Data-backed blog post ideas for converting accountants into subscribers of your accounting software
Ok, don’t laugh, but I am really getting into accounting. I know! I wouldn’t have believed it either. Who ever says, “Hey, want to go to dinner and talk about accounting this weekend?” But these accounting software companies have super duper blogs.
I’d be willing to bet they get a lot of business through their blogs, too. Since we love blogs, and we love helping you blog in a way that helps you make money, I thought you might like to take a look at these. These blogs are good examples of how you can use blogging to attract and retain more customers.
Because I’m nice, though, and because I want you to succeed, I won’t just say, “Hey, look at these blog posts and get ideas.” Nope. Let’s go one step further.
These examples below all come with a sample title and call to action. The keywords (which is what Google uses to help people find you) are in red. Feel free to use all of these ideas as they are or play with them to suit your needs, just don’t alter the red keywords. It may not seem like a big deal to add a word, or to change the order, but to Google, that turns it into something entirely different. And that can mean the difference between 12,000 people looking for you each year and ten people.
10 Blog post ideas for accounting software companies
1. Promote happiness
Title: 10 Ways Online Accounting Services That Add More Time Back into Your Day
Call to action: “You have enough to do running your small business. Let us help you with some of the details. Our online accounting services can get you out of the books and back to making money. Get in touch for a free 30-day trial.”
The Less Accounting blog offers a bit of what to and what not to do. Let’s start with their focus on the reader. That is always a good idea. When you write, you’re asking your reader to spend some time with you. Your job is to return that favor with a benefit – some food for thought, something humorous, or useful information.
So when Less Accounting offers ideas on how to improve business, they are giving their readers their focus and attention. Remember, marketing (which is what your blog is) isn’t about you; it’s about your customer.
A blog like this could do a lot to attract people interested in your accounting software. Here’s the catch – even with good keywords, Google wants to present fresh information. This means you have to publish regularly for your blog to work its magic.
Less Accounting’s blog seems to run in fits and starts, so they may or may not be getting traction and building an audience, but regular posting would certainly help improve that search traffic. You’ll be regularly posting on your blog, I assume? You do want search traffic, right?
2. Offer work/life balance solutions for busy owners
Title: Balancing Life and Work is Good for Business
Call to action: “The act of balancing life and work can make you feel like you’re walking a tightrope. Let us take some of the work off your hands so you can spend more time enjoying the fruits of your labor. Get in touch for a free 30-day trial.”
I love the Bench blog. Really. It is a shining example of how to use your blog to attract business. Their target audience is the small business owner, and hey, who needs accounting help more than a small business owner?
There is a lot to like about the Bench blog, but I’ll give you my top three. They soft sell – I’m not sure there is anything on the blog about accounting, BUT it is implied throughout. There is a call to action at the end of each blog post, and the blog is just plain beautiful. The layout is simple, and the images are clear and well done.
A blog as well done as this is bound to draw traffic to their site, which, of course, means that many more opportunities to attract customers. That’s what your blog will do, because you, too, will have a stellar blog.
3. Help them keep track
Title: Track Your Billable Expenses or Lose Money
Call to Action: “You’re in business to make money. Missing out on billable expenses is like tossing your wallet off a bridge. Try our accounting software free for 30 days and discover just how much we can put back in your pocket.”
Xero is nothing if not prolific. While I can’t tell you what their analytics look like, I can say they understand the power of regularly posting on their blog. It seems they post six to 10 times per week. Granted, they do have over 1,200 employees worldwide, so this level of posting, for a smaller in-house operation might be unsustainable (unless you hire us to do it for you).
Beyond the volume of posting, though, they also get a lot of shares on their posts, with some of them getting hundreds of shares. I’d be willing to bet part of their success is the extensive leveraging of customer stories. The Xero blog is filled with stories from customers, interviews with business owners, plus practical information about running a small business.
You, my accounting software company friend, can easily do that, as well. People love to share their expertise and good experiences. Furthermore, when you publish that post full of customer quotes, those customers are likely to share your post. It’s like a two-for-one sale at the Cadillac dealership. Especially once all those people start checking out your accounting software.
4. Turn it around
Title: How to Make Bad Business Reviews Good for You
Call to Action: “Your business is your baby, and you want to protect it. But don’t let occasional bad business reviews distract you from what matters most: making your business the best it can be. In fact, our accounting software will help you take care of the numbers while you focus on making your customers happy. Try it free for 30 days with no obligation.”
FreshBooks is another accounting software company with a prolific blog. In fact, they have over 150 pages of blog posts going back to 2006! They also do one of the best things you can do for your audience, which is to write a lot of “how to” blog posts (including how to handle difficult customers). Right from the start that type of post tells the reader they are going to get some valuable information.
I love the custom graphics, the focus on the reader, and the personality of the posts. One comment, though, FreshBooks – adding a call to action at the end of your posts could bring you more customers.
You, accounting software companies, will have a call to action in your blog posts because, “Hey! I just read this great post, and I could use accounting software to boost my productivity and lower my stress. Let me Google that.” Wouldn’t it be better if I could just click on your sales page?
5. Choose your path
Title: Your Books aren’t the Accounting Nightmare You Think They Are
Call to Action: “You’re probably better at accounting and record keeping than you believe you are. But if you are truly having an accounting nightmare, and even if you aren’t, we can help you stay organized and prepared for filing business income reports. Join us for a free 30-day trial.”
The Kashoo blog is a more accounting focused accounting blog. While some of these other blogs are loaded with an assortment of valuable business owner tips and advice, Kashoo has posts about interest coverage ratios and cash flow statements.
