now you know how to make websites for accountancy less naff. And you may have realised you’ve got your work cut out!
I’ve been covering accounting topics for 10 years, in publications and for a major accounting software company. I understand the industry and the pressures you and your clients face. I know there’s hardly enough time for client work, let alone working on your marketing and website.
I specialise in copywriting for the accounting industry, and I have a network of freelancers in design and website development who can support with these projects. If you need a hand with your website, or are looking for a complete refresh, I can help.
Your task: Contact me for website help!
