Industries
Marketing for accountants
Websites, SEO and Google Ads for accountancy practices and bookkeepers who want steadier enquiries from the clients they're set up to serve. Contractors, landlords, e-commerce sellers, growing limited companies. Whichever niche you lead with, Arête builds the marketing around it.
The situation
How the work is won.
People rarely go looking for a new accountant on a whim. Something changes first: a business starts trading, a first rental property completes, a Self Assessment deadline looms or the current accountant stops replying. Then they compare a handful of practices quickly, and they want three answers. Do you understand their situation? Is the fee one they can plan around? Is the first conversation easy? Answer all three on your website and you're well placed to get the call.
What sends them looking
- A new limited company, sole trader business or contract role that needs its first accountant.
- The run-up to the 31 January Self Assessment deadline, when late starters need help fast.
- Making Tax Digital for Income Tax, phased in from April 2026, bringing sole traders and landlords into quarterly digital reporting.
- Slow replies, surprise bills or no proactive advice from the current accountant.
- Growth that brings VAT registration, payroll or a need for regular management accounts.
The problem
Why it's harder than it looks.
Where the work slips away
- Generalist positioning makes your practice look like every other firm in town. Then prospects compare on price alone.
- Competitors show fixed monthly packages or instant online quotes, so a practice that hides pricing behind a call starts on the back foot.
- Enquiries bunch up around deadlines: a crush in January, quieter months elsewhere in the year.
- Plenty of tax searches come from people after HMRC itself, a calculator or a DIY guide. Left unfiltered, they eat your ad budget.
- Referrals don't reach clients who've never met a referrer, and winning those clients takes a website and search presence built for the job.
What makes customers hesitate
- Switching sounds like paperwork, lost records and an awkward conversation with the current firm.
- Does the fixed monthly fee hide extras for bookkeeping, VAT returns or year-end work?
- An online or remote practice can feel less accountable than the one down the road.
- Will a small practice have seen their industry or tax situation before?
The approach
Where Arête would start with accountants.
Every service works on its own. Which one comes first depends on how your customers search and decide.
- Website design
A website that shows who you're for
Arête builds your site around the niches and packages you offer. Upfront pricing or a quote tool, named accountants and an easy route to a discovery call, so the right prospects arrive half-decided.
Websites for accountants - SEO
SEO around niches and deadlines
Niche and service pages, local visibility and content planned around what your clients search for, from contractor accounts to Making Tax Digital. Kept current as the rules change.
SEO for accountants - Google Ads
Google Ads that filter hard
Fixed-fee search campaigns aimed at people ready to appoint an accountant. HMRC, job and DIY searches filtered out. Spend flexed around deadlines and the capacity you have.
Google Ads for accountants
Proof and measurement
What customers check, and what counts.
What customers look for before they call
- Package pages or a quote calculator showing what's included and what costs extra.
- Professional body membership, such as ICAEW, ACCA or AAT, stated accurately for both the people and the firm.
- Pages, articles and FAQs written for your niches: contractors, landlords, e-commerce sellers.
- Named, qualified accountants with photos and short biographies, so prospects know who they'll deal with.
- Recent reviews from your own clients, ideally describing the kind of work the prospect needs.
What counts as an enquiry
- A completed quote or package calculator, with contact details attached.
- A discovery call booked through an online calendar.
- A contact form giving business type, rough turnover and whether they already have an accountant.
- A call from the website or Google Business Profile that lasts long enough to be a proper conversation.
What gets tracked
- Enquiries by service and niche, showing which specialism the marketing is feeding.
- Discovery calls booked, and how many turn into engaged clients.
- Monthly enquiry volume, set against deadline periods and your capacity.
- What each engaged client from paid search costs, judged against their estimated annual fee.
Worth knowing
The rules and the practicalities.
Constraints for accountants
- Descriptions such as chartered or chartered certified accountant are tied to membership of specific bodies, so your site's wording should match the qualifications your people hold.
- Practices offering accountancy services need anti-money-laundering supervision, through a professional body or HMRC. New clients go through identity checks, and your onboarding pages should explain them upfront.
- Professional body logos and firm descriptions come with their own usage rules, so each appears only as that body permits.
- Tax content dates fast. Rates, thresholds and deadlines need reviewing after each Budget and at the start of every tax year.
Questions
Marketing for accountants: your questions answered
Should an accountancy practice publish its prices online?
For most practices, yes: at least starting prices or packages. Many prospects shortlist the firms that show a fee they can plan around. A quote calculator gives them a sensible figure and captures their details at the same time. Complex work can still carry a starting price with a route to a call.
Is it worth specialising in a niche such as contractors or landlords?
A defined niche makes marketing easier, because every page, ad and article can speak to one set of problems. You don't have to turn other work away. You lead with the areas where your practice is strongest. Niche searches are smaller in volume, but the people behind them know what they want.
How can marketing handle the January Self Assessment rush?
Arête raises paid search in the weeks before 31 January and pulls it back once your diary is full. Self Assessment content goes live well ahead of the peak, so it's in place before demand arrives. The point is to fill the capacity you have. Enquiries you can't serve help nobody.
Start a conversation
Tell Arête about the business and what currently feels missing.
You will receive a direct reply with the most sensible next step, even if that means recommending that nothing needs changing yet.
A direct reply
A personal reply, usually within one working day. No sales script, no chasing.
A short conversation
A look at the business, your current website and what a good result would look like for you.
A clear recommendation
The leanest sensible next step, with fixed scope and a fixed price. Sometimes that's nothing yet, and you'll be told so.
Prefer email? Write to info@aretemarketing.co.uk.