In Part 1 of this step-by-step article on ways to grow your accounting web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following topics:
- Online Challenges For The Accounting Profession
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses In The Online Economy
- Improve Your Web Pages
- Improve The Content On Your Site
In this section, we will continue looking at more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Traffic With WordPress
- Tips For Generating Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Tools
- Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Generate More Visitors To Your Site With WordPress Plugins And Themes
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Using WordPress Plugins Extend Your Blog’s Functionality
- WordPress For Newbies – An Introduction To Themes
Tips For Improving Traffic Using WordPress
Web traffic is vital to your online business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines (SEO) With WordPress
There are many ways WordPress can help to improve your accounting website’s SEO:
- Search Engine-Friendly URLs – configure the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your articles and posts.
- Post Tags – Choose the keywords that you want your article pages (posts) to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Categories – Create categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – Set an excerpt that will show to search engine users.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your images for better search engine results.
- Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily link your content to other posts on your site
- Post Notification – Configure your site to automatically notify other sites and directories immediately upon publishing new content on your website.
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress developer community makes available many plugins that improve your website’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your website.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your website’s search engine optimization:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your site’s SEO)
Other WordPress tools you can add to improve your site’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social features. Here are a few fantastic WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Run a social network on your site, with member profiles, user groups, activity streams, messaging, and more.
- bbPress – This plugin can be used to set up and run a discussion forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without a 3rd party subscription.
- Disqus – use this plugin to power discussions and helps to increase engagement on your website.
- Floating Social – Use this plugin to add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your posts and pages.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing to their website with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
In this section we’ll discuss how to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries for your business.
Providing An Email Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is an excellent way to build a subscriber list. Adding an email newsletter provides a number of benefits and advantages, like:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides useful updates
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for improving user interaction
- Provides you with an additional way for subscribers to share your content
A proven strategy for attracting subscribers to your newsletter is to provide high value content and give users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their personal details. This could be a special report, checklists for handling tax, access to tax calculators, discount coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Adding A Contact Form
A contact form makes it easy and simple for prospective customers to contact you. Users can send feedback, contact specific departments, ask for a quote, send suggestions and more.
Contact forms provide many benefits and advantages including:
- Reduces spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what is sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any post or page
- Looks professional
- Convenient for users
A popular contact form plugin for WordPress is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 WP Plugin)
Contact form 7 is a free plugin that is easy to install and set up and lets you create and manage multiple contact forms to your site, customize your forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
The plugin supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something to consider is adding sections to your contact form so prospects can choose which topic they want to discuss. This will help you to get the comment to the right person.
Provide Maps
Adding a map helps your visitors and clients find you.
Integrating maps, such as Google Maps, with your site also provides visitors with many benefits, such as:
- Maps improve local SEO
- Allows customers to better plan their visits or appointments
- Display location of events
(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
WordPress Plugins And Themes That Can Help Improve Your Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
WordPress Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting or financial services website that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WordPress Plugin)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can display on your website. Internationalization is supported.
Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- 401k
- Payments
- Leases
- Debit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes WP Plugin)
With this plugin you get a widget that shows up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin)
With this plugin you can add custom stock tickers to any sidebar, page or post with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker includes a number of customizable ticker. You can choose from built-in themes or customize these 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 height, width, background color, scrolling speed, opacity, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, font size, font family, text color, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator WP Plugin)
This free plugin allows your users to calculate indicative repayments. This is a useful financial tool for car loans, property loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator WP Plugin – Loan Calculators)
The Finance Calculator plugin also contains an application form that sends a 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 WP Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets WordPress blog owners send itemized invoices to their clients.
This plugin integrates billing into WordPress. You can send clients itemized invoices. It also allows you to set up recurring billing. WP-Invoice can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures, create PDF invoice versions, create quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WP user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
WP-Invoice features include adding custom payments and charges, inserting pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly viewing invoice status and progression, easily filtering and finding invoices, seeing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating notification email templates, accessing reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, ten 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)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and support ticketing system, client relationship management 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 like document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage and communicate with customers, 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 Plugin – Client Invoice)
iBilling integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting And Financial Services Themes For WordPress
To benefit the most from using WordPress, it’s best to choose a theme specifically suited for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best accountancy themes available. With the themes below you can have a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro – WordPress Theme)
Accounting Pro is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, performs auto resizing for images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded by installing premium add-ons.
Go here to learn more about using this WordPress theme:
Accountancy
(Accountancy WordPress Theme)
This premium theme comes with a variety of built-in styles and layouts to make your accounting website look and feel professional.
This fully responsive (mobile-friendly) theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, it’s lightweight, search optimized, and loads fast. Accountancy Theme provides what your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and 1 year of support is included with the cost of purchasing.
For more information about using this theme, go here:
Accounting
(Accounting)
This one 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 header types, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, custom slider, three different blog types, and is responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
To learn more about using this WordPress theme, visit this website:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
This one is created specifically for accountants. Kathryn allows you to use WordPress as a true CMS and provides 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, SEO friendly, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme can easily fit any profession you want it to, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy WordPress responsive slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
Visit the theme website to learn more about using this WordPress theme:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme was developed to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and layout elements specifically designed 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 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 WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme developed for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It includes a custom post type for employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
For more details about using this WordPress theme, go here:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This theme is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create a professional site using its page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can change your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily edit the structure of their page without editing code.
(Divi WordPress Theme – Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These include multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is responsive and fully customizable. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ stunning themes.
More information:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This theme from Elegant Themes was developed specifically to make corporate websites look good.
The Corporation has a page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider, blog design, 6 different color schemes, multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all sleek business themes.
For more details, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was developed to help professionals in the financial industry to build trust online with a clean business design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services such as investment advice or tax advice. The Adviser theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a built-in lease calculator. It includes multiple shortcodes and widgets, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
More info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress was built for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and those providing tax services. This theme is designed to show your services in a professional way to help establish your business 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.
More information:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WordPress Theme)
Finance Business was specifically designed for organizations that provide financial services including tax help, consulting, insurance, corporate, finance, accounting, loans, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management, animated elements, and a whole lot more.
Visit this site 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 article has helped you learn ways of improving your accounting business online using WordPress.
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