In Part 1 of this step-by-step article on ways to grow your accounting web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following topics:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Online Opportunities For Accountants
- Essential Web Pages
- Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Tips For Improving Traffic With WordPress
- Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries
- Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Traffic To Your Website Generation Using WordPress Plugins And Themes
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Grow Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins & Themes For Improving SEO, Increasing User Engagement And Traffic Generation
Web traffic is an integral part of your business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimizing Your Site For SEO
There are so many ways WordPress can help to improve your website’s SEO:
- URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your content posts.
- Post Tags – Choose the keywords that you want search engines to index your articles for.
- Categories – Add search engine-friendly categories for your posts and products.
- Post Excerpts – Set the description for your posts that search engines will show.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for better search results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify other sites and directories the moment a new post is published on your site.
How To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Visitors To Your Website With WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are various WordPress plugins that will improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more visitors to your site.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your SEO)
Other ways to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social features. Here are a few more plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below are also free):
- BuddyPress – This plugin lets you run a social network on your site.
- bbPress – Set up your own online forum on your website.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter lets you send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without a third party subscription.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases engagement on your site.
- Social Media Feather – Easily add social sharing features and buttons to your pages and posts.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing to their site with WordPress plugins)
Tips For Generating New Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Applications
Let’s discuss now how to improve your sales and generate new leads and enquiries.
Provide An Email Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is an excellent way to build a list of subscribers. It provides many benefits including:
- Sends targeted traffic
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to provide special products or services to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for user engagement
- Provides you with additional ways for your content to be shared online with others
One of the best ways to get visitors to subscribe is to provide them with high value content and give them a free gift in exchange for their details. This can be a handy guide, tips for handling tax, access to financial calculators, discount coupons, access to courses, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms make it easy and simple for readers to contact you. Visitors can report issues, contact specific departments, ask for quotes, send suggestions and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits including:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- More convenient for users
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 WordPress Plugin)
Contact form 7 is a free plugin that lets you add and manage multiple contact forms to your website, customize the form and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something to consider is to segment your contact form so users can select which department they want to contact. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Provide Maps
Adding maps helps your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a very useful tool for several reasons:
- A map helps to increase local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Shows location of events
(Adding a map to your site helps your visitors and clients find you)
Below are some popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display Google maps on your site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic Using WordPress Plugins
WordPress Accounting Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting site that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can provide to users on your website and embed into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. The plugin supports internationalization
Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few for:
- Mortgage
- Payments
- Leases
- Equity
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a widget that shows up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many widgets as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
This plugin lets you place a custom stock ticker on any page, post, or sidebar using shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker includes a number of customizable ticker. Choose from built-in themes 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 customizations include colors, size, text, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress)
This free calculator allows your visitors to calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for calculating repayments on auto loans, property, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculators)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that sends a message to the email address you specify.
It will show 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 Plugin For WordPress)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand 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 WP’s user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and many others.
WP-Invoice lets you add custom payments and charges, insert pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create email notification 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 WordPress Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and support ticket management system, client relationship management and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application – Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports different languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful tools such as document management, to do app, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin For WordPress)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customers and invoicing, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Client Invoice)
iBilling integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Themes For Financial Services
To get the best features and professional look for your website, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best themes themes available for accounting. These themes allow you to own a professional accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of website design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be customized by installing premium add-ons.
More information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme For WordPress)
Accountancy has a variety of built-in styles and layouts that helps make your accounting site look and feel professional.
This responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, it’s lightweight, SEO friendly, and fast loading. Accountancy provides what you need without bloating your theme. Free updates and one year of support is included with your purchase.
More information:
Accounting
(Accounting)
This premium theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your site any way you want. The theme also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Accountancy looks clean and modern and loads fast.
For more details, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme was created specifically for accountants. It allows you to use WordPress as a true content management system and offers multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, flexible rotator, a variety of color options, is easy to use, search engine optimized, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme could easily suit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
Go here for more info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was built to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was specifically designed to help 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 fully responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials section, and a blog.
Visit this site to learn more about this WordPress theme:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme For WordPress)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme developed specifically for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate 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 information:
Divi
(Divi)
This premium WordPress theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. Divi lets you create a professional website using its page builder or beautiful 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 change the structure of their web pages without editing any code.
(Divi – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. Modules include accordion, call to action, contact form, divider, image, number counter, post title, slider, testimonial, toggle, fullwidth image, fullwidth menu, fullwidth slider, and more.. Divi is responsive and completely customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all beautifully-designed themes.
For more information, go here:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
The Corporation Theme was created specifically to make corporate websites look good.
It has a sleek page-based home page design with a prominent slider, blog design, 6 unique different color schemes, 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 over 80 themes.
Go here for more info:
Adviser
(Adviser)
The Adviser Theme was specifically built to help professionals in the financial industry to build trust online with a clean business design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services such as investing advice 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 widgets and multiple shortcodes, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
More information:
Tax Help
(Tax Help)
This premium theme for WordPress was built specifically for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and businesses that provide tax services. It’s designed to showcase your services in a professional way to help grow your professional reputation. It has different blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
For more details, go here:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WP Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was developed for organizations that provide any type of financial service including tax help, consulting, finance, corporate, insurance, accounting, loans, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management features, animations, and lots more.
Go here for 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
Hopefully, this comprehensive guide has helped you learn WordPress plugins for improving SEO, increasing user engagement and generating more web traffic.
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