In Part 1 of this article on ways to grow your accounting business web presence, we covered the following topics:
- Online Challenges For The Accounting Profession
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses In The Online Economy
- Essential Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve Your Content
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Improving Web Traffic Using WordPress
- Generating More Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins That Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Visitors
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Grow Your Accounting Website – Improving Your Business Online Using WordPress
Web traffic is vital to your business growth. This section explores ways of improving search engine optimization, improve user engagement and increase web traffic generation with WordPress plugins.
Optimize Your Website For Search Engines With WordPress
There are lots of ways WordPress can help to optimize your accounting website for search engines:
- URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the URL of your pages.
- Tags – Choose the keywords that you want search engines to index your posts for.
- Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – Create an excerpt that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your images for better search engine results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links for better page indexing
- Pinging – Set up your site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories whenever a new post is published on your website.
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress community makes available dozens of plugins that will improve your website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your website.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO can improve your SEO)
Other things you can do to improve your accounting site’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing features. Here are some useful WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Run an online social networking community on your website, with member profiles, activity streams, messaging, user groups, and more.
- bbPress – Use this WordPress plugin to set up a forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – Use E-Newsletter to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress dashboard, without a third party subscription.
- Disqus – use this WordPress plugin to power discussions and increases user engagement on your site.
- Floating Social – Use this WordPress plugin to add social sharing features and buttons on your pages and posts.
(You can easily add social sharing to your website using free or inexpensive plugins)
Ways To Generate New Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Applications
This section will show you how to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries online.
Adding An Email Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. Adding a newsletter provides a number of benefits and advantages, like:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Increases user engagement
- Provides you with additional opportunities for readers to share your content
An effective strategy for enticing your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter is to provide high value information and offer users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their details. This could be a special report, tips for handling finances, access to tax calculators, coupons, access to subscriber-only content, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
A contact form makes it easy and simple for prospective clients to contact you. Visitors can raise concerns, ask questions to specific departments, ask for quotes, and more.
Contact forms provide a number of benefits and advantages including:
- Reducing spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what is sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- They can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenience for visitors
A very popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 WP Plugin)
Contact Form 7 is easy to install and configure and lets you add and manage multiple contact forms, customize your form and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is also supported.
Something to consider is to add sections to your contact form so prospects can select the topic they are contacting you about. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Add A Map
Maps help your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a great tool for several reasons:
- A map improves local SEO
- Visitors can find your office more easily
- Displays location of events
(A map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Some of the most popular Google Maps plugins for WordPress include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins That Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Traffic
Accounting Plugins For WordPress
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting or financial services site that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WP Plugin)
This is a free collection of 400+ calculators. You can embed them into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. The plugin supports internationalization
Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Mortgage
- Loans
- CD
- Debit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a widget that displays a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
This plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any page, post, or sidebar with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker provides several customizable ticker. Choose from built-in skins or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your website. You can also add custom stocks to specific categories.
Appearance customization features include colors, size, symbols, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator)
This free plugin lets your users calculate indicative repayments. This is a great tool for vehicle loans, property, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress – Loan Calculators)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that sends a message to the email address you specify.
It will display payment protection, calculate 12 to 60 months loans and create forms that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with free and premium add-ons that let you manage business, accept electronic signatures, create PDF invoice versions, create quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WordPress user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
The plugin gives you the ability to add custom payments and charges, insert pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create email notification templates, display 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 – WordPress Plugin)
This complete business management system includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with support ticket management system, CRM and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – Invoice)
All In One Business Management Application supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools like document management, to do app, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage client data and invoices, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software WP Plugin – Invoice)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Financial Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, it’s best to choose a theme specifically suited for accounting businesses. Below is a list of some of the best accounting themes available. These themes allow you to have a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resizing for images, and a whole lot more.
You can expand this theme by installing premium add-ons.
Go here for more details:
Accountancy
(Accountancy)
This premium theme comes in a variety of built-in styles and layouts that helps make your accounting website look and feel professional.
This fully responsive (mobile-friendly) theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search engine optimized, and fast loading. Accountancy provides the features your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and one year of support is included in your purchase.
Go here to learn more this theme:
Accounting
(Accounting – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your site any way you want. It also provides unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, custom slider, 3 blog types, and is fully responsive. It is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was designed specifically for accountants. Kathryn allows you to use WordPress as a true CMS and comes with a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, various colors, is easy to use, search engine optimized, and is responsive. Although it could easily suit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy WordPress slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
More info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WP Theme)
Accounting WordPress Theme was built with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and layout elements designed specifically to help make your accounting website look professional without 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 accounting services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
To learn more about about this theme, visit this site:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme For WordPress)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme specifically designed for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate also includes a custom post type for staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean and fast-loading theme.
More information:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create a professional site using its page builder or pre-made layouts. You can change your layout as much as you need.
Divi’s page builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and redesign the structure of their page without touching any code.
(Divi – WordPress Theme – Page Builder)
It comes with 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These modules include accordion, blog, contact form, divider, image, number counter, post title, pricing table, social media follow, video slider, fullwidth image, fullwidth menu, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is mobile-friendly and completely customizable. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ themes.
Go here to learn more about this WordPress theme:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This one was specifically developed to create great-looking corporate sites.
It has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It comes with 6 color schemes. It also comes with multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ professional themes.
For more details, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser)
Adviser was specifically designed to help finance professionals build trust with a clean business design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services like investing or tax help. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a built-in lease calculator. It includes multiple shortcodes and widgets, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
To learn more about about using this theme, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help)
This premium WordPress theme was built for financial organizations, tax and finance advisors, and businesses providing tax services. Tax Help is designed to show your services in a professional way and help establish your professional reputation. It provides a range of blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
Visit this site to learn more this theme:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme For WordPress)
Finance Business was designed specifically for firms that provide financial services including consulting, tax help, corporate, finance, insurance, loans, accounting, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management, animations, and a whole lot more.
Go here to learn more about using this WordPress theme:
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
Hopefully, you have found this article on WordPress plugins that can help improve SEO, improve user engagement and generate more visitors to your accounting or financial services site helpful.
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