In Part One of this guide on ways to build your accounting web presence, we covered the following topics:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Online Opportunities For Professional Accountants
- How To Improve Your Web Pages
- Ways To Improve Your Web Content
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered below include:
- Tips For Improving Traffic With WordPress
- Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Applications
- How To Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors Using Plugins
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
- Adding New Features And Functionality To Your Website With WordPress Plugins
- A Basic Guide To Themes
Improve Website Traffic
Your web traffic is a vital part of your business growth. This section discusses WordPress plugins and themes for improving search engine optimization, increasing user engagement and generating more visitors.
Optimizing Your Site For SEO
There are loads of ways WordPress can help to improve your website’s SEO:
- URLs – configure the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the web address of your pages.
- Tags – WordPress lets you specify the keywords that you want your article pages to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Post Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Excerpts – Set descriptions for your posts that search engines will display.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for improved search results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links
- Pinging – Set up your site to automatically notify (ping) other sites and directories immediately upon publishing new content on your site.
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are various WordPress plugins that improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (lists all of your posts and pages for indexing by search engines)
- 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 things you can do to improve your accounting site’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing features. Here are some more powerful plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Use the BuddyPress WordPress plugin to run an online social network on your WordPress website, with member profiles, user groups, messaging, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – Run an online discussion forum on your WordPress site.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter lets you send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP site.
- Disqus – Power discussions and increases user engagement on your site.
- Floating Social – Use this plugin to add social sharing features and buttons on your website or blog.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing buttons to their website using free or inexpensive plugins)
Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Tools
In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve sales and generate more leads and enquiries.
Providing An Email Newsletter
Providing a newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It provides several benefits and advantages including:
- Sends targeted traffic
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides useful updates
- Provides a highly targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special services or products to a select audience
- Provides new opportunities for increasing user engagement
- Provides you with other ways for readers to share your content
A proven strategy for getting your visitors to subscribe to your newsletter is to provide high value information and give users a free gift in exchange for their personal details. This can be an exclusive guide, checklists for handling tax, access to tax calculators, coupons, access to courses, contests, etc.
Provide A Contact Form
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for readers to contact you. Users can report issues, contact specific departments, ask for quotes, and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits, like:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Contact forms can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenient for users
One of the most popular contact form plugins for WordPress is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
This free contact form plugin lets you add and manage multiple contact forms into any post or page, customize your form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Contact Form 7 supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Another feature you may want to consider is adding sections to your contact form so prospective clients can choose the topic they want to discuss. This ensures that visitors get the comment to the right person.
Map Integration
A map helps your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a great tool for several reasons:
- A map helps to increase local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Display location of events
(Adding a map to your site helps your visitors and customers find you)
Below are 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
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Web Traffic With WordPress Plugins
Accounting Plugins For WordPress
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting or financial services website that will immediately add a range of functional tools for site visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can provide to users on your website. Internationalization is supported.
Most of them aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Interest rate
- Loans
- Tax
- Equity
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress)
With this plugin you get a widget that shows a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many portfolios as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes WP Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a custom stock ticker to any sidebar, page or post using shortcodes.
This plugin includes loads of customizable features. You can choose to use built-in themes or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your website. You can also create custom stocks for specific categories.
Customize the appearance by changing speed, symbols, colours, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin allows your users to calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for calculating car loans, property, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculator)
This plugin also contains an application form that will send a notification message to a specified email address.
Other features of this plugin include showing payment protection, calculating 12 to 60 months loans and creating forms that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice – WordPress Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets WordPress blog owners send itemized invoices to their clients.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send out 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, 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 payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, and others.
The plugin gives you the ability to add custom payments and charges, insert pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create e-mail notification templates, access 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 is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and support ticketing system, CRM and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin – Client Invoicing)
The plugin supports different 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 WordPress Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customers 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 integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Themes For Financial Services
To benefit the most from using WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best accounting themes available. With the themes listed below you can own a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro)
This premium theme is a 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 menu features, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
You can expand this theme with premium add-ons.
For more information, go here:
Accountancy
(Accountancy)
This one comes with a variety of styles and layouts that helps give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
This responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search optimized, and loads fast. Accountancy Theme provides the flexibility you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Your purchase price includes free updates and one year of support.
More information:
Accounting
(Accounting – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your site any way you want. It also provides unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom administration panel, four color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). It is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
For more information, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn)
This premium theme for WordPress was built specifically for accounting businesses. Kathryn allows you to use WordPress as a true CMS and provides a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, call to action boxes, a variety of colors, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine friendly, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although it can easily fit any profession you want it to, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy WordPress slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
More info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WordPress Theme)
This one was built to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., is specifically designed to help give your accounting business site a professional look. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s mobile-friendly and includes pages for your services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials section, and a blog.
For more details, go here:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme For WordPress)
This 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. It’s clean-looking and fast-loading.
For more information, go here:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create a professional site using the page builder or pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and edit the structure of their web pages without touching code.
(Divi – Flexible Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. Modules include multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is responsive and completely customizable. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to 80+ sleek business themes.
For more information, go here:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This one was developed specifically to make corporate websites look great.
The Corporation has a page-based home page design with a nice slider, blog design, 6 different color schemes, multiple page templates that 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 information:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme)
The Adviser Theme was developed to help finance professionals build trust online with a clean business design. It’s perfect for those that provide services such as investing advice or tax help. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, lease calculator, multiple shortcodes and widgets, and the drag-and-drop visual composer..
For more information, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help)
This one was specifically developed for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and those offering tax assistance. This theme is designed to showcase your services in a professional way and help build your business reputation. It provides a range of blog styles, uses a 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 – WordPress Theme)
This one was developed for businesses that provide any type of financial service including tax help, consulting, corporate, insurance, finance, loans, accounting, and more. It 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, two premium sliders, page options, color management features, animated elements, 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
We hope that you have found this guide on ways of improving your accounting or financial services business online with WordPress helpful.
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
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