SEO for professional services: what 82 firm websites get wrong
We ran the same checks as our free scan on 82 independent accountants, solicitors and IT services firms across the South West in September 2026. Here is what came up most, what it costs a firm, and what to fix first.
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The problems that came up most often
Based on 82 professional services firms, pooled across accountants, solicitors and IT services firms. Each figure shows how many sites it was measured on.
83%of sites took more than four seconds to show their main content on a phone (65 of 78). Only 6 loaded in the time Google counts as good.
A prospective client comparing firms on their phone gives each one a few seconds. A slow first screen makes a firm look less organised than it is.
First fix: Start with the large photo at the top of the homepage: resize and compress it, and make sure nothing else has to load before it.
40%of sites did not tell Google what kind of firm they were, or even that they were a local business, in their structured data (28 of 70).
When someone searches for an accountant or a solicitor near them, Google has to work out what you do and where from the page text. Structured data states it outright.
First fix: Add structured data for your type of firm (AccountingService, LegalService or ProfessionalService) with your address, phone number and opening hours.
Check your structured data24%of sites had no valid SPF record for their email domain (20 of 82).
Firms that handle client money and confidential documents are a favourite target for impersonation. SPF tells inboxes which servers may send email as you.
First fix: Publish a single SPF record listing the services that send your email. It stops fakes sent from your exact domain, though not from lookalike domains, so keep warning clients about changed bank details.
Check your SPF record34%of sites had no DMARC record at all, and only 28 of 82 told inboxes to quarantine or reject fake email sent in their name.
DMARC is the instruction that turns SPF into protection: without it, inboxes are left to decide for themselves what to do with a message that fails the check.
First fix: Add a DMARC record to your domain, start it in monitoring mode, then move it to quarantine once your own email passes.
Check your DMARC record
What to fix first
If you run a professional services firm, this is the order we would take these in. Then run the free scan to see which apply to your site.
Lock down your email domain
Add SPF and DMARC records. For a firm handling client money or data, this is the fix with the most at stake, and it is a one-off job for whoever manages your domain.
Make the first screen fast on a phone
Compress the hero image and put your phone number and services where they load first.
Tell Google what kind of firm you are
Add structured data for your type of firm with your address, phone and hours, matching your Google Business Profile.
About this research
- 82 independent professional services firms across twelve South West towns, audited on 26 September 2026 with the same checks our free scan runs. No site is named on this page.
- The figures are for the group as a whole. Some of its sectors had too few sites to quote on their own, so no figure here describes any single one of them.
- Homepage plus up to six further pages per site. Mobile speed is Google PageSpeed Insights lab data, measured twice and averaged.
- A site counts as failing a check only when it clearly misses it. Borderline results, such as a DMARC record in monitoring mode, are counted separately and not included in the fail figures.
- Some checks could not be measured on every site, for example when a page would not load. Each figure says how many sites it is based on.
Common questions
Further reading
All postsWhat Are Core Web Vitals? The Metrics That Affect Your Google Ranking
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Read moreLocalBusiness Schema: The Structured Data That Actually Matters for Local Search
LocalBusiness schema is the one piece of structured data almost every local business should add. Here's the full property list, how multi-location sites should handle it, and the placeholder mistake that quietly undoes it.
Read moreHTTPS and Security Headers: The Trust Signals Most Sites Get Wrong
The padlock icon is just the start. Here's what HTTPS and security headers actually protect - and why Google and visitors both care.
Read moreStart with one page. Then let AuditCrow watch the rest.
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