In Part 1 of this guide on ways to improve your accounting business web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following areas:
- Challenges Accounting & Financial Businesses Face Online
- Opportunities For The Accounting Profession In The Online Economy
- Your Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve Your Web Content
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Topics covered below include:
- Ways Of Improving Web Traffic Using WordPress
- Generating New Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins And Themes That Can Help Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
- WordPress Plugins Extend Your Web Site’s Functionality
- WordPress For Business – An Overview Of WP Themes
Tips For Improving Website Traffic
Your web traffic is an integral part of your business growth. This section discusses how to improve SEO, improve user engagement and increase web traffic to your accounting business generation using WordPress plugins.
Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines
There are loads of ways WordPress can help to optimize your website for search engines:
- SEO-Friendly – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the URL of your pages.
- Tags – Specify the keywords that you want search engines to index your posts for.
- Categories – Add search engine-friendly categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Post Excerpts – Create the description for your posts that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for improved search engine results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links for faster indexing of your content
- Pinging – WordPress can be configured to automatically notify other sites and directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your site.
Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation Using WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are various WordPress plugins that will improve your accounting website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your website.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your site’s SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin (lists all of your pages and posts for indexing by search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your SEO)
Other WordPress plugins you can add to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing. Here are a few fantastic plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below can be downloaded at no cost):
- BuddyPress – This free WordPress plugin helps you run a social networking community on your site.
- bbPress – This free WordPress plugin allows you to run a forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – Send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – This plugin lets you power discussions and increases user engagement on your site.
- Monarch – Add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online on your pages and posts.
(You can easily add social features to your site using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Generate New Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
This section explains ways to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries for your accounting or financial services business.
Providing An Email Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is an excellent way to build a list of subscribers. It provides many benefits, like:
- Sends targeted traffic to your website
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides you with a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Increases engaging with users
- Provides you with other ways for subscribers to share your content
One of the things you can do to get visitors to subscribe is to provide high value information and offer users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their personal details. This could be a useful report, tips for handling tax, access to tax calculators, discount coupons, membership access to videos, contests, etc.
Add A Contact Form
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for prospective clients to get in touch. Users can send feedback, contact specific departments, request quotes, send suggestions for new services or products and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits and advantages, like:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your site
- More convenient for site visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin is easy to install and configure and lets you insert and manage multiple contact forms on your site, customize your forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Contact Form 7 also supports international languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
Something to consider is to segment your contact form so prospects can choose which topic they want to discuss. This helps visitors get the comment to the right person.
Add Maps
A map helps your visitors and customers find you.
Maps are a great tool for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Allows customers to better plan their meeting or appointments
- Shows location of events
(Adding a map helps your visitors and customers find you)
Below are just some popular 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
Improving SEO, Improve User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation Using WordPress Plugins And Themes
Financial Plugins For WordPress
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting or financial services site that will immediately make available a range of functional tools for site visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of over 400 calculators. You can embed these into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. Internationalization is supported.
Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- 401k
- Rate of return
- Tax
- Debit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many portfolios as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin)
This free plugin lets you add a custom stock ticker to any sidebar, post or page with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker offers loads of customizable features. You can choose from built-in themes or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing height, width, background color, opacity, scrolling speed, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, text color, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator lets your site visitors calculate indicative repayments online. This is a useful tool for calculating car loans, real estate, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator WP Plugin – Loan Calculator)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that will send a 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 WordPress Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand plugin functionality with both free and premium add-ons, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quoting, single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WP user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, Interkassa, and many others.
Plugin features include adding custom payments and charges, inserting pre-defined line items and discounts, viewing invoice status and progression, filtering and finding invoices, seeing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating e-mail notification templates, accessing 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 is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and ticket management system, client relationship management and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application – Invoice)
All In One Business Management Application 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)
This is a scalable business software that lets you manage clients and invoicing, track your company’s cash flow and net worth, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software WordPress Plugin – Invoice)
iBilling integrates with several online 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 look at some of the best WordPress themes available for accounting firms. With these themes you can own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
This is a turn-key theme developed for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menus, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
You can customize this theme with premium add-ons.
Go here for more info:
Accountancy
(Accountancy)
This premium theme offers a variety of styles and layouts that helps give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, search optimized, fast loading, and is responsive. It provides the features you need without bloating your theme. Your purchase price includes free updates and 1 year of support.
More information:
Accounting
(Accounting – WordPress Theme)
Accounting includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your site any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is responsive (mobile-friendly). It is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
For more information, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn)
This premium WordPress theme was developed specifically for accounting services. It has a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, a variety of colors, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine friendly, and is responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme can easily fit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy slider plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
More information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was created to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was 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 responsive and includes pages for your accounting services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme specifically designed for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It includes a custom post type adding employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s a clean and fast-loading theme.
More information:
Divi
(Divi Theme)
This premium WordPress theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire theme collection. You can create a professional website using the page builder or beautiful pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and change the structure of their pages without touching any code.
(Divi Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These modules include accordion, blurb, code, countdown timer, image, login, post title, slider, tabs, text, fullwidth code, fullwidth portfolio, fullwidth post title, and more.. Divi is mobile-friendly and completely customizable. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to over 80 professional themes.
More info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
This one was designed specifically to create good-looking corporate sites.
The Corporation has a sleek page-based home page design with a nice slider, blog design, six unique color schemes, multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all professional themes.
Go here for more details:
Adviser
(Adviser)
This premium theme for WordPress was developed specifically to help finance industry professionals build trust online through clean web design. It’s perfect for those that provide services like investments or tax help. It includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a lease calculator. It includes widgets and multiple shortcodes, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
For more details, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help)
This premium theme for WordPress was designed specifically for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and businesses that provide tax assistance. This 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 additional custom shortcodes.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, go here:
Finance Business
(Finance Business – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was built for organizations that provide any type of financial service including consulting, tax help, corporate, insurance, finance, accounting, loans, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around one hundred shortcodes that includes charts and financial content. It also includes a custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management features, animations, and lots more.
For more details, go here:
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 for improving search engine optimization, increasing user engagement and web traffic generation.
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