In Part One of this article on ways to improve your accounting web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following topics:
- Online Challenges For The Accounting & Financial Services Profession
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses
- Improve Your Web Pages
- Improving Your Web Content
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Topics covered include:
- Tips For Improving Traffic
- How To Generate Leads & Enquiries
- How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation Using WordPress Plugins & Themes
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Improving Website Traffic Using WordPress
Web traffic is a vital part of your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Site For SEO
There are loads of ways WordPress can help to optimize your accounting website for search engines:
- SEO-Friendly – configure the permalinks to use the title of the post.
- Tags – Choose the keywords that you want search engines to index your posts for.
- Post Categories – Add SEO-friendly categories for your posts and products.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose an excerpt that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – title images with keywords for improved search engine results.
- Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily link internal content
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify other search directories whenever a new post is published on your site.
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Increase User Engagement And Generate More Visitors To Your Site Using WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are also a number of plugins for WordPress that will improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your site.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your site’s search engine optimization)
Other things you can do to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social features. Here are a few more fantastic WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below can be downloaded at no cost):
- BuddyPress – This plugin allows you to set up and manage a social community on your website.
- bbPress – Run an online forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – Power discussions and increases engagement on your website or blog.
- Monarch – This plugin lets you add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your website or blog.
(You can add social sharing features to your site easily using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Generating New Leads & Enquiries
In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries for your accounting business.
Providing A Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It provides many benefits including:
- Drives targeted traffic to your website
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides useful information and advice
- Provides a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides new opportunities for improving user interaction
- Provides other ways for your content to be shared around with new potential customers
A proven strategy for getting your visitors to become subscribers is to provide high value content and offer users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their details. This could be a guide, tips for handling finances, access to financial calculators, discount coupons, membership access to videos, contests, etc.
Adding Contact Forms
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for readers to contact you. Contact forms also allow readers to send feedback, contact specific departments, ask for quotes, give suggestions and more.
A contact form provides several benefits, like:
- Reduces spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Contact forms can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your website
- Is convenient for site visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7)
Contact form 7 is a free plugin that is easy to install and configure and lets you create multiple contact forms to your site, customize your form and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
The plugin also supports international languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
Something to consider is to segment your contact form so users can select the topic they are contacting you about. This ensures that contact form requests reach the right person.
Adding Maps
Maps help your visitors and customers find you.
Maps are great tools for several reasons:
- A map improves local SEO
- Helps visitors find your office easily
- Show location of events
(Maps help your visitors and customers find you)
Below are some popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display Google maps on your WordPress site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins That Can Help To Improve Your Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
WordPress Accounting Plugins
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting or financial services website that will immediately add a range of functional tools for users. Here are some of the plugins you can choose from:
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. It also supports internationalization
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few you can use for:
- Mortgage
- Payments
- Leases
- Debit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin installs a widget that shows up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker – WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any page, post, or sidebar with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker comes with loads of customizable features. Choose from built-in themes or customize these yourself to match your site. You can also add custom stocks to specific categories.
Appearance customization features include height, width, scroll speed, opacity, background color, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, text color, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin lets your site visitors calculate indicative repayments. This is a great financial tool for calculating repayments on car loans, property, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – Loan Calculator)
The plugin also contains an application form that will send a notification message to the email address you specify.
Other features of this plugin include displaying payment protection, calculating 12 to 60 months loans and creating a form that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice Plugin For WordPress)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress users with clients to bill.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices. It even allows you to set up recurring billing. WP-Invoice can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of invoices, provide quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WordPress user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, Interkassa, and others.
The plugin lets you add custom payments and charges, add pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create e-mail notification templates, display reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 10 most 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, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticket management system, CRM and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin – Client Invoicing)
The plugin supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides additional 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 WP Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage and communicate with customers, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin For WordPress – Client Invoicing)
It lets you get paid faster by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting And Financial Services Themes For WordPress
To get the most benefit out of growing your business online with WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting businesses. Here is a look at some of the best WordPress themes available for accountancy businesses. With these themes you can own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro)
Accounting Pro is a turn-key theme created for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, custom menus, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be customized by installing premium add-ons.
Visit the theme website to learn more this theme:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme offers a variety of built-in styles and layouts that helps give your accounting website a professional look and feel.
This fully responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search optimized, and loads fast. Accountancy Theme provides the features you need without bloating your theme. Free updates and 1 year of support is included in the cost of purchase.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme For WordPress)
This one includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom administration panel, four color schemes, custom slider, three different blog types, and is responsive (mobile-friendly). Accountancy looks clean and modern and is fast to load.
More information:
Kathryn
(Kathryn)
Kathryn is a child theme for the Genesis Framework that’s developed specifically for accounting services. It has a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, many color choices, is easy to use, search engine optimized, and is mobile-friendly. Although it can easily fit any profession you like, 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 information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WordPress Theme)
Accounting WordPress Theme was built to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., is designed specifically to help give your accounting business 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 responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your accounting services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
This is a corporate theme built for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type for employee profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
More information:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ collection. Divi lets you create a professional website using its page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can change your layout to your heart’s content.
The builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and redesign the structure of their page without editing code.
(Divi Theme – Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. It has audio player, blog, circle counter, countdown timer, image, login, post title, slider, social media follow, text, fullwidth header, fullwidth menu, fullwidth post title, and more.. Divi is mobile-friendly and completely customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes access to 80+ professional themes.
For more information, go here:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
This theme from Elegant Themes was specifically designed to create good-looking corporate websites.
The Corporation has a page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider, blog design, six unique color schemes, multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all beautifully-designed themes.
Go here for more details:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme)
This one was specifically designed to help finance industry professionals build trust online through clean web design. It’s ideal for businesses that provide services like investment advice or tax advice. It 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.
Go here for more info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress was specifically developed for financial organizations, tax and finance advisors, and firms that provide tax services. The theme is designed to show your services professionally and help build your business reputation. It has a range of blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
Go here for more information:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme)
Finance Business was designed specifically for businesses that provide any type of financial service such as consulting, tax help, finance, insurance, corporate, accounting, loans, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management features, animated elements, and a whole lot more.
Go here for more details:
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 article has helped you learn WordPress plugins that can help improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and increase web traffic generation.
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