In Part One of this guide on ways to grow your accounting business presence online, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following topics:
- Online Challenges For Accounting Businesses
- Opportunities For Accountants In The Digital Economy
- Basic Website Pages
- Improving Your Web Content
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Web Traffic
- Generate More Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins That Can Improve SEO, Create Better User Engagement And Generate More Web Traffic
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Tips For Improving Web Traffic
Your web traffic is vital to your online business growth. In this section, you will learn ways to improve SEO, increase user engagement and increase visitors to your accounting website generation with WordPress plugins.
Optimizing Your Site For Search Engines (SEO)
There are lots of ways that WordPress helps optimize your accounting or financial services website for search engines:
- URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the URL of your pages.
- Tags – WordPress lets you choose the keywords that you want your articles to be indexed by in the search engines.
- Categories – Add categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose an excerpt that will show in search results.
- Images – title your images with keywords for improved search engine results.
- Content Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links
- Post Notification – Configure your site to automatically notify other search directories whenever a new post is published on your website.
Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Traffic Using Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, the WP developer community makes available also a number of plugins that will improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your site.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your website’s search engine optimization:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your site’s search engine optimization)
Other things you can do to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing. Here are some plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below can be downloaded at no cost):
- BuddyPress – Run your own social network on your website.
- bbPress – Use the bbPress plugin to set up a discussion forum on your WordPress website.
- E-Newsletter – Use this WordPress plugin to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without a 3rd party subscription.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases engagement on your site.
- Monarch – This plugin lets you add social sharing features to your site.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing to their site with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Tips For Generating Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
Let’s now take a look at how to improve sales and generate more leads and enquiries online.
Providing An Email Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. Adding a newsletter provides several benefits including:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides new opportunities for improving interaction
- Provides another way for readers to share your content
A proven strategy for attracting subscribers is to provide users with valuable content and offer them free gifts in exchange for their details. This could be a guide, tips for handling tax, access to financial calculators, discount coupons, membership access to videos, contests, etc.
Add Contact Forms
Contact forms make it easy and simple for readers to get in touch with you. Users can report issues, ask questions to specific departments, request quotes, and more.
A contact form provides many benefits including:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what is sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your website
- Convenient for visitors
A very popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 – WordPress Plugin)
Contact form 7 is a free plugin that is easy to install and configure and allows you to add multiple contact forms into any post or page, customize your forms and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so users can choose which aspect of your business they are contacting your company about. This helps visitors get the comment to the right person.
Adding A Map
Adding a map helps your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a very useful tool for several reasons:
- They improve local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Displays location of events
(Adding maps helps your visitors and customers find you)
Popular Google Maps plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Generating More Visitors To Your Accounting Website
WordPress Financial Plugins
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting website that will immediately make available a range of functional tools for users. Here are some of these:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can display on your website. Internationalization is supported.
Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- 401k
- Loans
- CD
- Debit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin)
With this plugin you get a widget that shows a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes WordPress Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin For WordPress)
This free plugin lets you add a custom stock ticker to any post, page or sidebar using shortcodes.
The plugin provides a number of customizable ticker. You can choose to use built-in themes or customize it yourself to match the look and feel of your website. 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, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin)
This free plugin lets your visitors calculate indicative repayments. This is a great financial tool for calculating repayments on auto loans, real estate, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress – Loan Calculators)
The plugin also contains an application form that sends a notification message to the email address you specify.
It will display 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)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with free and premium add-ons, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quote creation, single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
WP-Invoice lets you add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create e-mail notification templates, view 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 Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and ticketing system, CRM and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – 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 client data and invoices, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin – Invoicing)
It integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting And Financial Services Themes For WordPress
To get the best features and professional look for your website, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting businesses. Here is a look at some of the best accounting themes available. These themes allow you to have a professional accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of website design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
This is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s a responsive theme with 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 a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded through premium add-ons.
To learn more about this theme, go here:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme For WordPress)
Accountancy has a variety of styles and layouts that helps give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
This fully responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, SEO friendly, and loads fast. Accountancy Theme provides the flexibility you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and one year of support is included in the cost of purchasing.
For more information, go here:
Accounting
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
Accounting Theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. It also provides unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, custom slider, three different blog types, and is responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
More information:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
This one is a premium child theme for the Genesis Framework that’s created specifically for accounting businesses. It has multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, flexible rotator, call to action boxes, author boxes for single or multiple bloggers, various colors, is easy to use, search optimized, and is 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 plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
For more details, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was developed to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features an authoritative color scheme and elements designed specifically to give your accounting business website 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 form section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials section, and a blog.
To learn more about this theme, go here:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme built specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate also includes a custom post type adding staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean-looking and loads fast.
Go here to learn more this WordPress theme:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create a professional website using its page builder or beautiful pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily edit the structure of their pages without touching code.
(Divi WP Theme – Page Builder)
Divi 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 responsive and fully customizable. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all themes.
Go here for more details:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This premium theme from Elegant Themes was built specifically to make corporate websites look good.
This theme has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider, blog design, six different color schemes, multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 stunning themes.
For more details about using this WordPress theme, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was developed specifically to help those in the financial industry to build trust online with a clean business design. It’s ideal for those that provide services such as investing or tax help. Adviser 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..
More info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help WordPress Theme)
This one was built for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and businesses providing tax assistance. The theme is designed to showcase your services in a professional way to help build your professional reputation. It has different blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
More information:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme For WordPress)
Finance Business was designed specifically for businesses that provide financial services such as tax help, consulting, corporate, finance, insurance, loans, accounting, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management, animated elements, and a lot more.
To learn more about using this WordPress theme, visit this website:
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 article on ways to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic with WordPress plugins useful.
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