In Part 1 of this guide on ways to improve your accounting web presence, we covered the following topics:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses In The Online Economy
- Basic Web Pages
- How To Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we will continue exploring more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered include:
- Improve Traffic
- Generating Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Increasing User Engagement And Driving More Traffic
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Your Accounting Website – Improving SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With Plugins
Web traffic is vital to your business growth. In this section, we explore how to improve your accounting or financial services business online with WordPress.
Optimize Your Site For SEO
There are so many ways that WordPress helps optimize your accounting website for search engines:
- SEO-Friendly – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the post.
- Tags – WordPress lets you specify the keywords that you want your article pages to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Categories – Add search engine-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose the description for your posts that will display to search engine users.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for improved search results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily link your content to other posts
- Pinging – Configure your site to automatically notify (ping) other sites and directories immediately upon publishing new content on your website.
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are various plugins for WordPress that improve your accounting or financial services website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your website’s search engine optimization)
Other things you can do to improve your accounting site’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing. Here are some more useful plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Use this free plugin to set up and run an online social community on your site.
- bbPress – bbPress lets you set up a community forum on your website.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter lets you send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress dashboard.
- Disqus – This WordPress plugin lets you power discussions and increases user engagement on your website.
- Social Media Feather – Easily add powerful social sharing features and buttons on your posts and pages.
(You can add social sharing to your site easily with WordPress plugins)
Generating More Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
Let’s now take a look at how to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Adding A Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It provides a number of benefits and advantages, like:
- Sends targeted traffic
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides updates
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special services or products to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for user interaction
- Provides you with other ways for readers to share your content
A proven way to get visitors to subscribe is to provide them with high value information and give them something for free in exchange for their personal details. This could be a time-saving guide, checklists for handling finances, access to tax calculators, coupons, membership access to courses, contests, etc.
Add A Contact Form
A contact form makes it easy and simple for readers to contact you. A contact form also allows users to report issues, ask questions to specific departments, ask for quotes, and more.
A contact form provides a number of benefits including:
- Reduces spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenience for visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin is easy to install and set up and allows you to insert and manage multiple contact forms, customize the form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so prospective clients can choose the topic they want to discuss. This will help you to get the comment to the right person.
Provide Maps
Maps help your visitors and clients find you.
Adding maps, such as Google Maps to your site also provides a number of benefits, such as:
- They improve local SEO
- Visitors can find you easily
- Display location of events
(Maps help your visitors and customers find you)
Some of the most popular Google Maps plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improving SEO, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Traffic Using WordPress Plugins
Financial WordPress Plugins
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting or financial services site to immediately add a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are just some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can provide to users on your website and embed into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. It supports internationalization
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- Mortgage
- Loans
- Tax
- Credit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin)
With this plugin you get a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin)
This free plugin lets you place custom stock tickers on any sidebar, post or page using shortcodes.
The plugin offers loads of customizable ticker. You can choose to use built-in themes or customize these yourself to match your site. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing colors, speed, symbols, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin)
This free calculator lets your users calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for calculating auto loans, property loans, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress – Loan Calculator)
This plugin also contains an application form that sends a notification message to a specified email address.
It will display payment protection, calculate 12 to 60 months loans and create a form that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress business users with clients to bill.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send clients itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand plugin functionality with both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF invoices, provide quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WordPress user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, and others.
The plugin gives you the ability to add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email templates, access reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, valuable clients and top grossing line items), and more.
For more details, go here}:
All In One Business Management Application
(All In One Business Management Application WP Plugin)
This complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and ticket system, client relationship management and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application WordPress Plugin – Client Invoice)
The plugin supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools such as document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage and communicate with clients, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin – Invoice)
It allows you to get paid faster online by integrating with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Accounting Themes
To get the most benefit out of growing your business online with WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best themes themes available for accountancy businesses. These themes allow you to have a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WordPress Theme)
Accounting Pro is an inexpensive turn-key theme developed for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, custom menus, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, performs auto resizing for images, and lots more.
You can customize this theme using premium add-ons.
For more details, go here:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme offers a variety of styles and layouts that helps give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, SEO friendly, loads fast, and is responsive. Accountancy Theme provides the features your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and one year of support is included in your purchase.
To learn more about this theme, go here:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme)
This premium WordPress theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your site any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, custom slider, three different blog types, and is responsive. It looks clean and modern and loads fast.
Visit this website for more details about this theme:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
Kathryn is a child theme for the Genesis Framework that’s built specifically for accounting services. It allows you to use WordPress as a true CMS and comes with multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, many color choices, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine friendly, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme could easily suit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy responsive slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
More info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
Accounting WordPress Theme was created with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. It features an authoritative color scheme and layout elements designed specifically to give your accounting site a professional look while not looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s mobile-friendly and includes pages for your services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
WP Advocate is a corporate theme built for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type for employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
Go here for more info:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create a unique, professional website using the page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
The builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily redesign the structure of their page without editing code.
(Divi – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi comes with 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These modules include multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is responsive and completely customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ themes.
More info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This theme was specifically developed to create great-looking corporate websites.
This theme has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent slider. It also has a blog design. It comes with six color schemes. It also has multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ stunning themes.
Go here for more information:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
This one was designed to help those in the financial industry to build trust with a clean business design. It’s perfect for those that provide services such as investments or tax advice. The Adviser theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, a built-in lease calculator, widgets and multiple shortcodes, and a drag-and-drop visual composer..
Go here for more details:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme)
Tax Help Theme was designed for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and businesses that provide tax services. The theme is designed to showcase your services in a professional way and help establish your professional reputation. It comes with different blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
Visit this website to learn more about this theme:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
This theme was designed specifically for organizations that provide financial services such as tax help, consulting, finance, corporate, insurance, accounting, loans, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, the custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page options, color management, animated elements, and a lot more.
More info:
Avada
(Avada Finance WordPress Theme)
Avada is a fully responsive and versatile multipurpose theme that lets you easily build, configure, and run any kind of website you want without touching code, including a website for an accounting or finance-related organization.
To learn more about the Avada theme for WordPress, go here: Avada
We hope that you have found this article on ways to improve your accounting business online using WordPress plugins and themes helpful.
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