Search in financial services splits neatly in two. Nationally it is dominated by big brands and comparison sites, and competing there is expensive and slow. Locally, and on specific niches, it is very winnable, and that is where a firm should put its effort.
The ground worth taking
The pattern that works is service plus who it is for plus where. An accountant for contractors in a named town. A firm that handles company year ends for small limited companies in a county. These searches are less contested, they signal exactly what the person needs, and they convert far better than anything broad, because the visitor has already qualified themselves.
Structure that ranks
A page can only rank for what it is genuinely about, so a single services page listing self assessment, payroll, VAT and advisory will rank for none of them properly. Each service you want more of needs a page explaining what is included, who it suits, how you charge and what the first month looks like. We covered the site itself in website design for accountants.
Credibility carries more weight here
Advice that affects somebody money gets extra scrutiny, both from readers and from search engines. What helps is straightforward: name the person who wrote it, show their qualifications and professional body, date it, and keep it accurate as rules change. An out-of-date article about allowances does more harm than no article at all, so a small library kept current beats a large one left to rot.
The local basics
For most firms the Business Profile, consistent details across the web and a steady flow of reviews will move things faster in the first quarter than any amount of writing. It is dull work and it is usually where the return is. More on how we approach the search side under SEO.
The short version. Leave the national head terms alone. Win specific, local searches with real pages per service, put a named and qualified person behind the advice, and keep the local signals tidy.
More on the sector on our page for financial services.