One of the greatest challenges that accountants and bookkeepers face is standing out from the crowd. It can be difficult to differentiate yourself from other firms. While it helps to have a niche market or to get good at using the latest technology, there's another way to get noticed - starting a blog.

Writing useful articles on your website gives you a chance to illustrate your knowledge and expertise. While certain small businesses may think they can take everything on by themselves - including bookkeeping and accounting - this often works against them. And by reading your content, they'll be able to see exactly the kind of expertise they are missing out on - and how your skills could save them hours of valuable time!

But more than that, by zooming in on your ideal client, you can address their unique concerns and get their attention.

Wondering where to start? Follow our easy step-by-step guide here.

Before you even get into the question of content, it's time to choose a blogging platform. There are a range of different blogging platforms out there.

If you already have a website, you can host your blog there. If you don't yet have a website, you should make one. An easy way to do so is to use a website builder like Wix or Squarespace. You can then use WordPress with Bluehost as your web host.

Alternatively, you can use a blogging platform such as Medium or LinkedIn.

Once you've weighed up the pros and cons, it's time to choose a blog name and domain. A blog title is a name that's used for blog identification, while the domain name is the address of your blog.

If you're struggling to find a domain name for your blog, you can look at a blog name generator that helps you by suggesting ideas and searching for domain name availability.

So, your blog is all setup. Now it's time for that crucial step - creating content. Coming up with a good blog idea is difficult. Trust me; I do it everyday.

So, if you're struggling to come up with an idea, it can help to create an idea bank. This can be on a spreadsheet, a section of your calendar, on a notes app, in your diary - whatever suits you best. Some of the ways you can come up with a good blog idea include:

So, let's say that you have a great deal of expertise working with creative professionals. You could write a blog post about their common problems and how you would recommend addressing them.

If you use a particular accounting software, you could elaborate on why this software is useful and how it helps you to be far more efficient than accountants who are still using Excel.

The first step is always the hardest. Put something out there. Write up a draft and rework it until it flows.

Get someone who has a way with words to look it over for you, spellcheck, and touch up on grammar. Read your article aloud to see if there's anything strange that's crept in. Sometimes, when you read in your head, your eyes skim over mistakes and don't even register them.

Edit, edit, edit. You want the piece that you publish to look polished. Along with this comes a great title. On average, only 20% of blog visitors read past the headline. It's the headline that snags readers. In the words of blogging wizard, Neil Patel, "your headlines have a lot of heavy lifting to do". Headlines that are likely to be shared include those with the words:

Add some pictures and colours to make your blog look appealing. You can access a wide variety of stock photos online - free of charge - from places like Pexels or Unsplash. Or, you can use your own photographs to give the blog a personal feel.

And then, the moment you've been waiting for - hit PUBLISH.

It always helps to plan out the publication of your content. Keeping an editorial calendar handy will ensure that you are:

Sharing your blog posts to social media is a great way to get traction. If you use certain hashtags such as #AccountingandAccountants, you are more likely to attract fellow accountants or bookkeepers. On the other hand, it may be in your interests to use hashtags that your ideal clients are likely looking for. Maybe a better hashtag for you would be #smallbusinesses for instance.

Having an online presence on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn gives you the space to highlight your expertise alongside personal details that make your practice unique. The addition of personal think pieces and photographs also humanises you - which, in turn, makes your practice more appealing.

Partnering with other accountants or accounting software providers will boost the reach of your content and improve your reputation beyond your already existing clients.

To start a collaboration, reach out to others within the industry. Think of contacting someone who is not a direct competitor but whose audience would be valuable to you. You can reach out to people via email, LinkedIn, or even Twitter. Keep equal value in mind when it comes to the exchange.

It helps to exchange original content - write a brand new article for them and vice versa. Alternatively, you can create something together which has both your names on it. Sharing each other's content on social media redoubles the spread of these articles.

We run a content exchange programme on our blog where you can contribute thought leadership articles that showcase your expertise, build up your reputation, and help push traffic towards your website.

Blogging, like most things, starts off as trial and error. According to Full Stadium marketing's blog tips, you should strive to:

This will help you to build a trusting relationship with clients and potential clients. Over and above this, it's vital to be consistent. Marketers often debate quality vs. quantity, but what often happens when it comes to content creation is that quantity begets quality. In other words, the more you write, the better your writing gets.

To return to the words of blogging guru, Neil Patel, you need to "write for a small subset of people, not for everyone." This small subset of people are your ideal. audience. And to do this, you need to get specific. To add trustworthiness to your content, it also helps to use credible links to support what you are saying.

To sum it up, blogging is one of the tools you have at your disposal to make your firm stand out. It's not always easy to come up with good content but over time, you will get better at this.

By having quality content that is authentic and helpful to your ideal client, you will build up a reputation as a trustworthy practice and attract more clients to your firm in the future. So what are you waiting for?