Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accountants today face a growing number of new challenges created by the online economy.

Challenges Certified Public Accountants Face Online

Accounting businesses must work harder than ever to remain in business. Not only do you have to become more involved in the communities and industries your business serves, you must also develop an active web presence. This includes having a website and learning how to better promote your services online.

As well as spending money in offline marketing, businesses in the accounting industry are now finding that they will need to designate a bigger part of their marketing budget to develop and maintain a website that can drive new clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help to give them a wider amount of marketing reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look great, load fast, and your site has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of your website will change in time and sections will need to be updated often. This requires having a well-planned website and content management strategy.

One other challenge that accounting businesses face, as most businesses do for that matter, is that you have only about 30 seconds or less to provide users what they are searching for or they will go away.

“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 Accountants In The Online Economy

As well as facing many new challenges, there are also many online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting industry that can adapt to meet the demands of the digital economy and who can think progressively when it comes to improving their online business marketing skills.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn about ways and opportunities to attract and engage new visitors and create significant improvements in your business presence online.

As well as providing useful website improvement tips, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress platform to power your accounting or financial services website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System, see the articles below:

• Learn Why A Poorly Built Website Can Cost You Prospective Buyers
• Mastering WordPress – A Business Owner’s Guide

Useful Tips To Improve Your Website

In this section we’ll show you ways to improve your accounting website and get better results online. We show you what pages an accounting website needs, what content works best for accounting and financial services websites, your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need help with website planning, check out the detailed guide we have written here: The Web Site Planning Process Explained - A Basic Guide For Business Owners

Basic Pages

All websites need several basic web pages. Let’s go over these.

Your Products And Services

You need a page that describes your services and products.

It should include services such as:

• Business – business planning, incorporation of companies, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, forecasting, budgeting, financing, 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 a business, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

List all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using your services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

About Us Page

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, causes supported, etc.

Remember to also list any awards, recognitions, certifications, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote the company and position it above your competitors.

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

Staff

If you are searching for ways to sell more products online, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know you and your business better.

You want prospective clients to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff or team members. It should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in accounting terms your bio 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 that will allow your site visitors to follow selected team members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline your person’s experience, how their skills and knowledge contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your team members to prospective new clients. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

If you need help how to add an easy-to-update directory of staff members in your site using free plugins, go here: How To Add A Simple Staff Directory On Your WordPress Site With No Coding Skills Required

Career Opportunities

This is a listing of career opportunities within your firm. This page should include training, benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. It should include stories of trainees who have worked their way up in your firm and information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the accounting industry.

Maintain a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, subscribe to your contact list, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies & Testimonials

Testimonials and case studies are a great way to show potential clients them minimize tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. Adding a web page with case studies and client reviews also helps your accounting or financial services site to provide potential clients with social proof online.

(Add a web page with reviews from clients and case studies. Screenshot image source: pcg-services.com)

We have written a comprehensive article about using testimonials, case studies and reviews to improve your business results online. To learn more about this go here: Discover How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Prospects With More Effective Testimonials

Contact Us Page

A contact page is absolutely necessary.

Your contact page should include:

• Company Name
• Location
• Phone number
• Facsimile number
• Email address
• Google Map
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Request for more information – who to contact
• Links to social media networks
• Interactive chat (optional)

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

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

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business using timely content such as announcements, company updates, educational articles and tutorials, informative posts, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

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

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

Something few people know about, is that WordPress can become an automated traffic system that can attract targeted traffic to your website, simply by adding content to your website on a consistent basis.

(WordPress can drive web traffic automatically to your website)

Go here to learn more: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Turn Your WordPress Site Into An Automated Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Information Pages

It’s essential for accounting firms to ensure they have a compliant website, not just for establishing trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaking any laws and regulations wherever your business services clients.

Adding the legal pages below to your accounting or financial services website will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of threats and legal inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Health/Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

We have written a comprehensive article on adding legal pages to your site. To learn more about this go here: Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s ultra competitive global economy, the sooner you begin to publish great content on your site, the quicker you will begin to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Providing great content with information and tips will get your visitors sharing your content and coming back for more information. Using content is the most effective way to educate site visitors and prospective clients about your business and about doing business with you.

For example, topics for an accounting business can include:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning advice
• Business insurance
• Risk protection
• Structuring your self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your prospective clients gain a better understanding of your accounting or financial services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, business budgeting, reducing business debt, understanding accounting conventions, etc.

Remember to use keywords in your content that your readers would search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating useful content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Adding RSS Feeds

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed provides many benefits for your site.

If you provide content that adds value to others, other sites may want to syndicate your content.

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, 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
• A feed provides a way for links to point back to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• There are multiple ways readers can receive your content (e.g. users can read the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to adding syndicated content to your website from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find many useful RSS feeds by visiting sites of finance and tax-related government departments and industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of useful RSS feeds you could 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

(RSS feeds can help to improve your site’s UX.)

Add Online Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your audience and provide something unique. They can give them useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete tasks. They are great planning tools.

Forms and checklists could cover topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Checklist
• Not-For-Profit Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Company Tax Checklist
• Capital Gains Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Online Tools

Providing unique tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) on your website can help increase visitor engagement and add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are some of the most popular tools for accounting websites. Other tools can include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section of this guide, we will look at a several WordPress-based tools you can add to your accounting or financial services website that can improve your seo, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section 1 of this guide on ways to grow your accounting business web presence.

Click on this link to view the rest of this article:

• Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins & Themes That Can Help To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic

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