How clients find a CA on Google today

A shop owner needs help with a GST registration. He picks up his phone and types "CA near me". In ten seconds he sees a map with a few offices, a list of websites, and perhaps an answer written by Google's AI. If your office is not in any of those places, he never knew you existed. This free lesson shows where a firm can appear on Google, explains the main words of SEO in one line each, and gives you a 10-minute check of your own firm.

Three places a firm can appear

A search for a service in a city usually shows three different parts. Each works differently.

Google says there are no extra requirements and no special optimisation needed to appear in AI Overviews or AI Mode. A page only has to be stored by Google and allowed to show a short text preview. So this course treats AI answers as something to be aware of, not something to chase.

The words you will hear, in one line each

• SEO (search engine optimisation): making your website easy for Google to find, read and trust.
• On-page SEO: what is on your own pages, such as titles, headings, words and links between pages.
• Off-page SEO: what other websites say about you, mainly links and mentions from reputable places. Think of it as another respected office mentioning your name.
• Local SEO: everything that helps you appear in the map results for your city, mostly your Google Business Profile.
• Technical SEO: the plumbing. Can Google reach every page, does the site open quickly on a phone, does it use a secure address (https)?

The 10-minute check of your own firm

Do this on your phone, in a private or incognito window, so Google does not tailor results to your own past searches.

1. Search your exact firm name. Does your website appear? Does a map listing appear? Are the address and phone number correct?
2. Search your city and one main service, for example "accounting services Nashik" or "income tax return filing Nashik". Do you appear in the map, in the normal results (first two pages), or not at all?
3. Search your office phone number. Does it lead to your firm, or to an old listing with a wrong address?
4. Open your own website on your phone. Does it load in a few seconds? Can you read it without zooming? Is the phone number easy to tap?
5. Look at the address bar. Does it show a padlock (https)? If the browser says "Not secure", write that down.

Write the answers on one sheet. In three months, repeat the check and compare.

Be patient, and be wary of promises

Google alone decides who appears where. Google says it does not guarantee that it will store or show any page, and it does not accept payment to rank a site higher. Anyone who promises "page one in 30 days" is guessing. Honest SEO work shows results over months, not days.

What this course builds, lesson by lesson

Each lesson ends with a short task, so by the end your site is checked, fixed and measured.

1. SEO within the ICAI rules: your master checklist.
2. Crawling, indexing and ranking in plain words.
3. Sitemap, robots.txt and the technical basics: a health checklist.
4. Find the words your clients type: your keyword sheet.
5. On-page SEO: the page checklist.
6. Service pages that rank.
7. About, team and contact pages that build trust.
8. Articles that bring visitors, with AI help.
9. Off-page SEO: links and mentions.
10. Google Business Profile and reviews.
11. Google Search Console, step by step.
12. Search Console Performance report.
13. Google Analytics (GA4) for a CA website.
14. Your monthly SEO routine and a 90-day plan.

For the bigger picture of getting clients, see the Sales Academy chapters on the website, blogs, Google SEO and Business Profile. This course is the hands-on, technical version.