Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today are facing many challenges created by the online economy.

Challenges CPAs Face Online

Now, more than ever, certified public accountants must work hard and find smarter ways to remain competitive, find new clients, and retain current clients. Not only do they have to maintain a strong presence in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop a strong presence online. This includes having a dynamic website and learning how to better market your business services online.

In addition to spending money in offline marketing activities like advertising on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv spots, etc., you will probably find that in order to compete, increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget will need to be directed towards the development and management of a website that can bring in prospective clients, engage visitors, outperform the competition in search engines and social media, and help give you wider reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your pages have to be fast-loading, and your site layout has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of your website may change over time and some aspects may need to be updated frequently. This requires the implementation of a sound web and content management strategy.

One other problem that accountants face, and other professions for that matter, is that your site has around 30 seconds to give users what they are looking for or they will go away.

“Websites have evolved into central information hubs where service information is still present but enhanced with web portals, hyperlinks to state and federal sites, and a variety of free tools.”

Michael Alter, http://www.accountingweb.com/technology/accounting-software/tips-for-improving-your-website

Opportunities For Accounting Businesses In The Digital Economy

As well as facing significant business and technology changes, there are also loads of online opportunities available for accounting businesses that are willing to evolve to meet the challenges of the digital economy and can think outside the box when it comes to improving their online marketing skills.

In this detailed guide, you will discover opportunities to increase web traffic and create significant improvements in your business results online.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system to power your accounting business website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System, go here:

• How A Poorly Designed Website Can Cost You Customers
• Learn How To Grow Your Business With A WordPress Blog

Ways To Improve Your Accounting Site

Let’s start by going over some basics. In this section, we’ll look at how to improve your accounting website and get better results. We will look at what pages you need, what type of content works best, navigation structure, etc.

If you need help with website planning, check out the article we have written here: The Website Planning Process - A Money-Saving Primer For Business Owners

Ways To Improve Your Web Pages

All websites require several essential pages. Let’s take a look at these.

Your Services And Products

It’s essential to include a page that lists your services and products.

Your page will include all the services you offer, such as:

• Business – business planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, financing, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advising, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate finance
• Wealth creation
• Superannuation/retirement plan (401k) advice
• Audit risk assessment and assurance
• Quickbooks – setup, training, tune up, and support
• Specialist services – mergers, acquisitions, information technology, secretarial, rentals, trusts, fiduciary accounting, succession planning, selling businesses, transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

List all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using your services and why they should choose you.

About Us Page

This page needs to describe your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

It’s important to also include any professional awards, certifications, accreditations, recognitions, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote the company and position it above your competitors.

(List all of your industry awards accreditations, certifications, recognitions, publications, associations, etc. in your About Us page. Image sourced from: deloitte.com)

Our Team

If you are looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online, then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Potential clients need to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees. This page should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not very well-versed in accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons so your site visitors can follow some of your team members on their social pages.

On this page, make sure to highlight each team member’s experience, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your staff to prospective new clients. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

We have created a detailed tutorial on how to easily add an updatable list directory of employees to your web site here: Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory

Career Opportunities

This is a listing of career opportunities available within your company. This page should include type of training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. It should include stories of recruits who have established a solid career path thanks to your organization and information about upcoming career opportunities in the accounting industry.

Also include a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, join your newsletter, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to show prospective clients businesses minimize tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. By adding a page with testimonials from past clients and case studies, you will also help to establish social proof.

(Add a page to your site with testimonials and case studies. Image sourced from: pcg-services.com)

We have created a detailed article on using testimonials, case studies and client reviews improve your business online. Go here to learn more about this: How To Convert More Visitors Into Qualified Leads Using Engaging Testimonials

Contact Us

A contact page is crucial.

It should provide some or all of the following information:

• Business Name
• Physical address
• Telephone number
• Fax
• Email
• Map and directions
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Links to social media networks
• Online Chat/Skype (optional)

If you operate out of multiple areas you want to make this clear when displaying the address and contact info.

You could also include links to an FAQ page, frequently-visited pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Many blogging platforms typically comprise of a content management system that is easy to use and allows you to easily promote your business by publishing timely content such as industry events, updates, educational information, opinions on current topics, how-to videos, media presentations, etc.

If you already have an existing site, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your services.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing site is hard to keep updated with new content or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can be used both as your business website and your blog.

You may not be aware of this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can turn your web presence into an automated traffic machine that will begin to attract new visitors to your site, simply by adding content on a consistent basis to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can generate new visitors automatically to your website)

To learn more about this go here: Web Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Create A Traffic Generation Machine With WordPress

Legal Information

As a professional accountant or financial services provider, having a compliant website is vital, not just for building credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no laws or regulations are being broken in whichever region you do business in.

Adding the following legal pages to your site will help you stay out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Financial/Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a comprehensive article on adding legal pages to your website here: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips On How To Improve Your Content

In today’s fiercely competitive global economy, the willingness to deliver valuable content to visitors free of charge has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

Providing great content with information and tips will get your readers sharing your web pages and coming back for more information. This is a great way to inform and teach your visitors and prospects about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting or financial services business could include the following:

• How balance sheets work
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• How to present accounts for non-profit activities
• Business cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Risk prevention
• Tips on structuring your self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your your prospective clients gain a better understanding of accounting services, such as forensic accounting, tax accounting, business budgeting, reducing debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use the same keywords and terminology in your content that your prospective clients will be searching for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information that will show you how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your visitors and grow your business online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Tips For Improving Visitor Experience

Improving user experience (often referred to as UX) will help keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you ways you can improve visitor engagement and UX.

RSS Feeds

Using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and user experience in a number of different ways.

If you provide useful information, other sites will want to syndicate your content.

Some of the benefits of syndicating your content to other sites using RSS feeds, include:

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• A feed provides links back to your content
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides multiple ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. users can view the content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits to adding syndicated content to your website from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

To find useful RSS feeds for your website, visit sites of relevant government departments and industry bodies.

Here are some exaples of feeds you could add to your site:

• Taxation Policy Center: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/press/rss.cfm
• Australian Taxation Office: https://www.ato.gov.au/RSS-news-feeds.aspx
• Canada Revenue Agency: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/rssfeeds/
• UK HM Revenue and Customs: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rss/rss.htm
• South Africa Revenue Service: http://www.sars.gov.za/Pages/RSS-Feeds.aspx

(RSS feeds can help to improve your site’s user experience.)

Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase user engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. Forms and checklists can provide visitors with step-by-step instructions and resources to get necessary tasks completed. Checklists and forms are also great planning tools.

You can provide checklists and forms (or links to these) covering a range of topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Fundraising Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Add Online Tools

Providing useful tools and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are some of the most popular tools for accounting websites. Others could include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part 2 of this guide, we take a look at a several WordPress-based tools you can use in your website that can help to improve your seo, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section one of this step-by-step article on ways to build your accounting business web presence.

Click on this link to keep reading:

• Grow Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Increasing User Engagement And Driving More Visitors To Your Site

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