In Part One of this article on ways to improve your accounting business web presence, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following areas:
- Online Challenges For The Accounting & Financial Services Profession
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses
- Your Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting business online. Areas covered include:
- Improving Web Traffic Using WordPress
- How To Generate More Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins That Can Help To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Using WordPress Plugins Extend Your Site’s Capabilities
- WordPress For Newbies – An Introduction To WP Themes
Improve Web Traffic Using WordPress
Your web traffic is vital to your business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic.
Optimize Your Website For Search Engines (SEO)
There are loads of ways that WordPress helps improve SEO:
- URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized URLS for your article pages.
- Post Tags – Specify the keywords that you want your article pages to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Categories – Add categories for your posts and products.
- Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose descriptions for your posts that will display to search engine users.
- Images – title images with keywords for better search results.
- Content Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily link your content to other posts and pages on your site
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify other search directories the moment a new post is published on your website.
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress developer community makes available dozens of plugins that will improve 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 sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO can improve your SEO)
Other ways to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social features. Here are a few more useful plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – This free plugin can be used to run your own social networking community on your website, with member profiles, messaging, user groups, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – Use the bbPress WordPress plugin to set up and manage your own forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter lets you send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP site.
- Disqus – use this WordPress plugin to power discussions and increases engagement on your site.
- Floating Social – This WordPress plugin lets you add social sharing features and buttons on your website or blog.
(You can add social features to your site easily with WordPress plugins)
Generating New Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Tools
This section looks at ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries online.
Adding An Email Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is a great way to build a list of subscribers. Adding newsletters] provides several benefits and advantages including:
- Drives targeted traffic
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides practical tips and advice
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special services or products to a select audience
- Increases user interaction
- Provides other ways for your content to be shared around with others
A proven strategy for attracting subscribers to your email newsletter is to provide them with valuable information and give them free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their personal details. This can be a handy guide, tips for handling finances, access to tax calculators, discount coupons, membership access to courses, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms make it easy and simple for readers to get in touch. Users can provide feedback, ask questions to specific departments, request quotes, give suggestions for new services or products and more.
A contact form provides a number of benefits, like:
- Reducing 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 page or post
- Looks professional
- Is convenient for users
One of the most popular contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
This free contact form plugin allows you to create multiple contact forms into any page on your site, customize the forms and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, and Akismet spam filtering is also supported.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so prospects can select which topic they are contacting you about. This ensures that visitors get the comment to the right person.
Add Maps
Adding a map to your site helps your visitors and customers find you.
Adding maps (e.g. Google Maps) to your website also provides visitors with many benefits, such as:
- A map helps to increase local SEO
- Visitors can find your office easily
- Displays location of events
(Adding maps to your site helps your visitors and customers find you)
Popular map plugins for WordPress include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improving SEO, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Visitors Using WordPress Plugins And Themes
Accounting WordPress Plugins
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 WordPress Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can provide to users on your website. Internationalization is supported.
Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Mortgage
- Loans
- Leases
- 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 Plugin For WordPress)
With this plugin you can add a custom stock ticker to any sidebar, post or page with shortcodes.
The plugin offers loads of customizable features. You can choose from built-in themes or customize these yourself to match your website. You can also add custom stocks to specific categories.
Appearance customizations include colours, size, speed, text, and symbols, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator WP Plugin)
This free plugin lets your site visitors calculate indicative repayments online. It’s great for calculating vehicle loans, property, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculator)
This plugin also contains an application form that sends a notification message to the email address you specify.
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 Plugin)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress users with clients to bill.
This plugin integrates billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand plugin functionality with free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of invoices, create quotes, create 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 several others.
The plugin gives you the ability to add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification e-mail templates, display reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 10 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 WordPress Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and support ticketing management system, CRM and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application – WordPress Plugin – Client 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 Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage clients and invoicing, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software WordPress Plugin – Client Invoicing)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software lets you get paid faster by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Financial Themes For WordPress
To get the best features and professional look for your website, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting businesses. Below is a list of some of the best accounting themes available. These themes allow you to own a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro)
This premium theme for WordPress is a turn-key theme developed for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, performs auto resizing for images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be customized with premium add-ons.
Go here for more details:
Accountancy
(Accountancy WP Theme)
Accountancy Theme has a variety of styles and layouts to give your accounting website a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, search optimized, fast loading, and fully responsive. Accountancy Theme provides what you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and one year of support is included with the price.
More information:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme)
This theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your site any way you want. It also provides unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
Visit this site to learn more about using this WordPress theme:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was designed for accountants. The theme offers a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, many color options, is easy to use, inexpensive, SEO friendly, and is mobile-friendly. Although it could easily suit any profession you want it to, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
For more information, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium theme was built with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and elements designed specifically 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 responsive and includes pages for your services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
Go here for more details:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme built for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type for employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean-looking and loads fast.
To learn more about about this WordPress theme, visit this website:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create any type of professional website you want using its 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 you to understand and redesign the structure of their page without touching code.
(Divi Theme – Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. This includes modules such as bar counter, blurb, contact form, divider, image, number counter, post title, pricing table, social media follow, toggle, fullwidth image, fullwidth map, fullwidth slider, and more.. Divi is responsive and fully customizable. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all sleek business themes.
For more information, go here:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
This one was specifically created to create good-looking corporate websites.
It has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent slider, blog design, six different color schemes, multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes access to 80+ professional themes.
More info:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
This one was developed to help professionals in the financial industry to build trust through clean web design. It’s ideal for businesses that provide services like investment advice or tax help. It includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a lease calculator. It includes multiple shortcodes and widgets, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
Visit this website to learn more about this theme:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme was developed for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and businesses that offer tax services. Tax Help is designed to show your services in a professional way to help establish your business reputation. It provides different blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
To learn more about using this theme, go here:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WP Theme)
Finance Business was specifically designed for firms that provide any type of financial service such as consulting, tax help, insurance, finance, corporate, loans, accounting, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content. It also includes a custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management, 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 how to improve your accounting or financial services website with WordPress plugins and themes 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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