Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today face a growing number of challenges.

Online Challenges For Accountants

Today, more than ever, accountancy firms must work hard and find smarter ways to stand out from the crowd, obtain new clients, and keep their current clientele. Not only do they have to maintain a strong presence in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also maintain an active presence online. This includes having a website and searching for smarter ways to promote your business online.

As well as investing dollars in offline marketing activities such as advertising on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television spots, etc., you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to compete with other accounting businesses, you will need to delegate a bigger amount of your marketing budget towards developing and managing a website that attracts clients, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and helps you gain a wider amount of reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your web pages have to load fast, and your site layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, your site’s needs may change in time and some aspects will need to be updated often. This requires the implementation of a well-planned web and content management strategy.

Another problem that accountancy firms face with their websites (and all other professions for that matter), is that they have around 30 seconds to provide visitors with what they need or they will go elsewhere to get their needs met.

“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

As well as facing significant business and technology changes, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for accounting firms that can adapt to meet online challenges and can think strategically about marketing their business services better online.

This comprehensive article will help you uncover a number of ways to find more accounts and build more online credibility for your business.

As well as providing tips and information on ways to improve your accounting business online, we also emphasize the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to power your accounting business website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), see these articles:

• Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Cost You Customers
• The Complete Guide To Building Your Successful Small Business Using WordPress

Useful Tips For Improving Your Website

Let’s start by reviewing the basic information you need. In this section, we’ll look at how to improve your website and get better results. We will look at what pages your website needs, what type of content works best, your navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your accounting website, check out the detailed guide we have written here: Planning Your Small Business Web Site - A Money-Saving Primer For Business Owners

Basic Website Pages

All websites require several essential pages. Let’s go over these.

Services And Products Page

You need to include a page that explains your services and any products that you offer.

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

• Business accounting – business planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, financing, budgeting, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, 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, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using your services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

About Us

This page should give a description of your business and what it stands for, its unique approach, community involvement, etc.

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

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

Your Staff Page

Are you searching for ways to grow your business online and get people to interact more with your site? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know your organization better.

People need to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team members. It should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors won’t be familiar with accounting terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should also include social buttons so your visitors can follow your staff members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your team member’s expertise and qualifications, how they contribute to the success of 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 members to prospective new clients. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to easily create and add an updatable simple staff directory to your web site using a free WordPress plugin, go here: Adding A Staff List Directory: Tutorial

Career Opportunities Page

List any career opportunities available within your firm. This page could include type of training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, social activities encouraged or sponsored by your firm, etc. You can also include information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Include also a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, subscribe to your announcements list, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials And Case Studies

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to show prospective clients businesses minimize tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. Adding a page with client reviews and case studies also provides social proof.

(Add a web page with case studies and testimonials from past clients. Image sourced from: pcg-services.com)

We have written extensively about using testimonials and reviews get better results online. Go here to learn more: How To Improve Your Visitor-To-Sales Conversions With Sales Boosting Testimonials

Contact Us

Having a contact page is essential.

It should include some or all of the following information:

• Company Name
• Your physical address
• Phone number
• Facsimile
• Contact email address
• Map
• Web address
• Contact form
• Request for information – contact details
• Social media URLs
• Chat

If your business services different areas you want to make that clear when displaying the address and contact information.

You should also include links to an FAQ section, frequently-visited pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog

A blog is a very powerful business marketing tool. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to promote your business using content like news, product updates, training articles, informative posts, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

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

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

Very few people know that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic system that can help begin delivering targeted visitors to your website, simply by adding regular content to your site.

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

To learn more about this go here: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Create An Automated Web Traffic-Getting Machine

Legal Pages

As a professional accountant or financial services provider, having a compliant website is crucial, not just for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not contravening local, regional or federal laws or regulations wherever your business services clients.

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

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

We have written a comprehensive article about adding legal pages to your site. For more info, see this article: How To Add Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s globally competitive economy, the sooner you begin engaging in the practice of content marketing, the sooner you will begin to differentiate yourself from the competition.

By committing to providing great content with information and tips, you will get your visitors to share your web pages and come back for more information. This is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospects about your business.

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

• How balance sheets work
• Understanding profit & loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Business cashflow planning advice
• Business insurance
• Protecting revenues
• Tips on structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Dos and don’ts of … (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 understand your accounting or financial services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, tax planning for small business, reducing debt, understanding financial conventions, etc.

Remember to include the same keywords and terminology in your content that readers would search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable information and practical tips that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating high-quality 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 Visitor Experience

Improving your site’s user experience (typically referred to as UX) helps to keep visitors coming back and using your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and user experience.

RSS Feeds – Content Syndication

RSS feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and user experience in many ways.

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

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

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared online
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• It provides links to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are multiple ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. users can read your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

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

To find useful RSS feeds just search online for finance and tax-related government departments and respected industry bodies.

For example, here are a few useful RSS feeds you may want to consider adding to your accounting 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

(Add RSS feeds to provide your visitors with a better user experience.)

Checklists And Forms

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

Checklists and forms can include subjects such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Negative Gearing Worksheet
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Partnership Tax Checklist
• Capital Gains Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Adding Unique Tools

Providing useful online tools, gadgets and applications for businesses can help increase visitor engagement and add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are useful tools for accounting websites. Others could include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part 2 of this detailed guide, we discuss a several online tools you can use in your website using WordPress plugins and themes that can help to improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section 1.

Click here to keep reading:

• Tips For CPAs – WordPress Plugins That Can Help Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation

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