s part of our on-going research into how accountants present themselves online and via their branding we recently completed our latest research report into 500 accountancy practices across London, Essex, Kent and Hertfordshire. In our report, we looked at a variety of factors and customer touchpoint to understand how accountants not only present themselves to their audience but also how they differentiate themselves from one another. You can download our free 36-page report by subscribing to our Prosper newsletter. Read on to discover our key takeaways gathered from our research.
1) Make use of Calls to action and write blogs
Only a third of accountants wrote helpful and informative original blog content aimed directly at their audience. Just over one-third of accountants’ websites contained a call to action that offered valuable content. Find out what kinds of calls to action were most popular by downloading our report.
2) Use the right social media channels
Twitter was the social media platform of choice, but some accountants were still displaying links to long-defunct social platforms. Get the low-down on accountants social media stats.
3) Utilise Google reviews
Google reviews are an incredibly powerful tool for leveraging social proof. Over half of accountants, we looked made use of Google reviews. See the key stats here…
4) Steer away from cliche colour combinations
Blue and grey still dominate the branding landscape by a huge majority for accountants websites. Avoiding overly used colour combinations is one way you can stand out from the crowd.
5) Invest in decent photography, even if it is stock
There's no excuse for using poor photography on your website. The choice of images on your website can speak volumes about your company, how you perceive yourself, and how you perceive your customers. See pages 19 to 21 of our report about the use of photography in accountants websites.
6) Consider a more imaginative name for your practice rather than the surname of your founder
Almost 80% of accountants named their companies after their founders or chose extremely literal practice names. An inventive or evocative name can help you stick in the mind of your viewer. See our stats and explanations on naming.
7) Think about your positioning statement
We’ve compiled a list of frequently used phrases and word pairs used in accountants positioning statements. Try to avoid overly used phrases or common word pairs if you can. We know this can be difficult but this should be able to offer some guidance.
8) Invest in your brand identity
Your brand identity is more than just your logo, however your logo id the ‘identifier’ element of your brand and in the world of accounting it has a hard job to do. Our report features 480 accountants’ logos arranged by colour, helping you see the similarities and differences of accountants logos. Take a look at our full logo infographic here...
9) Make sure your website works well
Your website should be responsive and mobile-friendly, secure and perform well in Google Lighthouse. Failing to have a mobile-friendly and secure website will leave a negative impression with your audience who will likely overlook your practice and opt for a more professional outfit and failing to optimise your website effectively means your site will not rank well. You can read more about website best practice in our website guide for accountants here.
