For accountants, bookkeepers, mortgage brokers, lawyers and conveyancers
Before they ring, clients look up who you are, what you've done and how you charge.
I work on your website and Google listing until each of those is easy to find, and ringing you or booking a call takes one tap.
Or email luke@streetgrow.au
What your clients judge you on
Clients of accountants, brokers and lawyers praise and complain about the same three things.
The person, and what they know
Clients name the person who helped them, and praise how much they know. So I look first at whether your site shows who you are, with a real photo and your background.
Quick answers, in plain English
Clients praise people who explain things plainly and get back to them quickly. The bad reviews are about chasing for answers, or being made to feel silly for asking questions.
Clear fees, and the numbers you're meant to show
Price is the most common complaint, in about a third of bad reviews. You don't need a fee list. One plain line on how you charge helps, along with any licence or registration number your profession uses.
What the audit checks for you
For a firm like yours, these lead the audit:
- A people page, with each person named, a real photo and their background.
- Whether it's easy to ring you or book a call from the first screen.
- Whether your site says how you charge, in plain words.
- The numbers your profession shows, written the right way (see below).
- One Google listing for the firm, separate from each person's. If you work by appointment, no hours are needed.
- Help with replies to your Google reviews, only if you want it, and you check each one before it goes up.
The rules for your profession, done right
- Mortgage brokers. ASIC says that where a credit licence number is required, it's written as "Australian credit licence" and the number, not just "ACL 12345". ASIC sets out how the licence number is written in some printed ads.
- Brokers' websites. Whether your website needs it is for you and your licensee to say. If it does, I'll put it on written the way ASIC asks.
- Tax and BAS agents. If you use the Tax Practitioners Board's registered symbol, the TPB says it has to go with your registration number. I check the two are together.
- Lawyers. The solicitors' conduct rules say you can't use "accredited specialist" unless you're accredited by the professional body. I flag that wording for you to confirm, since I can't check accreditation from your site.
I don't have an accountant, broker or law firm as a client yet. Here's a sample audit for a made-up accounting firm, so you can see how it reads and what it checks.
What it costs
Setup is $400 to $800, then $200 a month.
Your audit shows which one fits, and I'll tell you why.
- Tune-up, $400. Your website is fine, but your Google listing isn't.
- Fix-up, $500. Your website works, but needs real work.
- Full build, $800. You have no website, or one you can't control.
All three include your Google listing fully filled in, help with replies to your Google reviews (only if you want it, and you check each one before it goes up), and your details matching everywhere you're listed.
The $200 a month starts a month after setup. It covers the audit each month, your website kept up to date, a new post from photos you send me, small changes (up to about an hour), and a short report with a 10-minute call if you'd like one.
- No lock-in and no fee to cancel, so you can stop any month.
- You own everything, and there's no GST to add.
- You and a friend each get a free month. A friend sent you? Tell me who.
Questions firms ask me
Almost all our clients come from referrals.
That's normal for a firm like yours. The audit checks what a referred client finds when they look you up before getting in touch.
We don't publish fees. Every job's different.
That's fine, and you don't need to. Something like "fixed fee for a tax return" or "the first chat is free", if that's how you work, is plenty. Cost is often the first thing people ask.
Do we need opening hours on Google?
Not if you only see clients by appointment. Google says businesses that work only by appointment shouldn't list hours, so the audit won't mark you down for it.
Will you write tax or legal content for our site?
No, I won't write advice in your name. Each month's post is made from what you send me, like a question a client asked you, and nothing goes up as advice unless it's your words.
Send your firm's name to my mobile for a free audit. If it helps, we can go through it on a 15-minute call, in plain English.
Text Luke for a free auditor call 0402 263 305
Or email luke@streetgrow.au