If you run an accounting firm, you get an SEO pitch every week. A cold email promising page one. A phone call from a marketing company that “specializes in CPAs.” A directory that wants a monthly fee to list you. You check credentials for a living, so you are careful. Good. Here are the five mistakes I see firms make anyway.
Mistake 1: Paying for a blog nobody reads
The most common SEO package for accountants is four blog posts a month about tax news. They are written by someone who has never filed a return, they repeat what the IRS already says, and they do not rank. Ask any SEO company: “Which page on my site will bring clients, and what search will it rank for?” If the answer is “blog content,” walk away.
Mistake 2: Buying a new website instead of fixing the pages
A pretty new site with the same three pages ranks exactly like the old one. Before you rebuild anything, ask whether the seven pages your firm actually needs exist. Usually the fix is adding pages, not redesigning the ones you have.
Mistake 3: Ignoring the map box
Many SEO companies never touch your Google Business Profile, because it is not part of your website. But it is where a lot of “accountant near me” calls come from. Ask: “What will you do with my Google listing?” If they do not have a clear answer, they are skipping the fastest win. The Google Business Profile guide shows what should be on the list.
Mistake 4: Signing a long contract for a slow result
SEO takes months to show, and a company that locks you in for a year knows you cannot leave when nothing happens. Ask for month-to-month. A company confident in its work does not need to trap you. Ask what you will see in the first 60 days: new pages live, listing cleaned up, reviews coming in. Those are things you can check yourself.
Mistake 5: Letting them use fake reviews or stuffed keywords
Some companies will offer to “help with reviews” by buying them, or to add “best CPA Tampa” fifty times to your footer. Both can get your listing suspended or your site pushed down, and for a licensed professional a fake review is a real ethics problem. Ask plainly: “Where do reviews come from?” The only right answer is “your clients, asked at the right moment.”
The questions that separate a plan from a pitch
- Which three searches will my firm rank for, and which page will rank for each?
- What will you change on my Google listing in the first month?
- Can I see a site you rank yourself, not just a client's?
- What happens if I cancel in month four?
- Who writes the pages, and have they worked with accountants before?
A real answer to each one takes a minute. A sales call cannot answer the third one at all.
What a good first month looks like
The listing is complete and matches the website. The three main service pages exist and each targets one search. A review routine is running. One niche page is live. That is a first month you can see with your own eyes, without a report full of charts.
What to expect after that
Months two and three are quiet. The pages are indexed, the reviews are trickling in, and the rankings move a little. This is where a bad SEO company starts sending charts to cover for nothing happening, and a good one keeps building: the second niche page, the town pages, more photos on the listing. By month four to six, you should be able to search your main terms plus your city and see yourself on the map or on the first page for at least one of them. If you cannot, ask why, in plain words. If the answer is a chart, that is your answer.
One more thing to check
Ask who will own the website, the Google listing and the content when you leave. Some companies build everything inside their own accounts, and when you cancel, the pages disappear. Everything should be in accounts you log into. If it is not, that is the first thing to fix before you sign anything.
Want this done for you?
I run an accounting lead site in Tampa Bay myself, so you can see my own work before you see a proposal. Everything is month to month, and the audit is free.