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"Your accounting website should be more than a pretty face, it should be a tool for lead generation. But what if your website ranks well on Google and yet you&#039;re not getting as many leads as you&#039;d like? The problem could be what visitors see - or don&#039;t see - when they get to your website. Website visitors often need a little extra push to make the move to contact you. Find out how to nudge them in the right direction with 4 of our best tips for generating more leads from your accounting website.  1. Offer a Free Consultation  Grab people&#039;s attention with a free offer. When the initial consultation is free, there&#039;s nothing to lose so any apprehension prospective clients may have about contacting your accounting firm will melt away. You&#039;re probably thinking if you offer a consultation for free, you&#039;ll end up wasting time talking to people who aren&#039;t the type of client you want. But you can avoid getting stuck on a long call with the wrong prospect by weeding out the less desirable leads early on. Here&#039;s how to do it: Ask the right questions. Include 2-3 questions on the consultation form designed give you an idea of the type of prospect that&#039;s contacting you. A word of caution though. You must keep the questions short and easy to answer. Asking too many questions or requiring information that&#039;s too personal or too hard to answer quickly is guaranteed to make people skip out on contacting you altogether. Remember, people aren&#039;t worried about wasting your time by not telling you much about themselves but they are worried about wasting their time. To most people, filling out a long contact form on a website feels like a waste of time. So keep it short and simple and get your leads. For example, questions like &quot;What were your gross revenues last year?&quot; can turn people off. If they don&#039;t feel comfortable providing the exact number, you&#039;ve lost them. Instead, ask &#039;What best describes your business?&#039; with a drop down menu that lets them pick a range like gross revenues above $500k, between $250-500k, etc. Multiple choice questions work well because it&#039;s much easier and less personal to select an option from a drop down menu than to plug in your own number. Whatever you decide to ask, don&#039;t get carried away. People are busy and don&#039;t want to answer 20 questions just to contact you. Stick with no more than 2-3 questions beyond the basics like name, email, and phone number. Set a time limit on the consultation. You set the rules when it comes to how much of your time you want to give up to chat with a prospective client. So feel free to make the initial consultation no more than 30 or even 15 minutes, whatever works for you. You could state your time limit right on the form or you may want to decide how much time to spend based on each inquiry. Either way, it&#039;s your offer so you&#039;re in control of how much time you want to invest.    2. Add Online Appointment Scheduling Adding a link to Calendly or another online appointment scheduler to your accounting website is a great way to move to the next step with a prospective client. Many busy small business owners are happy to set an appointment with an accountant online so they can check it off their day&#039;s to do list and move on. Although its easy and convenient, your appointment scheduler does not replace the contact forms on your website. Here&#039;s why: While some prospects are eager to get started and won&#039;t hesitate to set up an appointment, not everyone is ready for this step when they first visit your website. At this stage, they may want to ask a question about your services or find out if you can help them with a specific business issue before committing to an appointment. So if you choose to add an appointment scheduler, make sure you keep your contact forms in place so your visitors have options.  3. Attract New Business with a Lead Magnet Offering a free download on your accounting website will act as a magnet for new leads. These days, people are looking for valuable content online and will gladly pay the price of giving you their contact info to get it. With an intriguing topic and eye-catching graphics, the lure of a lead magnet can be hard to resist which means more inquiries and the potential for more new business. Whether your lead magnet is an eBook, white paper, or a handy checklist, the point is to find a topic that will appeal to the type of client you&#039;re hoping to attract. As an accountant, you&#039;re probably most interested in bringing in small business owners so you&#039;ll want to tailor the topic to their needs. Think about their pain points and business problems they may be facing and develop content that will be helpful to them but you can afford to give away for free. Besides bringing in more leads from your website, another thing that&#039;s great about a lead magnet is that it starts your client relationship off on the right foot. The person may have reached out to other accountants they found during their online search but what did those firms do for them? Nothing. However, you haven&#039;t even talked to them yet and have already given them something they can use, for free. This immediately puts you in the position of their business advisor, creating the perfect jumping off point for a long-term relationship. 4. Awards and Certifications Don&#039;t be afraid to show off a little! If your accounting firm has earned awards badges from reputable business directory websites like Expertise, Clutch, BBB, and others, put these on the homepage of your website. Seeing your accolades from organizations like these when they arrive on your website will help build the prospect&#039;s confidence in your firm. Industry certifications like QuickBooks ProAdvisor, Xero partner badges, AICPA membership, Certified Tax Coach (CTC), and others will also show that you&#039;re fully qualified to assist them with all of their accounting needs. Read more tips on promoting an accounting award here. If you need a hand implementing any of these tips on your website or want a new accounting website design, contact us now at 888-999-9800, ext. 1 or info@buildyourfirm.com. To find out how we can help you beef up your online marketing efforts, check out our Content Marketing in a Box program."
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