Both approaches have advantages, so this is something to consider when you begin working on your blog. The Kashoo angle of offering accounting and bookkeeping tips seems like a real benefit and a great way to retain customers.
What do they do that you can copy on your blog? They post regularly, they target a specific audience, and they have a call to action in each post – all of which are content marketing best practices! Be still my heart!
6. Make a list
Title: Why Bootstrapping a Startup is Good for your Financial Health
Call to Action: “No one ever said bootstrapping a startup was easy. But running a tight ship means you’ll have fewer fiscal responsibilities in the future. You have to keep track of those expenses, though. Try our accounting software free for 30 days to discover just how much you can benefit for a low price.”
I think we can all get behind a list, right? Blog posts that offer 9 tips, or 11 tips or the 4 worst all let us know what we’re in for. Xpenditure does just that on their blog. They mix it up, too, with some posts geared toward productivity and others that are accounting themed.
People love lists, and you can use list posts on your blog to draw in future customers. Once they realize how helpful your blog posts are, they will begin to understand how much your software can help them.
7. Have fun
Title: Is Accounting Fun? Yes!
Call to Action: “Is accounting fun for you? Is your small business bookkeeping driving you batty? We believe accounting is fun, and we want to help make it fun (or at least less of a chore) for you. Try our software free for 30 days and see how fun (or painless) accounting can be!”
The Sage blog is witty. In fact, they don’t call it a blog, they call it advice. Sage advice. They reference Dr. Who, Mompreneurs, and introverts. Despite the seeming scattershot approach, all of their posts are thematically in line with finances, accounting, and running a business.
They offer a good example of how you can use popular culture and seemingly unrelated topics to attract an audience, then adapt that subject matter to fit into an accounting blog. They also have interesting calls to action on each post.
8. Share the love
Title: You’ll Love These Small Business Accounting Solutions
Call to Action: We know you’re busy, and don’t have a lot of time to fuss over accounting and bookkeeping. These small business accounting solutions, along with our user-friendly software, will have you jumping for joy. Try it free for 30 days.”
Indinero is focused. Their blog includes tips on different small business accounting methods, how to handle employee payroll, and, best of all, each post comes with a call to action. Sign up for their email newsletter and get a free download.
Offering a freemium is a marketing best practice. You give away something of value to your reader, and they give you permission to add them to your email list. Then, when you send out your weekly or biweekly newsletter (you do have one, right?) they are reminded of how much value your software can offer.
9. Keep it safe
Title: Keeping Data Secure is One of Many Priorities in Your Accounting
Call to Action: “Your business is full of valuable information that a hacker would love to get their hands on. Ease your mind about keeping data secure and safe; our accounting software fully protect you. Try it free for 30 days and discover how we can help secure your financial information.”
I’m going to pick on Simplazz 123 just a little. One of the primary reasons, nay, the only reason to have a blog is to drive traffic to your website and convert those visitors into customers. Obviously, that isn’t going to happen with all visitors or even a majority. Even so, your blog is part of your marketing, and the goal is to leverage your blog to make money.
Simplazz 123 does a great job at giving the reader a benefit with posts about working smarter, creating a positive work environment, and maximizing productivity. More blogs should be benefit oriented like this.
Since you want your blog to attract visitors, you’ve got to optimize it so Google can find it. This includes, among other practices, posting regularly and posting a minimum of 600-word articles. I’d wager that if Simplazz 123 did this, they would find their blog to be a useful tool for increasing traffic to their website.
Your blog, dear accounting software companies, will focus on the benefit to the reader, and will also have regular updates. Yes?
10. Keep it real
Title: Understanding Accounting for your Business
Call to Action: “We know you have a full plate. Our job is to help you understand accounting in a way that helps you create a successful financial strategy for your business. Try our software free for 30 days to find out how you can run your business more easily, and make more money.”
ClearBooks mixes up the fun and the benefit-oriented posting. We work remotely on occasion, so their post about being productive while working at home is great. I also appreciate the humor of discovering that Bob Newhart began his career as an accountant.
However….some of the posts are on the short side, which won’t help with Google rankings and there is no call to action. (Don’t worry ClearBooks; you aren’t the first, and you won’t be the last. I’m sure you could point out dozens hundreds of ways I could be a better software engineer.)
That said, I do believe some tweaking could help with their Google rankings, and help them attract more customers. The writing is friendly and approachable, which is an excellent starting point.
For your accounting software blog, dear reader, approachable writing is a must. Think about the last time you sat in a meeting with a monotone speaker for 45 minutes right after lunch. Don’t write like that. Your readers won’t make it past the first paragraph, much less sign up for your free trial.
The 10 things you can learn from accounting software blogs
- Offer a benefit to your reader.
- Aesthetics count.
- Post often. Google likes that.
- Help your reader out of a tight spot. Offer solutions.
- Decide on your audience. Who are you writing to?
- People love a list.
- You can have fun, and still be all business.
- Ask for email addresses in exchange for a free download.
- Make your blog SEO friendly. It is how people find you.
- Be friendly. No one enjoys a lecture. Your blog is part of a conversation.
There are a lot of good ideas for business blogging throughout all of the company blogs above. Take a look through to see what you like or don’t like. Your blog doesn’t have to be perfect to be valuable to your reader. Heck, we all misspell a word here and there or forget an apostrophe. It’s ok. What matters is that you understand how valuable a blog can be to your business, and how to take advantage of that.
Do you have an accounting software company blog? What would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments.
Does updating your company blog seem like a task you’d rather not deal with? We love blogging for business. Join us to get the benefits of a professional team dedicated to your success.
Email us: patrick@buzzfarmers.wpengine.com or give us a call at 866-561-2899.
