In Part One of this article on ways to grow your accounting business web presence, we covered the following topics:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Opportunities For Accounting Professionals
- Your Website Pages
- Ways To Improve The Content On Your Site
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered include:
- Improve Traffic
- Ways To Generate Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
- WordPress Plugins And Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Creating Better User Engagement And Web Traffic Generation
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
Tips For Improving Website Traffic With WordPress
Web traffic is an integral part of your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines With WordPress
There are lots of ways that WordPress helps improve SEO:
- URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your content posts.
- Tags – WordPress lets you specify the keywords that you want your article pages to be indexed by in the search engines.
- Categories – Add search engine-friendly categories for your posts and products.
- Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose the description for your posts that will show in search results.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for better search engine results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily link your content to other posts on your site
- Pinging – Configure your site to automatically notify other sites and directories as soon as a new post is published on your website.
WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Increasing User Engagement And Web Traffic Generation
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are quite a number of plugins that improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your business.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your site’s SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (formerly known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your SEO)
Other ways to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing features. Here are some more WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below are also free):
- BuddyPress – This free plugin can be used to set up and run a social community on WordPress, with member profiles, activity streams, messaging, user groups, and more.
- bbPress – Run an online community forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – This plugin lets you send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – This WordPress plugin lets you power discussions and helps to increase user engagement on your site.
- Monarch – This WordPress plugin lets you add powerful social sharing features and buttons to your posts and pages.
(You can add social sharing features to your website easily using free or inexpensive plugins)
Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
In this section we’ll discuss ways to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Providing An Email Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It provides several benefits, like:
- Drives targeted traffic to your website
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides updates that could save businesses time and money
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for user interaction
- Provides another way for subscribers to share your content
One of the best ways to get visitors to subscribe is to provide high value information and offer users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their details. This can be a time-saving guide, tips for handling finances, access to financial calculators, coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for prospective customers to contact you. Users can report issues, contact specific departments, request a quote, send suggestions and more.
Contact forms provide many benefits and advantages, like:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your website
- More convenient for site visitors
One of the most popular contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7)
Contact form 7 is a free plugin that lets you add multiple contact forms, customize your form and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is supported.
Something to consider is to segment your contact form so prospective clients can choose which aspect of your business they are contacting your company about. This will help you to get the comment to the right person.
Add A Map
Adding a map to your website helps your visitors and customers find you.
Adding maps (e.g. Google Maps) to your WordPress site also provides many benefits, such as:
- A map helps to increase local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Displays location of events
(Adding a map to your website helps your visitors and clients find you)
Some of the most popular map plugins for WordPress include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins That Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation
WordPress Plugins - Accounting Services
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting or financial services website to immediately add a range of practical tools for visitors. Here are some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This plugin provides a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can display on your website and embed into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. It also supports internationalization
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are a few for:
- 401k
- Loans
- Leases
- Debit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress)
With this plugin you get a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
This plugin lets you add a custom stock ticker to any sidebar, page or post using shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker comes with loads of customizable ticker. Choose from built-in skins or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also create custom stocks for specific categories.
Customize the appearance by changing height, width, background color, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, text color, font family, font size, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin)
This free plugin allows users to calculate indicative repayments online. This is a great financial tool for calculating car loans, real estate, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator WP Plugin – Loan Calculators)
This plugin also contains an application form that will send a message to the email address you specify.
Other features of this plugin include showing 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 Plugin)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress users with clients to bill.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with both free and premium add-ons that let you manage business, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of invoices, create quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WordPress user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and many others.
WP-Invoice features include adding custom payments and charges, creating pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly viewing invoice status and progression, filtering and finding invoices, showing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating notification email templates, displaying reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 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 For WordPress)
This complete business management system includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and support ticket management system, CRM and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application – WordPress Plugin – Invoicing)
The plugin supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful tools like document management, to do app, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage client data and invoices, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin For WordPress – Invoicing)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Accounting Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress, it’s best to choose a theme specifically suited for accounting. Here is a look at some of the best WordPress themes available for accounting. With these themes you can have a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WP Theme)
This is an inexpensive turn-key theme developed for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, custom menus, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, performs auto resizing for images, and lots more.
You can expand this theme by installing premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress comes with 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 section, and more. It’s lightweight, SEO friendly, loads fast, and fully responsive. Accountancy provides what you need without bloating your theme. Free updates and one year of support is included in the price.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme)
This premium theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your website any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is fully responsive. It looks clean and modern and loads fast.
More info:
Kathryn
(Kathryn WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was created specifically for accounting businesses. It has a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, flexible rotator, call to action boxes, author boxes for single or multiple bloggers, a variety of colors, is easy to use, search optimized, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme can easily fit 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.
More info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium theme was developed to enhance 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 business site a professional look 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 accounting services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
More information:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme designed specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the bundled images or upload your own. It includes a custom post type for staff profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
Visit this website to learn more this WordPress theme:
Divi
(Divi WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. You can create a unique, professional site using its page builder or pre-made layouts. You can change your layout to your heart’s content.
Divi’s page builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and easily redesign the structure of their web pages without editing any code.
(Divi Theme For WordPress – Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These include audio player, call to action, contact form, divider, filterable portfolio, number counter, post title, slider, testimonial, text, fullwidth header, fullwidth portfolio, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is fully responsive and completely customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes access to 80+ professional themes.
For more details, go here:
The Corporation
(The Corporation WordPress Theme)
The Corporation from Elegant Themes was created specifically to create great-looking corporate websites.
The Corporation has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider, blog design, 6 different unique color schemes, multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ themes.
To learn more about using this theme, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress was specifically developed to help finance industry professionals build trust with a clean business design. It’s perfect for those that provide services like investment advice or tax help. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, a built-in lease calculator, multiple shortcodes and widgets, and the drag-and-drop visual composer..
Go here for more details:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme was specifically designed for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and businesses that provide tax assistance. This theme is designed to show your services professionally and 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.
For more information, go here:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was specifically designed for firms that provide any type of financial service such as consulting, tax help, corporate, finance, insurance, accounting, loans, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, a custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management, animations, and a whole lot more.
Visit this website to learn more about using this theme:
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 SEO, increase user engagement and generate more visitors to your website using plugins & themes.
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