In Part 1 of this guide on ways to build your accounting business online, we provided many practical tips and suggestions on the following areas:
- Online Challenges For The Accounting & Financial Services Profession
- Online Opportunities For Accounting Businesses
- Basic Web Pages
- Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered include:
- Ways Of Improving Web Traffic With WordPress
- Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Applications
- WordPress Plugins & Themes That Improve Search Engine Optimization, Create Better User Engagement And Generate More Web Traffic
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Adding New Functionality To Your Web Site With WordPress Plugins
- WordPress For Beginners – An Introduction To WP Themes
Grow Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins And Themes That Can Help Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors To Your Site
Your web traffic is vital to your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimize Your Website For Search Engines (SEO)
There are many ways that WordPress helps optimize your website for search engines:
- SEO-Friendly – configure the permalinks to use the title of the post.
- Tags – Choose the keywords that you want your posts to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – Set descriptions for your posts that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – title your images with keywords for better search engine results.
- Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links for better indexing of pages
- Pinging – Configure your site to automatically notify other sites and directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your site.
WordPress Plugins That Can Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are a number of plugins that improve your website’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (formerly known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your website’s SEO)
Other things you can do to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing. Here are a few WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below are also free):
- BuddyPress – This free plugin helps you run your own social community on your site.
- bbPress – This plugin lets you set up and run your own forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases engagement on your site.
- Monarch – Add social sharing features on your posts and pages.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing features to their site with free or inexpensive plugins)
How To Generate Leads & Enquiries
In this section we show you ways to improve sales and generate new leads and enquiries.
Providing A Newsletter
Providing a newsletter is a great way to build a list of subscribers. Adding email newsletters] provides many benefits, like:
- Sends targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides updates that can save businesses time and money
- Provides a highly targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special services or products to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for improving engagement with users
- Provides additional ways for subscribers to share your content
A proven strategy for getting your visitors to subscribe is to provide users with information of high value and offer them a free gift in exchange for their personal details. This can be a handy guide, tips for handling tax, access to financial calculators, coupons, membership access to videos, contests, etc.
Adding A Contact Form
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for prospective customers to contact you. A contact form also allows users to report problems, contact specific departments, request quotes, give suggestions for improvements and more.
Contact forms provide a number of benefits, like:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any page or post
- Improves the professional look of your site
- Is convenient for visitors
A very popular contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin is easy to install and configure and lets you insert multiple contact forms into any page or post, customize the form and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
Contact Form 7 supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so prospective clients can select which department they want to contact. This helps visitors get the comment to the right person.
Adding Maps
Maps help your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a very useful tool for several reasons:
- Maps improve local SEO
- Allows customers to better plan their visits or appointments
- Show 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
Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors With Plugins
Accounting WordPress Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your site that will immediately make available a range of functional tools for site visitors. Here are some of these:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin)
This is a free collection of 400+ calculators. You can embed them into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. Internationalization is supported.
Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few for:
- Interest rate
- Rate of return
- Tax
- Equity
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin)
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 – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
This plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any page, post, or sidebar using shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker provides several customizable features. You can choose from built-in skins or customize these yourself to match your website. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Appearance customization features include width, height, scroll speed, background color, opacity, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, font size, font family, text color, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin lets your users calculate indicative repayments online. It’s great for automotive loans, real estate loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – Loan Calculators)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that sends a notification message to a specified email address.
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-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
This plugin integrates billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand plugin functionality with 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 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.
Plugin features include adding custom payments and charges, adding pre-defined line items and discounts, viewing invoice status and progression, filtering and finding invoices, showing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating email notification 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 solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and ticket management system, client relationship management and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin – Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports different 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 – WordPress Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoices, tracks 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 – Client Invoice)
iBilling integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting Themes For WordPress
To get the most benefit out of growing your business online with WordPress, it’s best to choose a theme specifically for accounting businesses. Here is a list of some of the best themes themes available for accounting businesses. With the themes listed below you can own a professional accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, a custom menu feature, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resizing for images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded through premium add-ons.
More information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy WP Theme)
This premium theme comes with a variety of built-in styles and layouts to make your accounting site look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, search engine optimized, fast loading, and fully responsive. It provides what you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and 1 year of support is included with the cost of purchasing.
Go here to learn more about this theme:
Accounting
(Accounting)
This premium WordPress theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your site any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is responsive. It looks clean and modern and is fast to load.
More information:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
Kathryn is developed for accounting businesses. Kathryn comes with multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, flexible rotator, various color choices, is easy to use, inexpensive, search optimized, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme could easily suit any profession, 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.
Go here to learn more about this WordPress theme:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WP Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was created to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and layout elements specifically designed to help make your accounting website look professional while not 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 services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
Go here for more details:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
WP Advocate is a corporate theme developed 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 adding employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s clean and loads fast.
For more details, go here:
Divi
(Divi)
This premium theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. You can create a professional site using the page builder or pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
Divi’s page builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and edit the structure of their page 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 multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. It is fully responsive and completely customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes access to over 80 professional themes.
More information:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was specifically built to make corporate sites look great.
It has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It comes with 6 color schemes. It also has multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ sleek business themes.
Visit this site to learn more this WordPress theme:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
The Adviser Theme was specifically developed to help finance industry professionals build trust through clean design. It’s perfect for those that provide services such as investing or tax help. The Adviser theme 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.
Go here for more information:
Tax Help
(Tax Help WordPress Theme)
This one was developed for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and those offering tax services. Tax Help is designed to showcase your services professionally to help build 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 many custom shortcodes.
To learn more about about this WordPress theme, visit the theme website:
Finance Business
(Finance Business – WordPress Theme)
Finance Business was built specifically for firms that provide any type of financial service such as consulting, tax help, finance, corporate, insurance, loans, accounting, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page options, color management features, animations, and a lot more.
Go here for more details:
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 guide has helped you learn ways to improve SEO, increase user engagement and increase web traffic generation with plugins & themes.
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