Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accountants today face increasing challenges.

Online Challenges For Accountants

Now, more than ever, CPAs must find smarter ways to stand out from the competition, obtain new clients, and retain current clients. Not only do you have to actively participate in the communities and industries your business serves, you must also develop an active web presence. This includes having a dynamic website and figuring out better ways to promote your business services online.

In addition to spending dollars in offline marketing activities such as advertising on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are now finding that increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget will need to be delegated to develop and manage a website that can attract new prospective clients, engage visitors, outperform the competition in search engines and help them gain wider marketing reach online.

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

Another challenge that accounting firms (and other businesses) face online, is that your site has only about thirty seconds or less to help users find what they are searching for or they will find what they are looking for elsewhere.

“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 Certified Public Accountants In The Web Economy

As well as facing many business and technology changes, there are also many online opportunities available for accounting firms that can evolve to meet online economy challenges and can think strategically in terms of marketing their services better online.

In this guide, you will learn new ways and opportunities to increase web traffic and establish online credibility for your business.

As well as providing tips and information on ways to improve your accounting business online, we also recommend that you consider using WordPress to power your accounting or financial services business website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system (CMS), see the articles below:

• Why A Poorly Constructed Website Can Lose You Customers
• Everything You Need To Know About Growing Your Business With A WordPress Blog

Tips To Improve Your Website

Let’s start by reviewing the basics. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your accounting website and get better results. We will look at what pages you need, what content works best for accounting websites, ways to improve your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your accounting or financial services website, read this detailed step-by-step guide we have written: A Comprehensive Guide To Web Site Planning For Business Owners

Improving Your Website Pages

All business websites require some basic web pages. Let’s discuss the pages your  need to have and how to set up your accounting or financial services website for best results.

Products And Services Page

It’s essential to have a page that describes your services and any products that you offer.

This page should include all the products and services you offer, such as:

• Business accounting – planning, incorporation of companies, general accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, bookkeeping, forecasting, budgeting, financing, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, 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. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using these services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

Who We Are

This page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical programs, etc.

Remember to mention any industry awards, recognitions, accreditations, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote your company and position it above your competitors.

(List all of your awards recognitions, certifications, accreditations, associations, publications, etc. in the About Us page. Screenshot image source: deloitte.com)

Core Team

Are you looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products or services online? Then help your visitors get to know you and your organization better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team. This page should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors won’t be that 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 visitors can follow some of your team members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your person’s expertise, why they are an asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your employees to prospective new clients. Image sourced from: deepsky.com)

For a detailed tutorial about how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory in your website using a free plugin, go here: Adding An Employee List Directory: Plugin Tutorial

Career Opportunities

List any career opportunities within the firm. This page should include type of training provided, employee benefits, professional development, etc. You can also include stories of graduates who have worked their way up in your firm and information about new career opportunities in the accounting industry.

Maintain a positions available section in your page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, join your newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials

Testimonials from previous clients and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients businesses minimise tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. Adding a page with case studies and testimonials also helps to provide visitors social proof.

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

We have created a detailed article about using client case studies and reviews improve your business online. Go here to learn more: Learn How To Improve Your Visitor-To-Lead Conversions With Knockout Client Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should provide:

• Company Name
• Location of premises
• Phone
• Facsimile number
• Email
• Map and directions
• Web address
• Contact form
• Request for more information – contact details
• Social media URLs
• Live chat

If your business services multiple locations you will want to make this clear when showing the address and contact info.

Consider also including links to an FAQ page, useful pages, special offers, support area, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Most blogging platforms are built around a content management system that allows you to promote your business by publishing content like industry announcements, company updates, educational articles and tutorials, opinions and discussions, videos, webinars, etc.

If you already have an established accounting site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your services.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing accounting website is very hard to manage or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can become both your website and blog.

You are probably not aware of this, but WordPress can become an automated traffic-generation machine that will begin to drive web traffic to your site, simply by publishing regular content to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Generating More Website Traffic For Your Business Automatically

Legal Information Pages

It’s important for professional firms to ensure they have a website that complies will all legal requirements online, not just for establishing credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that no local, regional and federal laws and regulations are being contravened in whatever location you service.

Depending on what products and services you provide, adding the following legal pages to your accounting website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential sources of threats and legal inconveniences:

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

If you want to learn more about adding legal pages to your site, see this article: Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Improving The Content On Your Site

In today’s ultra competitive online economy, being generous with content that educates and informs visitors has become one of the key differentiators for businesses selling similar products or services.

Providing great content with information and tips will get your readers to share your content and come back for more. This is the most effective way to inform and teach site visitors and prospects about your business.

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

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Understanding profit and loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning tips
• Business insurance
• Risk protection
• How to structure a 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 prospective clients gain a better understanding of accounting services, such as finance accounting, business accounting, tips on using business accounting software, reducing business debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use relevant keywords in your articles 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 and practical tips that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating useful content for your visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Tips For Improving User Experience

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

Content Syndication – RSS Feeds

An RSS feed provides plenty of benefits for your accounting business.

If you provide valuable content, other sites may want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:

• All of your content updates are in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared
• Allows users to subscribe
• An RSS feed provides links back to your content
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are a number of ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. subscribers can view your content on their mobile device using different applications)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits when it comes to providing great content on your site from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find RSS feeds with useful content for your website by visiting sites of finance and tax-related government departments and well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of feeds you may want to add to your website:

• 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

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

Checklists And Forms

Checklists and forms are a great way to help increase user engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. They can provide users with useful instructions and resources to perform necessary tasks. They can also be great business planning tools.

Checklists and forms can address topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Negative Gearing Worksheet
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Company Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Provide Unique Tools

Providing useful online tools and applications for businesses is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are great tools to add to accounting websites. Other applications would include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we take a look at a number of online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins that can help to improve your search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section one of this comprehensive article on ways to improve your accounting business presence online.

Click here to continue:

• How To Successfully Build And Grow An Accounting Or Financial Services Website – Part 2

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