Illustrative case study

A fictional business. The figures are a modelled scenario, not a client result.

Philatelic record · Lot KT-1Finance & Professional

Kilbrack Tax

Sole-practitioner tax adviser · Cork

How a one-person tax practice in Cork filled its calendar before the October deadline

Calendar booked 6 weeks early

Full on 19 September, six weeks before the 31 October return deadline. 6-month local engagement.

Kilbrack · Corcaigh
6 weeksCalendar booked earlyKT-0

Hover the stamp to inspect the engraving.

I · The challenge

A good adviser, posted to the wrong address.

Kilbrack's only marketing was a directory listing, and seasonal searches for self-assessment help went to Dublin firms and online filing apps.

Kilbrack is one chartered tax adviser, a small office and a busy autumn. Every year from August, people in Cork search for help with Form 11, rental income and preliminary tax — and every year they found Dublin practices with national landing pages, or filing apps promising to do it in ten minutes. The few who did call came through word of mouth, too late to plan the diary.

The brief was simple to say and hard to do: be the obvious local answer before the season starts, so the calendar fills in order instead of in a panic.

self assessment help cork
  1. 1Dublin tax firm — national landing pageSponsored · 'Serving all of Ireland'
  2. 2Online filing app'File your Form 11 in 10 minutes'
  3. 3Second Dublin practiceNo Cork office
  4. 4Business directory — 'Accountants in Cork'Kilbrack listed 9th, old address
Before: March, the week the season starts. Modelled.

II · Diagnosis

The expert's certificate: six faults on the sheet.

A philatelist grades a stamp by its faults — thins, short perfs, fading. We graded Kilbrack's local presence the same way in the first fortnight.

  1. LOT 01 · LOCALUnclaimed profile

    The only Google Business Profile was auto-created from a directory: wrong primary category ('Accountant'), no hours, no services, no booking link.

  2. LOT 02 · LOCALMixed NAP

    31 citations carried three addresses (including a pre-2019 office on Oliver Plunkett Street) and two phone numbers.

  3. LOT 03 · REVIEWSFaded

    Three Google reviews, the newest 26 months old. No request process; happy clients were never asked.

  4. LOT 04 · TECHNICALNo schema

    No LocalBusiness / AccountingService markup, no geo, no openingHours — nothing for Google to reconcile the listing with the site.

  5. LOT 05 · CONTENTOff-season

    One homepage, no mention of Form 11, ROS, Pay & File or 31 October. Seasonal demand landed on national pages from Dublin firms and filing apps.

  6. LOT 06 · TECHNICALShort perf

    Mobile LCP of 4.8 s on a page-builder theme, and booking by 'email to arrange' — calls and enquiries were never tracked.

III · The strategy

A definitive issue in four values.

Four tactics, printed in sequence so each one strengthened the next. The whole set is built on our Local plan.

Kilbrack · Corcaigh
1dValue 1T-1

Google Business Profile

Claimed and verified the profile; primary category 'Tax consultant', secondary 'Tax preparation service'. Listed each service — Form 11, preliminary tax, rental income, CGT — with plain prices, added a booking link, office photos and a weekly post answering one real tax question.

Kilbrack · Corcaigh
2dValue 2T-2

Seasonal content

Built a deadline hub and three audience guides (landlords, sole traders, PAYE workers with side income) in May and June, so they had months to age before September's peak. Each states this year's dates, who must file and what to bring.

Kilbrack · Corcaigh
3dValue 3T-3

Review generation

A short email and SMS with a direct review link, sent the day a return was filed — the moment of relief. A QR code on every invoice, a reply to every review within 48 hours, and never an incentive.

Kilbrack · Corcaigh
6dValue 4T-4

LocalBusiness schema

AccountingService schema with geo-coordinates, areaServed for Douglas, Ballincollig, Blackrock and Glanmire, seasonal openingHoursSpecification and sameAs links — matched to one name, address and phone across all 31 citations.

IV · 6 months, 6 covers

Posted month by month, April to September.

  1. Month 1 · April

    Audit & claim

    • Claimed the Google Business Profile a directory had auto-created
    • Mapped 31 citations: three addresses, two phone numbers
    • Baseline: 0 map-pack terms, 3 reviews

    9 booked · 0 map-pack · 3 reviews

  2. Month 2 · May

    Foundations

    • AccountingService schema with geo, hours and areaServed
    • Online booking page replaced 'email to arrange'
    • Review request flow switched on after each filing

    11 booked · 2 map-pack · 9 reviews

  3. Month 3 · June

    Seasonal pages

    • Form 11 deadline hub published early, so it could age
    • Landlord, sole-trader and PAYE side-income guides
    • First five map-pack terms land

    16 booked · 5 map-pack · 17 reviews

  4. Month 4 · July

    Citations & posts

    • All 31 citations aligned to one name, address and phone
    • Weekly GBP posts: one tax question answered per week
    • Reviews pass 25

    22 booked · 8 map-pack · 26 reviews

  5. Month 5 · August

    Countdown

    • Deadline countdown posts and seasonal opening hours
    • Q&A seeded with the ten questions callers really ask
    • Pages refreshed with this year's dates and thresholds

    30 booked · 11 map-pack · 37 reviews

  6. Month 6 · September

    Fully booked

    • Calendar full on 19 September — six weeks before 31 October
    • Waiting list and next-year reminders captured
    • 14 terms in the top three map pins

    36 booked · 14 map-pack · 47 reviews

V · Results

The finished sheet, torn and franked.

Press a stamp to tear it off and read its postmark.

Consultations booked per month Last year (50) This season (124)
0102030409APR11MAY16JUN22JUL30AUG36SEP
Website sessions / mo974
Google reviews47
Map-pack top-3 terms14

Catalogue of terms

Map-pack position for tracked Cork search terms, before and after
Cat. no.Search termVol / moBeforeMap pack
SG 101tax adviser cork390—#1
SG 102self assessment help cork210—#1
SG 103form 11 help cork170—#2
SG 104tax return accountant cork320—#2
SG 105ros filing help140—#3
SG 106landlord tax return cork110—#1
SG 107sole trader accountant cork260—#3
SG 108pay and file cork90—#2
SG 109preliminary tax help cork70—#1
SG 110tax consultant douglas50—#1

10 of the 14 map-pack terms shown. “—” means outside the local pack and the first page. Modelled.

self assessment help cork
  1. 1Kilbrack Tax4.9 ★ (47) · Tax consultant · Open till 8pm · Book online
  2. 2Cork accountancy partnership4.6 ★ (112) · Accountant
  3. 3Dublin tax firm — national pageSponsored
After: September, map pack for the same query. Modelled.

First-day cover

Get a plan like this

Seasonal demand, a single location, a small team: the Local plan is built for exactly that shape of business.

← Back to all case studies