How an international tax consultancy reaches more clients without increasing marketing costs

In November 2021, TaxStudio was using Wix for its website. Jason and Brett knew that a critical aspect of growing the firm was to have an effective website, so they opted for the popular DIY website builder, which seemingly offered quality design and convenience at an affordable price. 

While Wix was a good option on paper and felt cost-efficient, it immediately became clear it was lacking. What appeared too good to be true was, and what was meant to be a budget-conscious option cost TaxStudio too much time and additional money.

Sure, the site was appealing enough, but it felt cookie cutter instead of custom. There was difficulty and delay in editing the site due to a not-so-intuitive backend, which came at the expense of paying a freelancer to work on it or demanding Brett’s time to troubleshoot.

Brett says, “With Wix, we needed more of a hand with it. If we had any adjustments, we had to get help from a freelancer or I had to figure it out myself. I’m already wearing several hats, and it was one more thing on my plate, bottlenecked.”

Wix also disappointed in its analytics tracking. TaxStudio had been able to grow significantly since its start thanks to word of mouth, but it required an effective digital marketing strategy to reach the next level. For expansion to happen, the firm needed traffic data, including which channels visitors come from, what they’re searching for, and where they’re located. 

Like many growing firms, TaxStudio doesn’t have a dedicated marketing team. Without website metrics readily available from its website provider, it was difficult to develop a purposeful marketing strategy. Even worse, Wix actively hurt TaxStudio’s lead acquisition process.

“With Wix’s contact submission form, a notification would sit in the platform if someone submitted the form, and we’d have to physically log in to see it. We didn’t know at first, so we missed out on 3 months of submissions. We needed something easier that synced outside the platform.”

Brett knew if they had the chance to redo the site, they’d go for a cleaner, more sophisticated look that was simple for visitors to navigate and find essential information for their company’s locations and needs. They also wanted support directly on the platform and email notifications for interactions like form submissions.

After feeling frustrated for a while about Wix lacking the support, convenience, and sophisticated feel that was representative of TaxStudio, the team started looking for alternative website solutions. They needed a platform that would centralize client interactions, so it was easier to stay organized and more purposefully engage leads. The website had to drive growth for TaxStudio so they could develop their client base without hiring marketing support. 

DIY-only solutions were out because they wouldn’t provide readily available assistance. Design agencies were considered, but TaxStudio was hesitant to be one of many at a large firm and overlooked. Coincidentally during the search, B12 reached out to Jason offering a free consultation, and he was intrigued enough to learn more. 

From Brett’s perspective, “The entire site happened really quickly. We had a call with B12 where they showed us a draft, and we picked out a few things we wanted and didn’t want. After a couple of rounds of feedback, the published site was up pretty quickly. I thought it would be a couple of months and it was like three weeks!”

The fast process and easy iterations were a pleasant surprise for TaxStudio, which had a specific launch timeline it needed to hit. 

“Every December, we send out new contracts, and by January, clients are signing them. We wanted them to have something to look at that was an upgrade from our previous site before they signed a new contract with us.”

The new site was up and running in time. And because TaxStudio is still a small firm where everyone has multiple roles, it was important to have someone devoted to the site and always available to make updates without hiring an additional person. B12 filled that gap.

“We want to say to someone: Here’s all of our information, take it and design based on our vision. That definitely came to fruition with B12. It was really easy.”

The new site is about more than just aesthetics — it also provides a better client experience and helps TaxStudio’s distributed team stay organized and efficient. A non-negotiable for the firm was to streamline its form submissions and provide a seamless experience to visitors in Australia. The website has an Australia-specific page and Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) inquiry form for those visitors. Form submissions go directly to TaxStudio’s Australia team, who can then respond to prospects in their same time zone with no delay.

“We've already seen more substantial form submissions than we had in the past with Wix. Referrals are a big part of our business, but they’re still coming to our website and checking us out to see if we’d be a good fit for them and contact us. We give enough information on the site, so they understand what we do. This prevents them from coming to the first call and discovering it’s a bad fit. ”

Beyond appreciating B12’s web design quality and dedicated customer support, TaxStudio is interested in other built-in tools, including online scheduling with calendar sync and invoicing and payments. Brett also noted that the firm saved hours on SEO setup and content optimization while feeling confident that it was done right.

“We wanted autonomy but also to have someone to help with more robust changes. We supplied our own [website] copy but had B12 optimize it and put analytics behind it. Having our content optimized allows us to pop up in more places online. I wouldn’t feel comfortable optimizing content, and with B12, the turnaround time is excellent.”

Brett says the TaxStudio team couldn’t be happier with what B12 has done to help the firm look credible online and she continues to be impressed by how fast updates are made. 

“If I need something, I send a request, and you guys take care of it. It’s better than sitting on a chat line or having someone walk me through how to do it myself. Whenever I have a question, it has been answered immediately.  What B12 offers in terms of support service and design knowledge is what we were looking for. It fell into our lap and worked out perfectly.”

Looking toward the future, TaxStudio is focused on growing its team across additional time zones and delivering even more personalized service. An efficient website with built-in analytics allows the team to fine-tune its online strategy and take a more purposeful approach to its expansion efforts. 

“We finally have a website we’re proud of that we can put in an email marketing campaign or post on LinkedIn. It’s easy to see our services in Australia and that we have support teams there. This has been a big step for us and allowed us to reflect our brand. We’re small, but we’re able to provide our clients with a lot of support. That’s our motto.”

B12 enables TaxStudio to seamlessly serve its clients all over the world, thanks to a highly functional, optimized website. The company’s streamlined approach to collecting prospective client information and providing tailored service has allowed the team to save time, generate leads, and feel confident about its online presence.  

Now, we want to help your business perform at its best, whether your goal is to update your web design, reach more clients, or sell your services online. Schedule your consultation today to learn how B12 makes it easy to look professional online, engage your contacts, and grow your business.