In Part One of this article on ways to grow your accounting business web presence, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following topics:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Online Opportunities For Accountants
- Essential Web Pages
- Ways To Improve Your Content
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered include:
- Improve Traffic
- Ways To Generate Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Tools
- WordPress Plugins And Themes That Can Help Improve SEO, Create Better User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
- Using WordPress Plugins To Improve Your Web Site’s Features
- WP For Business – An Introduction To WordPress Themes
Grow Your Accounting Website – Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic With Plugins And Themes
Web traffic is a vital part of your online business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines
There are so many ways that WordPress helps optimize your website for search engines:
- URLs – Set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your content posts.
- Post Tags – Specify the keywords that you want your article pages to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Post Categories – Create SEO-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – Set an excerpt that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for improved search results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily link internal content
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories the moment a new post is published on your website.
WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Better User Engagement And Driving More Visitors To Your Website
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WP development community makes available quite a number of plugins that will improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- Yoast 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 (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your SEO)
Other things you can do to improve your accounting or financial services website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social features. Here are some WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below are also free):
- BuddyPress – Run a social network on your website.
- bbPress – Run a discussion forum on your website.
- E-Newsletter – Send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP site.
- Disqus – use this WordPress plugin to power discussions and increases user engagement on your website.
- Floating Social – Add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online on your website.
(You can easily add social sharing buttons to your website using free or inexpensive plugins)
Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Applications
Let’s now discuss ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Provide A Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It provides several benefits and advantages including:
- Sends targeted traffic to your website
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides updates
- Provides you with a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to provide special products or services to a select audience
- Increases user interaction
- Provides you with additional opportunities for your content to be shared online with others
An effective way to get your visitors to become subscribers is to provide them with high value information and offer them free gifts in exchange for their personal details. This can be a guide, tips for handling finances, access to tax calculators, coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Adding Contact Forms
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch. Contact forms also let readers report issues, ask questions to specific departments, ask for quotes, send suggestions and more.
Contact forms provide a number of benefits, like:
- Reducing spam
- Set up automated responses
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Different forms can be added to any post or page
- Looks professional
- Convenience for users
A very popular contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin)
This free contact form plugin is easy to install and configure and lets you add and manage multiple contact forms, customize the forms 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 prospective clients can select the aspect of your business they are contacting your company about. This helps visitors get the comment to the right person.
Provide Maps
Maps help your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a very useful tool for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Clients can better plan their visits or appointments
- Display location of events
(Adding maps to your website helps your visitors and customers find you)
Below are some of the more plugins that let you embed, customize and display maps on your website:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins & Themes That Can Help To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic
WordPress Financial Plugins
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting site that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are just some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can provide to users on your website. It also supports internationalization
Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Interest rate
- Loans
- Tax
- Equity
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin gives you a widget that shows up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin lets you place a custom stock ticker on any page, post, or sidebar using shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker comes with loads of customizable features. Choose from built-in skins or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your website. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Appearance customization features include width, height, background color, opacity, scrolling speed, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, font family, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin)
This free plugin allows your visitors to calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for calculating repayments on vehicle loans, property loans, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculators)
The Finance Calculator plugin also contains an application form that will send a notification message to a specified email address.
It will show payment protection, calculate 12 to 60 months loans and create 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 lets WordPress blog owners send itemized invoices to their clients.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices. It even allows you to set up recurring billing. It can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures, create PDF invoice versions, provide quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WordPress user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, USAePay, and others.
WP-Invoice features include adding custom payments and charges, inserting pre-defined line items and discounts, viewing invoice status and progression, filtering and finding invoices, showing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating e-mail notification templates, viewing reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 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 complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and ticket system, CRM and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – Invoice)
The plugin supports international 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 WP Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoices, track your company’s cash flow and net worth, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Invoicing)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting WordPress Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting. Here is a list of some of the best accounting themes available. 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)
Accounting Pro is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accountancy 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 lots more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded through premium add-ons.
More info:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
Accountancy offers a variety of styles and layouts to help give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
This responsive (mobile-friendly) theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search engine friendly, and fast loading. Accountancy provides the features you need without bloating your theme. Your purchase price includes free updates and 1 year of support.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting WP Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your site any way you want. The theme also provides unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). It looks clean and modern and loads fast.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, visit the theme website:
Kathryn
(Kathryn)
Kathryn is a premium WordPress child theme for the Genesis Framework designed specifically for accountants. It offers multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, various colors, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine friendly, and is fully responsive. Although this theme can easily fit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy WordPress responsive slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
More information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This one was built to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features an authoritative color scheme and elements designed specifically to help make your accounting site 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 services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
Go here for more info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme built for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate includes a custom post type adding staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
Go here for more info:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
Divi is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. You can create a professional website using the page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
Divi’s page builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily change the structure of their page without editing code.
(Divi Theme For WordPress – Flexible Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. It has multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. It is responsive and completely customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to all stunning themes.
For more details about using this WordPress theme, visit the theme site:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
This theme was specifically created to create great-looking corporate websites.
This theme has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider, blog design, 6 different color schemes, 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 access to all themes.
More information:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was specifically designed to help finance professionals build trust online with a clean business design. It’s perfect for those that provide services like investing advice or tax advice. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, lease calculator, widgets and multiple shortcodes, and the drag-and-drop visual composer..
For more information, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme was specifically built for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and businesses that provide tax services. The theme is designed to show your services in a professional way and help establish your professional reputation. It provides different 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 For WordPress)
This theme was built specifically for organizations that provide financial services including consulting, tax help, insurance, finance, corporate, loans, accounting, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, the custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page settings, color management, animations, and lots more.
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 ways to improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more visitors to your accounting or financial services site with WordPress plugins & themes.
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