Google My Business for accounting firms: get seen and attract new clients

There are so many ways accounting firms can increase visibility online. While strategies like SEO, content marketing, and social media get all the attention, others often go under the radar. One such example is Google My Business.

Google My Business is a powerful tool that helps businesses get seen in local search results. The word “local” might seem old-fashioned in today’s global world, but 80% of US consumers
search for local businesses each week. When someone looks for an accountant in your area, you want your business to be front and center — and Google My Business is how you do that. 

In this article, we’ll explain everything you need to know about Google My Business. We’ll cover what it is, why you should care, and how to use it to grow your accounting practice. 

What is Google My Business?

Also known as Google Business Profile, Google My Business (GMB) is a free tool that allows businesses to manage their online presence in local Google search results. 

Unlike regular search results in Google, businesses with a GMB profile appear in Google Maps. They can also control how their business appears in search results by adding rich information and features, including: 

• Google ratings and reviews
• Address and contact information
• Opening hours
• Information about services and pricing

Let’s look at the search results for the keyword “Accounting firms in San Diego”. Regular search results look like this: 

Businesses with Google My Business profiles, on the other hand, appear in search results like this: 

As you can see, the GMB search results are much more engaging and informative than regular search results. Chances are, if you’re looking for a service provider in your local area, you’ll pick one that offers the rich information provided by a GMB profile. This idea is backed up by hard data as well:

• 86% of customers use Google Maps to find a business
• Up to 98% of customers read reviews before making a decision
• “Near me” searches have increased 500% in recent years

By neatly providing the information potential clients need, GMB profiles increase visibility and drive high-quality organic traffic to your website. They also help build credibility and trust in a highly competitive market. 

While GMB is like a storefront that attracts clients, every successful accounting firm needs a strong foundation behind the scenes. With TaxDome, you can streamline and automate client communication, document management, team collaboration, and more. So when you land new clients through GMB, you can ensure they stick around for the long term. 

How to get started with Google My Business

Setting up a GMB profile is a straightforward process. In just a few minutes, you can significantly improve your accounting firm’s visibility. Here’s how you get started:

First, you’ll need to sign in to your Google account or create a new one. Next, you can head straight to this landing page
and follow these steps:

• Click on “Add your business to Google”
• Add your business name and business category in the relevant fields
• If you want to add a physical location (i.e. your office), which will appear on Google Maps when potential clients search for local businesses, select “Yes”
• Enter the area your accounting practice serves
• Enter the contact details you want potential clients to see (optional)
• Add your office opening times 
• Click “Finish”

Finally, you’ll need to select a verification option — e.g. phone, SMS, or email. Verifying your profile will unlock access to all GMB features. The verification process can take up to five days, depending on the method you choose. Once verified, it can take several weeks for your business to appear in local Google searches. 

For more information on how to set up and verify your GMB profile, check out Google’s instructions: 

• How to set up your GMB profile
• How to verify your GMB profile

10 strategies to generate leads with Google My Business

To help you maximize the opportunities GMB presents, here are 10 actionable strategies to attract and convert more clients:

• Complete and optimize your profile
• Showcase photos and videos
• Leverage client reviews
• Don’t forget to use the Q&A section
• Publish regular posts
• Enable messaging for direct client interactions
• Utilize GMB insights
• List all of your services clearly
• Add a clear call-to-action (CTA)
• Keep information consistent across platforms

1. Complete and optimize your profile

Make sure you’ve filled in every section of the setup process — including your business description, contact information, services, and opening hours. Some of these can be skipped during the initial setup, so make sure you go back and complete any missed steps. The more information you can add about your accounting business, the more useful your profile will be to potential clients. 

Your business description is particularly important, as Google will use it to understand whether your business is relevant to people’s searches. Google gives you a maximum of 750 characters to explain who you are, what you do, and where you are located — so make them count! 

Here are some tips to optimize your business description for maximum visibility:

• Be clear and concise
• Make sure all information in your description is relevant to potential clients
• Mention the location you serve
• Outline your key services and unique selling point (USPs)
• Add hard data about clients, growth, or achievements 
• Incorporate keywords into your description

Here’s an example from San Diego-based Profitwise Accounting:

Speaking of keywords, try to incorporate them throughout your GMB listing. Ideally, these should be the same keywords you use on your website. For example: “Tax preparation for small businesses,” “Small business accounting,” or “Tax accountant in San Diego”. 

For a deeper dive into search engine optimization (SEO) for accountants, check out this detailed guide: SEO for accountants: 16 effective strategies to attract new clients.

2. Showcase photos and videos

Google My Business allows you to add photos and videos to your profile. This way, potential clients can get a feel for who you are, what you offer, and what your office looks like, without having to go to your website. Here’s an example:

Businesses with photos get 35% more click-throughs to their websites
than businesses with no photos — so adding some is a no-brainer. For reference, the average number of photos per business is 11. We recommend adding photos that are unique to your business. Think photos of you and your team, your office space, or relevant infographics about your services or client success. You could even turn positive reviews into infographic quotes. 

While most business profiles have photos, far fewer have videos. By adding a slick corporate video, you can differentiate yourself from the crowd and drive interest. 

3. Leverage client reviews

Client reviews are one of the most powerful tools for converting leads into paying clients. The vast majority of people check online reviews before deciding to work with a service provider. If a business has poor reviews, they’ll likely be overlooked for one with better reviews. GMB puts your client reviews front and center on search results. See below: 

Interestingly, however, having no reviews is likely more damaging than having sub-par reviews. This is because Google uses both review count and review scores as a factor when ranking your business. 

