In Part One of this step-by-step article on ways to build your accounting business web presence, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following areas:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Opportunities For The Accounting Profession In The Digital Economy
- Basic Pages
- How To Improve Your Web Content
In this section, we will continue looking at more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Improve Traffic Using WordPress
- How To Generate New Leads & Enquiries
- How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Traffic Using WordPress Plugins
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
- Using WordPress Plugins To Enhance Your Web Site’s Features And Functionality
- A Basic Guide To WP Themes
Ways Of Improving Web Traffic Using WordPress
Web traffic is vital to your business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Website For SEO With WordPress
There are so many ways WordPress can help to optimize your accounting website for search engines:
- URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the web address of your pages.
- Post Tags – Choose the keywords that you want your article pages to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Post Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – Create the description for your posts that will display to search engine users.
- Images – title your images with keywords for improved search results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify other search directories the moment a new post is published on your website.
Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic Using WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are various plugins for WordPress that will improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your site.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your site’s search engine optimization:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your SEO)
Other WordPress plugins you can use to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing features. Here are some more powerful WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Set up an online social network on your site, with member profiles, messaging, user groups, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – bbPress helps you set up a community forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – Use this WordPress plugin to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – This WordPress plugin lets you power discussions and increases engagement on your site.
- Social Media Feather – Easily add powerful social sharing features to your pages and posts.
(You can add social sharing to your website easily using free or inexpensive plugins)
Ways To Generate Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Applications
Let’s now take a look at ways to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Providing A Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is an excellent way to build a subscriber list. It] provides a number of benefits including:
- Sends targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides updates
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special services or products to a select audience
- Increases user engagement
- Provides another way for your content to be shared around with other potential customers
One of the things you can do to get visitors to become subscribers is to provide high value information and offer users free gifts in exchange for their details. This can be a time-saving guide, tips for handling finances, access to financial calculators, discount coupons, membership access to subscriber-only content, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for prospective clients to get in touch with you. Contact forms also let users raise concerns, contact specific departments, request a quote, send suggestions for improvements and more.
A contact form provides many benefits and advantages including:
- Reduces 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
- Improves the professional look of your website
- Convenient for visitors
One of the most popular contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin)
Contact Form 7 is easy to install and configure and allows you to insert and manage multiple contact forms on your site, customize the forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
The plugin supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
Something to consider is to segment your contact form so prospective customers can select the topic they are contacting your company about. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Provide A Map
A map helps your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a very useful tool for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Show location of events
(Maps help your visitors and clients find you)
Here are just some 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
Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation With Plugins And Themes
Accounting – WordPress Plugins
WordPress provides a number of plugins you can add to your website that will immediately add a range of functional tools for site visitors. Here are just some of these:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can provide to users on your website and embed into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. The plugin supports internationalization
Note: Most of them aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- Interest rate
- Loans
- CD
- Equity
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin)
With this plugin you get a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many widgets as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
With this plugin you can place custom stock tickers on any sidebar, post or page using shortcodes.
This plugin includes a number of customizable features. You can choose to use built-in skins or customize these yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your website. You can also add custom stocks to individual categories.
Appearance customization features include height, width, background color, opacity, scrolling speed, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, typeface, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress)
This free plugin allows your users to calculate indicative repayments. This is a great financial tool for calculating repayments on automotive loans, real estate, 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.
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)
WP-Invoice lets WordPress blog owners send itemized invoices to their clients.
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, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quote creation, checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WP user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, and many others.
The plugin lets you add custom payments and charges, insert pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email 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 Plugin)
This complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with support ticketing management system, CRM and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – Client Invoice)
The plugin supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful tools such as document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage client 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 – WordPress Plugin – Invoice)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software lets you get paid faster by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting Themes For WordPress
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, it’s best to choose a theme specifically suited for accounting. Here is a list of some of the best accountancy themes available. With the themes listed below you can own a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro)
This premium WordPress theme is an inexpensive turn-key theme built for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s a responsive theme with a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, a custom menu feature, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded through premium add-ons.
To learn more about this theme, visit the theme site:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
Accountancy Theme comes in a variety of styles and layouts to make your accounting site look and feel professional.
This responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search optimized, and loads fast. It provides what your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and one year of support is included in your purchase.
For more details, go here:
Accounting
(Accounting)
This premium theme 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 types of headers, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Accountancy looks clean and modern and is fast to load.
More info:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme)
This one is a premium child theme for the Genesis Framework designed specifically for accountants. Kathryn offers a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, flexible rotator, call to action boxes, author boxes for single or multiple bloggers, many color choices, is easy to use, search engine optimized, and is 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.
For more details, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WordPress Theme)
Accounting WordPress Theme was built to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., is designed specifically to give your accounting site a professional look. 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 accounting services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
More information:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme designed specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It includes a custom post type for employee profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean and loads fast.
More info:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create a unique, professional site 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 you to understand and easily edit the structure of their pages without editing any code.
(Divi Theme For WordPress – Flexible Page Builder)
It comes with 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. This includes multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is mobile-friendly and fully customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all sleek business themes.
For more information, go here:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This premium WordPress theme from Elegant Themes was specifically built to make corporate sites look great.
The Corporation has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider, blog design, six unique 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 all professional themes.
More info:
Adviser
(Adviser WP Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was developed specifically to help those in the financial industry to build trust online with a clean business design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services such as investing or tax advice. Adviser includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a 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 was developed specifically for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and those providing tax services. Tax Help is designed to showcase your services in a professional way to help grow your professional reputation. It provides a range of blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
More information:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
This premium theme for WordPress was developed for businesses that provide any type of financial service including consulting, tax help, insurance, finance, corporate, loans, accounting, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, a custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page settings, color management, animations, and a whole lot 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, you have found this guide on ways of improving search engine optimization, increase user engagement and generate more visitors with plugins and themes useful.
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