how badly do you want to rank on that first page?
by becky livingston
the accountant’s social media handbook
have you noticed the subtle seo changes that have been happening over the past year?
more on social media: how long does it take to rank? | what is seo and why is it important? | digital marketing isn’t ‘set it and forget it’ | how to set your firm’s social media foundation | how to use social media analytics | get people to your landing page | content categories and how to leverage them | how to manage social media in 22 minutes a day | use finesse in sharing, scheduling content
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here are
- three big changes;
- what you need to know; and
- how to implement changes on your website and in marketing efforts to effectively use seo to your firm’s advantage.
1. meta descriptions – the change
a meta description is the copy you see below a search result’s headline. for example, if you search for “accounting firm estate planning” you will get results with a headline link followed by a sentence. the sentence is the meta description tag.
example
[headline] estate planning | trust planning | cpa firm
[meta description] our estate and trust planning professionals work with clients to identify and implement effective short- and long-term estate and trust planning…
the change to the search engines’ algorithm is to shift from the amount of weight a meta description has on the overall search ranking for a site. according to a webcast by moz co-founder rand fishkin, the meta description tag will still be important for click-thru to the site, but it is not as important for website rankings.
the solution
to encourage people to click on your search results content and access your site, change your meta description tags to be more like email subject lines, including several of these elements:
- personalization
- action-oriented verbs, such as “advance,” “halt,” “imagine,” “drive,” “enforce,” etc.
- timeliness
- value proposition
- brevity (7-10 words or no more than 160 characters)
example
[headline] estate planning | trust planning | cpa firm
[meta description – 150 characters] a little advanced planning goes a long way for your loved ones. get the estate planning tips you need before it’s too late. make an appointment today.
where do you find a meta description tag?
the meta description is placed in code on each website page, blog post, landing page and even images. if you’re using wordpress, or something similar, it’s important to include an seo plugin to ensure you can add this information to your website code for search engine indexing.
2. keywords
just when you think you know the keywords to use on your site – in headings, copy, image alt tags, etc. – the search engine algorithm changes, causing you to rethink those words and how they are used.
here’s what’s happening: the major search engines are considering the intent of keywords in a search to match with relevant websites. for example, if your firm specializes in auditing manufacturing companies, and used “auditing manufacturing companies” as one of your website seo keyword phrases, your firm’s brand is more likely to show up in search results for manufacturing firms than it would for audits.
this may be easier to demonstrate using a b2c example – if you baked cakes and used “cake baking” as one of your keywords, your brand is more likely to show up in search results for weddings than it would for bakeries.
knowing how to leverage keyword phrases on your website and content pages will help drive click-thru rates via search engines and help fulfill the searcher’s need, which is the search engine’s goal.
3. heading tags on pages
you may have read that one of the key elements of seo is heading tags, particularly h1 tags, which appear on pages as large, bold headlines. this was true before 2017, but currently the exception is that it won’t hold more weight than any other heading tag on a page.
what search engines would rather “see” on a page is a lead sentence about the page’s content before any headline tags, similar to a newspaper story’s lead sentence.
example
[blog post headline] 3 big seo changes for 2018 – what you should know
[lead sentence] have you noticed the subtle changes to seo that have been happening lately? here are three big changes; what you need to know; and how to implement changes on your website and in marketing efforts to effectively use seo to your firm’s advantage.
[first heading] meta descriptions
next steps
these changes may not seem monumental in the scheme of everything your firm is trying to accomplish, but if ensuring your firm’s name is listed on the first page of search results for particular service lines or industries, these changes may have a huge impact on achieving that goal.
take the time now to go through your site’s top pages and apply these changes. create a phased approach to do the same on secondary pages throughout the site.
then, going forward, apply the changes to new content on your site. working with a professional seo consultant who understands your industry and clients’ industries could be key to helping you reach success.