Why Professional Services Firms Should Pay More Attention to SEO in 2021

The professional services industry is not among the hardest hit by the pandemic but SEO for professional services firms is still vitally important.

While many firms were able to adjust their business models to meet the new challenges, some of them were forced to downsize or temporarily close shop. The good news is that things are slowly picking up.

As more and more vaccines are administered, people are starting to see some semblance of normalcy. While the current situation is far from where it was prior to the health crisis, more businesses are reopening their doors or ramping up their operations, including firms in the professional service industry.

What does ‘moving forward’ mean? Professional firms need to get back to their old ways of doing business. It includes reconnecting with their target audience by increasing their online presence. The best way to get this done is by implementing search engine optimization or SEO for professional firms.

The benefits of SEO for professional firms are many and wide-ranging, but before we discuss this, let us take a closer look at how the sector met the challenges presented by COVID-19.

How Professional Services Firms Stayed Afloat During the Pandemic

While the pandemic has definitely been challenging to professional services firms all over the world, most of them responded with agility. Many were able to adopt remote working at scale, allowing them to comply with existing health restrictions and still deliver the needs of their clients. As a result, lawyers, doctors, accountants, financial experts, and others with similar roles were able to maintain job security and even see some increase in business activity during the pandemic.

Advisory work is the driving force behind the growth, thanks to bigger companies that were brave enough not to hit the panic button on their operations. They poured large investments into enterprise resource planning systems or ERP, which allows them to integrate processes and technologies into their businesses more seamlessly.

What is more, professional skills like audit and legal remained highly in-demand as companies across all industries must still comply with existing regulations and standards. As a result, the disruption in the business situation of professional firms is not as abrupt compared to other sectors.

As the number of people, entities, and companies that are willing to spend grows, professional services firms can now start gearing up their marketing strategies to reach more potential clients and customers.

SEO for Professional Services Firms Help Businesses Grow

Almost every business needs to be investing in SEO each and every month in order to maintain and grow their business. That being said, there are several businesses that have the most to gain from implementing a robust and strategical SEO strategy:

• Accounting Firms
• Law Firms
• Medical Clinics
• Dental Offices
• Mortgage Brokerages
• Insurance Brokerages
• Financial Planners

The Benefits of SEO for Professional Services Firms

Most of today’s consumers start their purchasing journey with an online search. Whether they are looking to buy a product, hire a service, or obtain useful information, their first instinct is to open a search engine and type in the appropriate keywords. From there, they make the best decision based on the whole experience of interacting with a brand’s content.

As this scenario applies to all types of consumers, businesses across all industries stand to benefit from increasing their online presence and boosting their search rankings, including professional firms. It will allow them to enjoy a host of benefits, some of which are discussed below.

1. SEO creates a better user experience

Thanks to continuous advancement in digital technology, people have developed a high level of expectation in terms of customer experience. A big part of this is exploring a website that is fast, easy to navigate, responsive and has pages containing useful content — something that can be achieved by implementing an effective SEO for professional services firms.

Aside from potential users, a compelling website that offers a great user experience also gets the attention of search engines. Search engines give more ranking points to pages that genuinely offer much value to their visitors. It means that the more you try to make things easier for your intended audience, the more search engines will recommend your pages to their users.

2. SEO generates high-quality leads

Generating organic traffic is important, but it is only part of the goal of an SEO campaign. Beyond drawing more visitors to your website, SEO helps you generate high-value leads by accurately identifying the user intent of your target audience. Using this information, you can create the appropriate types of content that will generate interest from users who are actively looking for your type of product or service.

3. SEO Increase the conversion rate

Once you have drawn visitors that are pre-disposed to buy your product or hire your service, converting them into paying customers will be much easier. It is because your SEO efforts have matched their needs to the solution that you are offering, giving you an advantage from the very start.

4. SEO gives more return on investment

SEO is an inbound marketing strategy that does not rely on paid ads to deliver results. Instead, it generates organic traffic to your website, allowing more potential customers to interact with your brand.

