Optimizing Your Web Copy

Step-by-Step

With increasing competition in the accounting field, you want to ensure that clients and prospects can easily find your content through search engines like Google. You can do so by optimizing the copy (i.e., marketing text) on certain pages of your website. This article describes the process of web text optimization.

With increasing competition in the accounting field, you want to ensure that clients and prospects can easily find your content through search engines like Google. You can do so by optimizing the copy (i.e., marketing text) on certain pages of your website.

The process starts with identifying appropriate key words and phrases, and then incorporating them in strategic places on your website. Keep in mind that there are additional factors that impact how high you will rank in search results as well.

More search engine optimization (SEO) tips like these can be found in Hinge’s How-To Guides from Hinge University, our online learning platform.

Step 1. Do Research on Your Keywords

Start by deciding which keyword phrases are most important. Create a list of terms that explain what you do. When choosing a keyword phrase, the two most important criteria to consider are the keyword’s difficulty and its search volume.

1. Keyword difficulty: Often shown as a number between 1 and 100, this rating indicates the relative competitiveness of a certain keyword phrase. The higher the number, the more difficult (or competitive) it is to rank for the associated keyword.

   How difficult you want to make your keyword phrases will depend on various factors, but in general, most firms can target keywords whose difficulty rating is below 50.

   Note: Of all the tools that measure keyword difficulty, Moz’s Keyword Difficulty Tool is considered one of the best. Although it requires a paid subscription, a free trial is available. While not as accurate, KW Finder is an acceptable, no-cost alternative.

2. Search volume: This rating indicates the average number of times per month that people search for a certain keyword. Your ideal rating varies depending on the breadth of your keyword phrase and how frequently it is used by people searching the web. A monthly search volume between 50 and 10,000 is a good goal for most professional services firms.

Step 2. Create a Keyword Spreadsheet

Once you have identified your keyword phrases, create and maintain a spreadsheet with columns for:

1. Title/link—the current titles of each page and their respective URLs
2. New suggested title—the title of your new page (which should incorporate your selected keyword)
3. New suggested keyword—the keyword you want to use in your page’s title and content
4. New search volume—your new keyword’s search volume
5. New difficulty—your new keyword’s difficulty level

Step 3. Develop Title and Header Tags and a Meta Description  

The three pieces of “meta data” that have the greatest impact on the findability of your web pages are your title tag, primary header tag (also called an H1), and your meta description.

Title Tag

This is a description of your page that appears in the current page tab of most modern web browsers and in search results. It should be no longer than 55 characters.

Your H1 Tag

Each headline and subhead on your page should be marked with a hierarchical “H tag” in the HTML source (these tags are invisible to readers). Your most important headline should be designated H1, and should contain the page’s keyword phrase. Following subheads can be tagged H2, H3, etc., depending on where they appear in the heading hierarchy.

Meta Description

This is a short statement within the header of your page’s HTML code. Designed to describe the content of your page; it is not visible to the casual visitor. However, when your page appears in search results, it shows up as that helpful line of text below the page title. Make sure it is no longer than 155 characters.

Step 4. Optimize Your Body Copy  

Finally, create a Word document containing your keywords, tags, and body copy. Try to use the keyword phrase once for every 100 words of copy. Remember: you are writing for humans, not only search engines! If your keywords do not fit naturally, you may need to rethink your chosen keyword.

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Identifying and using SEO text on your website may seem like an overly technical exercise. But remember: no matter how well-written the prose on your website, it will have no impact at all if people cannot find your site in the first place—and that is where using SEO text makes a real difference. Best of luck to you in your search engine optimization!

For more ideas and guidance on practical marketing techniques to implement at your firm, be sure to check out our Quick Start Kits and How-To Guides on this and many other marketing and branding topics at Hinge University.

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Lee W. Frederiksen, PhD, is Managing Partner at Hinge, the leading branding and marketing firm for the professional services. Hinge conducts groundbreaking research into high-growth firms and offers a complete suite of services for firms that want to become more visible and grow.

Dr. Frederiksen may be contacted at (703) 391-8870 or by e-mail to LFrederiksen@hingemarketing.com.