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Hi Amelia

That's a great answer, thanks a lot. You've basically reaffirmed my own thinking.

I'll keep grinding and hope for the best.

Thanks again

Chris

I'm an intern at an Accounts Software Company. I'm doing SEO for them. As part of this I've recently started blogging. I'm doing this in an effort to increase traffic to the blog, and try to shift content focus away from Startup Methodology and increase focus on the product..I've had some success with it, in terms of increased Domain Authority and keyword ranking. At the same time, Keyword ranking can suddenly drop for some keywords, closely related to the ones I'm trying to rank for. The further difficulty is, that nobody wants to read about Accounting subjects. I've tried to make my posts as interesting and as valuable as possible.I'm still having trouble gauging whether I'm going about things the right way.Please take a look at some of the posts I've done. If anyone had any critique/advice I'd really appreciate it.. Here it is: http://www.bullethq.com/blog/category/accounts/

Good answer

We are currently working on a site audit to correct the on-page issues you mention.

That said, the volume of traffic they're getting still seems to be unusual v's major and similar sized competitors in their field. Their on-page keyword optimization is below par compared to most. They have virtually no apparent Content Strategy or Social Media presence. This means they're not following Google's guidelines for generating Organic Search Traffic.

They are certainly not one of the major players in the world of online accounting so all things considered, the search traffic they're getting seems to be out of the ordinary

Great feedback folks.

Using Competitors names Is furthest from my mind. I prefer to focus on getting good Organic Search Traffic by ethical means. I was surprised when I came across this issue, because of who's doing it (a major player) and because it's a recent enough tactic of theirs, so I decided to ask for a second opinion.

Thanks for these great answers

Chris

I can't imagine this is a White Hat SEO technique, but they don't seem to be punished for it by Google - yet.

How does Google treat the use of your competitors names in your meta keywords/descriptions? Is it a good idea?

I wouldn't dare. Google would be the first to know!

The site is https://virtualaccountant.ie/

It's a really small site

They have only about 7 back links,

They don't blog

They don't have a PPC campaign

They don't stand out from the crowd in terms of product or services offered

So why are they succeeding in topping the SERP's for difficult to rank for accounting keywords such as accountant and online accounts. What are they doing better than everyone else, or have they discovered a way to cheat Google, and worse still - ME!

Hi,

Did you ever find the answer to this question? I'd be interested to know as I'm tackling RSs myself at the moment.

Chris

Hi Miriam

Thank you so much for such a comprehensive response. You've given me amazing insight with great ideas I can truly progress!

Greetings from Sunny Ireland

Hey,

That's great Miriam, thanks for your help. I'll answer your questions below.

1. Do you mean you are developing a general local business directory (like Yellow Pages, CitySearch, Best of the Web) or some other type of directory?

**Ans: **What we're looking to do is create awareness of our product (online accounting tool for SME biz) to accountants. People who a search for 'Accountant London', will find a simple landing page (like yelp/google) with the accountants details, map etc. There will be a big contact us button, which will send the contents of that form to the accountant. Remember accountants are pretty poor at this stuff, so it's not like we're trying to take on an SEO rich group.

From a customer point of view, we're giving them what they want 'a list of accountants from London', but also exposing them to the product. Answering questions etc?

2. Where do you want to drive inbound traffic to? The directory or something else?

**Ans: **To the directory, from there we'll capture information and use for outbound

3. Please define what you mean, exactly, by 'hyperlocal searches'?

**Ans: **People contact us a bit looking for 'a good accountant in dublin, monkstown', so we're looking to capture that search. We have a problem with content in that, if we write about accounting nobody will read them as a result we're losing out on SEO (Although we're working on that, any suggestions welcome)

The more information you can provide, the better answer you will receive from the community. Looking forward to your further details.

**Ans: **Thanks again M, this has been a great help.

Chris

I wouldn't dare. Google would be the first to know!

Hi Amelia

That's a great answer, thanks a lot. You've basically reaffirmed my own thinking.

I'll keep grinding and hope for the best.

Thanks again

Chris