Aside from connecting you with your target audience, the SEO journey will leave you with a website that offers much value to visitors. It will give you a higher chance of converting visits into sales and, ultimately, into profits.

Compared to PPC advertising and other forms of outbound campaigns, SEO can help you make more out of every marketing dollar than you spend.

5. SEO draws local customers to your establishment

One trend that is emerging when it comes to user behaviour is the increasing preference to do local searches. More and more people are using search queries that include the terms “near me” or “in [location].”

For instance, someone in need of legal services might use the search terms “law offices near me” to look for a provider. There is a good chance that the user will visit the local office or establishment shown in the search engine results pages or SERPs.

The local SEO for professional services firms will give you the chance to draw local customers to your office or place of business.

6. SEO builds brand awareness

With the sheer number of firms that you have to compete against, it is important for your target audience to be aware of your existence. It helps ensure that you have a foot inside the door every time a potential client is looking for your type of product or service.

This level of brand awareness can be achieved by implementing an effective SEO strategy. If done right, SEO can boost our online presence and put your brand directly in the crosshairs of your target audience.

7. SEO increases your firm’s credibility

The top spots on the SERPs of search engines are highly coveted for many reasons. First, it gives you more visibility every time a user searches for your type of product or service. Few people have the patience to plow through pages of search results when they already see several options on the first one.

Another reason why earning a top spot is important is that most people find higher-ranking pages more credible. Why? Because the search engines themselves believe that these pages are the most relevant to the search terms used. Therefore, they are the most helpful.

8. SEO helps you reach mobile users

While laptops and desktops are continuously improving, smartphones are evolving at a much faster rate. It is why more and more people are finding it easier to use mobile devices when searching for products or services.

It does not matter if they are waiting for a cup of coffee that they ordered or they are riding the train on the way to work. As long as there is a signal, they can use their phones to search for a product, service, or information.

If you want to connect with more potential clients, you need to make your website more mobile-friendly by using the appropriate SEO strategies.

9. SEO offers long-term results

SEO is a long-term marketing strategy. It would take months or even a year before you see its results, but when it kicks in, you will be able to reap its benefits for years to come.

Once your SEO strategy is up and running, there is no need to invest a significant amount of resources to generate the same results. All you have to do is monitor the performance of your pages and make the necessary adjustments if there are any gaps. You might also need to do periodic audits to make sure that your current strategy is still up-to-date.

10. SEO helps keep your marketing efforts updated

Search engines like Google and Bing are always looking for ways to improve the experience of their users. In order to do this, they need to update their search algorithms from time to time to match the changing needs of the consumers and to keep up with emerging trends.

To maintain the ranking that you worked hard to get, you need to stay updated every time search engines come up with improvements and changes. An effective SEO strategy can help you do this, keeping you ahead of the curve even as new trends and updates emerge.

11. SEO works well with other marketing activities

There are many platforms available to people today, which means that there are many ways to connect with them. The good thing about SEO is that it will help synergize your marketing activities across all channels, including content marketing, social media marketing, emails, and many others. Overall, it will help you get better rankings from search engines and allow you to reach more potential clients.

12. SEO separates you from the pack

With the current business landscape, failure to have a strong online presence can be catastrophic for any professional firm. As people become more dependent on digital technology, having a compelling website has become a necessity, not a luxury.

Conclusion

If properly done, SEO can give you a high-quality website that will help you remain competitive and even separate you from the pack.

SEO for professional services firms can open up many more opportunities for firms of all sizes. It can bring more visitors to your website, allow more potential clients to interact with your brand, and give you more chances to convert them into paying customers.

If you’re interested in your professional SEO services that will help grow your business, get in touch with us here at 1st on the List.

Call our team toll-free at 1-888-262-6687!

Keiran Griffiths

Keiran Griffiths is the President & Managing Director at 1st on the List. He works exclusively out of the Abbotsford head office and has extensive experience helping small and big brands grow their business. His background is in restaurant and hospitality management as well as business development (he started his own property management company in 2014). Up for any challenge, Keiran works with clients to assess their budget and investment capabilities and come up with a marketing solution that will earn them the biggest bang for their buck. Learn more about Keiran.

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