Maximizing your reach: How CPAs can leverage the Internet for success

By Wendy St. Clair, CPA Gardens, LLC

“A business’s online presence, regardless of industry, has a massive impact on its success. In this day and age, some businesses still don’t realize that a majority of their customers will visit their website before making a purchase. Having a strong online presence, particularly a website, can be make or break for generating more revenue…” – Kasey Kaplan, Forbes

I’m thrilled to share with OSCPA members a bit about what I’ve learned in the last decade at CPA Gardens.

During my tenure at CPA Gardens, LLC, I've had the opportunity to engage in conversations with numerous CPAs and their teams throughout the United States. These discussions have centered around their current business operations, future objectives, and strategies for maximizing their online presence.

At a recent company meeting, my colleagues and I engaged in a conversation about the dedicated and hardworking nature of CPAs. Despite being overworked, underpaid, and underappreciated, they remain honest and diligent professionals ― especially during the challenging years we've faced. We believe that without their leadership, countless businesses and individual taxpayers would have been lost.

It’s 2023. You know you need a website, right? What about social media presence? Do you need to do something about SEO? What about apps? Where does your business appear on Google? Do you have negative reviews or testimonials? Is your site ADA compliant? Is your security up to date? Why do you only receive budget level inquiries as potential new customers from the site?

Creating a website that represents you and your practice
There is a lot to consider when talking about your Internet presence, and it can be overwhelming. I want to talk about building and maintaining your Internet foundation. It doesn’t have to be time consuming and costly, and there are some simple and inexpensive things you can do that make a big difference. It’s important to make your Internet presence part of your annual business plans, rather than an annoying, but necessary expense ― or worse, an afterthought. A bit of strategic planning will help your practice grow, and help you quantify that growth.

A website is more than your digital business card. It gives you credibility, provides necessary information, and if done correctly, can take some of your workload. In today’s 24/7 environment, it’s an unavoidable part of your business, but it doesn’t have to hurt. However you go about creating or enhancing your website, the most important piece of advice I can share is to make sure your website represents YOU; your practice, information and specialties, photos of your town, offices, staff, family, dogs, boat and the like. The goal is to make a potential customer feel like they know you and to make your existing clients comfortable using your website to make them better customers.

There are thousands of CPAs in Oregon, but your practice is unique and that is what you offer your current and future clients. The words and links on your website are what search engines feed on and it’s critical that you're feeding them well and often by making sure your site has current and pertinent information and links.

Detailed and strategic design and content are tools to assist in narrowing down what kind of searches you’re appearing in to get the types of business you most desire. It helps give new clients and referrals a clear picture of your practice, and current clients can download and send forms, check their return status and get other necessary information when you’re off the clock.

Make sure your website is about you, your services, your practice, and your brand. Avoid generic information whenever possible. It can be difficult to self-promote, but personalizing your website content is a worthwhile endeavor and it can have a big effect on your ROI. Most importantly, you differentiate yourself from others in your industry who have the same generic site from the same generic provider.

Search engine optimization (SEO)
Personalizing your website leads us to SEO - search engine optimization. In simple terms, SEO means the process of improving your website to increase its visibility on Google.

If you’re like most CPAs, you’re inundated with messages like this:

Hello! We have reviewed your website; it is not ranking high on any of the search engines (Google) for most of the keywords related to your business. We help our customers to bring their website on the 1st page of the search engine in a limited time-frame. We can provide you 1st Page Google Rankings within 100 days…

Many of these companies are, well…questionable in their ability to deliver what they promise. They’re often headquartered outside of the U.S. because of lower call center costs and can be difficult to reach. I’m all for promoting your business, but it’s a great idea, as always, to thoroughly research any company you do business with. Often overlooked are the no cost things you can do to enhance your presence. I mentioned building the foundations of your Internet presence earlier and dialing in your SEO is part of that foundation.

Search engines check for links and activity on your website and on social media as well, so it’s important that your content changes and is updated often. Publishing a weekly blog or monthly newsletter to your site is a great way to keep your site active, while providing useful information to your audience.

In addition to making the most of your website, you should be actively and consistently participating in social media. You probably have a LinkedIn page for your practice, perhaps Instagram or Twitter too. Facebook is a great option for CPAs, according to my clients. Make sure you’ve claimed your free Google page so that you can control photos, reviews, hours, and other information about your practice. Direct your clients to your social media and to Google for testimonials and reviews. Everything you put into socials and your website feed search engines, and help build your Internet presence ― the foundation of your business online.

Ideally, you’ll be making new posts a few times a week and they’ll be a mix of fun and informational posts with active links and photos. Instead of hiring a social media company, it’s a great idea to assign social media management to someone on your team who is particularly Internet savvy and interested in social media. If that person isn’t confident in their writing ability, there are various free AI services to help. Someone on the “inside” will create better and more meaningful content about your business than a company you’ve hired, although that is an option.

In conclusion, building and maintaining a strong Internet presence is critical for businesses, and especially for CPAs. It can be overwhelming to consider all the factors that contribute to a successful Internet presence, but there are simple and inexpensive steps that can make a big difference. A website is more than a digital business card; it provides credibility, necessary information, and can help reduce your workload. Personalizing your website content and optimizing for search engines are critical steps to ensure that your Internet presence represents your practice in the best way possible. By making use of social media and claiming your free Google page, you can also improve your online visibility and attract new clients. By taking these steps and making your Internet presence part of your annual business plans, you can set your practice up for growth and success.

Wendy St. Clair has been with CPA Gardens since its inception, and previously worked in sales management for over two decades. She is focused on providing exactly the services and support that CPA Gardens’ customers need. Her prior experience includes microelectronics, Internet-based advertising, and print publications. As a professional writer, Wendy authored segments for major news outlets (e.g., The Today Show, NBC news) and worked with the International Communications Collective, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the Executive Branch of the United States Government on distance learning applications for the Internet.