Industries
SEO for accountants
Clients search for deadlines, what to send you, and what a service includes. They do not need a novel about the future of finance, and they must not be told how to file their own return from a blog post.
Accounting firms already answer the same questions every January, every VAT quarter, and every time a new client asks what "management accounts" means. Those answers are the blog. Written once, checked by someone who signs letters, and dated for the tax year they describe.
An AI writer will mix jurisdictions, invent thresholds, and sound like it is telling the reader what to claim. That is the draft you pay a senior to prevent. Put the country, the year, and the firm's actual services in the brief before you generate anything.
Date it and place it
Tax and filing rules are local and they expire. The first lines should say which country and which tax year or filing period the article describes. If you serve two countries, they are two articles. A blended explainer is how a client in the wrong system follows the wrong checklist.
When the rule changes, update the page or mark it as historical. An old threshold left online is advice, whether you meant it to be or not.
Process is safer and more useful than tips
What to send before a VAT return, how a year-end meeting works at your firm, what bookkeeping you expect monthly, and when a client should call instead of guessing. These pages make your own delivery easier. They also show a prospect how you work.
Avoid "you should claim" and "the best structure is." Describe the questions you would ask and the information the answer depends on. Invite them to a meeting for anything that changes their return.
Thresholds and dates come from a person
If a number, a deadline, or a penalty appears, the person who would say it to a client has checked it against the current official source. The model is not that source. Paste the official figure into the brief or leave the figure out.
Software recommendations need the same care. Say what you support and what a client must not assume you will file from. A draft that names three products you have never implemented will become a sales promise.
Write for the clients you want more of
A firm that wants owner-managed companies should not publish a stack of pieces aimed at multinational transfer pricing because the keyword volume looked large. You will win the wrong enquiries and look less specialist to the right ones.
One clear page per service you sell is worth more than a weekly essay. Link the article to the service and to the way a new client starts: what you need in the first email.
Review sits with the people who sign
Marketing can commission the outline from questions the inbox already contains. A qualified colleague reads the draft. Automatic publishing is a poor fit until you have a set of evergreen process pages that rarely change, and even those need a diary reminder at the start of the tax year.
Keep the disclaimer in human language: this is general information for the place and period named, not a recommendation for your affairs. Then make sure the body does not contradict the disclaimer.
Topics worth writing
- What to send your firm before a specific filing you actually prepare
- How a new client engagement starts, including what you will not do in week one
- What monthly bookkeeping needs to look like if you are going to file on time
- How to read a management report you produce, in the lines you want clients to notice
- What changed this season, limited to rules you have checked
- Which questions belong in a meeting rather than in an email
Before you publish
- Country and period are stated up front.
- A qualified person has checked every figure and deadline.
- The draft does not tell an individual what to claim or how to structure.
- Services mentioned are services the firm sells.
- The page has an owner for the next time the rule changes.
Questions
Can we publish deadline roundups?
Yes, if someone updates them from the official calendar and takes last year's dates off the page.
Should we cover news every week?
Only when it changes what your clients must do and you understand it well enough to sign the explanation. Most weeks, no.
What about software tutorials?
Write them for the stack you support. A generic tour of a product you do not implement creates support you will not staff.
How do we talk about fees?
Explain what is included in a service and what triggers extra work. Do not publish a price the partners would not quote.
