15 Phrases to Scrub from your CPA Firm’s Website
Today we’re talking about the copy on your website. Because you might be either alienating prospects who visit your website, or not attracting them to begin with. And because of that, you could be missing out on really good revenue.
What am I talking about? All kinds of words and phrases that are meaningless at best – and are potentially harmful – and are taking up valuable real estate on your website, and doing nothing to rank in search results when your ideal clients are googling around for someone like you. And when prospects DO make it to your website, they go, mmmm, not THIS CPA. and they bounce.
And you might be thinking to yourself, well, I don’t get most of my business from my website. I get it from word of mouth and referral. So, why bother with my website?
You might be right that website traffic is not a source of leads for you, so why bother… but the other way to think about it is… a lackluster website that doesn’t speak to your prospects is exactly why you get few to no leads from it.
So let’s take a spin through a bunch of words and phrases I see in use, see what is problematic about these words, and what to say instead:
- Affordable
- Experienced, Accurate, Integrity, Trustworthy, Honesty
- Talking about things that are expected, the bare minimum
- Full-service, broad range of services, wide range of expertise
- Small Firm Personality, BIG FIRM CAPABILITY
- Serving our community since the stone age
- We have established a reputation for excellence, teamwork, community involvement, and a certain alternative character.
- Bizarro Aspirational phrases that mean nothing:
- THE SKY’S THE LIMIT, Achieve Your Goals
- committed to your success, ensuring success
- We dream big with you
- achieve more than you thought possible
Here is what prospects want to see on your website:
You know who they are – specifically – martial art studio owners. Landscapers. Creative agencies. Architects. Etsy shop owners. Women in the stages of divorce, who need to get a handle on their finances.
And an indication you know what those people want:
- Martial art studio owners: what do the numbers need to look like for them to buy the building, or open a second location?
- Landscapers – stop getting paid 60 days after they’ve mowed the lawn, and instead get paid up front, so they can stop chasing cash and instead have enough reserve to make it through the winter months.
- Contractors – want to stay on top of project costs and know week to week how estimate to actuals are doing.
- Women in the stages of divorce who need to get a handle on their finances after years of not being in charge of the money.
You need to be able to identify the pain points that are specific to the type of business owner you want to attract, so that they know you understand them. Doing this will not only separate you from the CPA around the corner, but it will get you much farther along the value curve.
Scrub your website of accurate and honest and we reply to your questions, and instead give your prospects an indication you know who they are, what their struggles are, and what they want.
If you want my eyeballs on your website to see what kind of verbiage needs to be scrubbed and what you can replace it with, sign up for Accountants Anonymous – it’s Nov 19th at 12 ET – and walk away knowing exactly what to say to attract your ideal clients.
Register at https://shethinksbigcoaching.com
Episode mentioned:
106 Better Pricing Strategies for Accountants: Stop Billing by the Hour
Upcoming training:
15 PHRASES TO SCRUB FROM YOUR WEBSITE AND WHAT TO SAY INSTEAD
Thursday, November 19th, 12pm ET
Schedule time with Geraldine:
https://calendly.com/geraldinecarter/15min