The number of reviews you have also plays an important factor from the client’s perspective. People typically read three to five reviews when they already know your brand. If they don’t, they read between five and ten reviews. In other words: the more reviews, the better.

So how exactly do you go about getting user reviews? Here are some tips: 

• Ask directly after a positive interaction
• Include links for leaving reviews in your follow-up or thank-you email
• Offer a special discount for those that leave positive reviews — e.g. 10% off your next tax return

When you get reviews, it’s also a good idea to respond to them — even if they aren’t the best. This will allow you to either thank the client for choosing you or seek to address any issues promptly. 

4. Don’t forget to use the Q&A section 

Google My Business has a handy question-and-answer (Q&A) feature that enables potential clients to find out more about your business. When you click on a business profile, you’ll find the Q&A somewhere below the business’s contact information and opening hours. Here’s an example:

By clicking on the “See all questions” link, you’ll see a pop-up with access to all questions people have asked about the business — and the firm’s responses. See below:

The Q&A feature is a great way to engage with potential clients and answer important questions they have. The answers you provide may be the reason they decide to work with you. What’s more, the questions and answers are recorded on your profile for other viewers to see. Besides providing valuable information, answering people’s questions shows you are an engaged, client-focused business. 

5. Publish regular posts

Google My Business allows you to publish regular posts directly to their GMB profile. So potential clients can see your latest news and offers without even heading to your website. There are six different types of posts you can make, some of which we’ve covered already: 

• Updates
• Photos
• Reviews
• Offers
• Events
• FAQs

Businesses can also add posts about their services (for service-based businesses, like accounting firms), menus (for restaurants), and products (for e-commerce).

Once published, these posts will appear in your GMB profile. Here’s what update posts look like. Update posts are essentially like mini blog posts, with the idea of keeping visitors informed about who you are and what you offer. 

Likewise, if you have an event coming up — such as a webinar or Q&A — you can post information about it on your GMB profile. 

6. Enable messaging for direct client interaction

Until recently, leads could send you instant messages directly through your GMB profile with the “Chat” option. This feature was discontinued in July 2024, however. But fear not — you can still enable instant messaging through GMB by integrating either WhatsApp or SMS. To do this:

• Go to your business profile 
• Click “Edit profile”
• Click on “Business information” 
• Click on the “Contact” tab
• Click on the “Chat” section
• Choose from either WhatsApp or SMS in the dropdown menu
• Enter your WhatsApp URL or a phone number (for SMS)
• Click Save

Once set up, potential clients will be able to contact you directly via Google search results. Bear in mind that people can already phone you directly from your GMB search listing. 

Integrating WhatsApp or SMS into your profile provides an additional channel for engaging with clients directly. By answering their questions promptly and providing personalized responses, you increase the likelihood of them choosing to work with you.

7. Utilize GMB insights

Google My Business offers users built-in analytics for tracking key performance metrics. GMB’s analytics tool is distinct from Google Analytics and Google Search Console in that it focuses purely on interactions with your GMB profile. 

Simply head to your GMB account and navigate to the Insights tab. There, you can monitor a range of metrics, including: 

• The number of times your GMB listing has been viewed
• The search queries that led to those views
• How searches interacted with your profile — for example:
  – Clicking through to your website
  – Calling you
  – Sending an instant message
  – Asking Google for directions

Over time, you can use these insights to fine-tune your profile. You can adjust keywords and additional elements. For example, if you notice lots of people contacting you via WhatsApp to ask certain questions, you can adjust your profile description to answer these questions upfront (and save you time). 

8. List all of your services clearly 

Google My Business has a specific feature for adding services to your profile, including descriptions and prices. You can even group services into different categories — e.g. tax services or small business accounting — to improve navigation. 

Stating your services and pricing upfront makes life easier for potential clients. The less digging they need to do, the more likely they are to commit to working with you. To add services: 

• Go to your business profile
• Click on “Edit services”
• Select “Add more services”
• Select “Save”

Once added, you can edit your services at any point.

9. Add a clear call-to-action (CTA)

Getting your GMB profile seen is one thing. Getting visitors to perform a certain action from your profile is another. By including clear CTAs in your profile, you can prompt potential clients to take the next step to working with you. 

Google allows you to add one of the following CTA buttons at the bottom of your GMB posts: 

• Learn more
• Book
• Sign up
• Order online
• Buy
• Call now

You can see an example of the “Call now” CTA below. You can also choose to have a CTA embedded in the post itself. 

In addition to CTAs in posts, GMB allows you to add the following standard CTA buttons at the top of your profile, all of which help drive conversions: 

• A link to your website
• Directions to your office (if you have one)
• A button to call you
• A button to send you an instant message (WhatsApp or SMS)

10. Keep information consistent across platforms

As your business grows and evolves, the information you need to present to clients and leads will change. Inconsistencies in your messaging can confuse clients and potentially hurt search ranking, so you must maintain consistent messaging across different digital platforms. 

Make sure the following is consistent, accurate, and up-to-date across your website, GMB profile, and social media channels:

• Contact details and business name
• Service listings and pricing
• Branding, images, and tone of voice
• Important news and updates

To sum up

A well-optimized GMB profile is a game-changer for accountants looking to attract more clients
. It allows your firm to get seen in local Google searches while engaging potential clients with information-rich listings. By implementing the strategies we’ve outlined in this guide, you can enhance your local visibility, build credibility, and drive meaningful client interactions.

Of course, converting leads is great. But if you want them to stick around for the long term, you need to offer an incredible service and exceptional client experience. This is where practice management software like TaxDome comes in. 

With TaxDome, you can complement your GMB efforts by streamlining your accounting workflows and improving client communication. To see how TaxDome can help your firm grow, request a demo today.