How to Track 404 Errors for Accountants
A small business owner needs a new accountant. They’ve been referred to your firm by a colleague. They visit your website to learn about your tax services. They click on “Small Business Accounting” and get a 404 error. They have no idea your firm still offers this service. They simply move on to your competitor down the street.
This is completely avoidable, yet it happens constantly.
Why 404 Errors Matter for Accountants
Lost Professional Clients: Business owners need reliable partners. A broken website signals unreliability.
Damaged Referrals: When colleagues refer clients to your site and they find errors, it reflects poorly on everyone.
Wasted Marketing: Every dollar spent on SEO or ads driving traffic to broken pages is wasted.
Compliance Concerns: If you’re linking to resource pages with tax forms or compliance guides, broken links could frustrate clients trying to do their due diligence.
How to Check in GA4
Open GA4 and click on Engagement, then select Crashes and Errors. This report shows every page returning errors on your website.
Create a custom exploration to filter for your service pages. Look for errors on key pages like /tax-services, /payroll-services, /bookkeeping, and /advisory.
Review this report weekly, especially after updating your service offerings or adding new practice areas.
The Easier Way
You’re busy with client work. You don’t have time to manually check analytics. ClawAnalytics handles it for you.
ClawAnalytics monitors your accounting firm website and automatically detects broken pages. Every week, you get a simple Discord message showing exactly what needs fixing.
Questions ClawAnalytics can answer for accountants:
- Which of my service pages has the most broken links?
- Did my tax resource page break after my last update?
- Are potential clients hitting 404s on key conversion pages?
Get the insights you need without touching a single analytics dashboard.
Quick Wins
Link to Current Tax Resources: If you link to IRS forms or state tax pages, verify those links work every tax season.
Remove Outdated Service Pages: If you no longer offer a service, redirect the URL to a related active service.
Check Your Sitemap: Make sure Google can find all your important pages by submitting a fresh sitemap regularly.
Test Client Portal Links: If you link to QuickBooks Online or other portals, make sure those links work.
Create a Helpful 404 Page: When visitors hit a dead end, show your top services and a clear contact option.
Keep your website professional and error-free. Your next big client might be one click away.
