In Part 1 of this article on ways to grow your accounting business presence online, we provided in-depth information on the following areas:
- Challenges Accountants Face Online
- Opportunities For The Accounting Profession In The Digital Economy
- Your Web Pages
- How To Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we will continue exploring more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered include:
- Ways To Improve Traffic
- Generating Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
- WordPress Plugins That Improve SEO, Create Better User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic To Your Business Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Improve Traffic
Your web traffic is vital to your business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines
There are so many ways WordPress can help to improve your accounting website’s SEO:
- URLs – Set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your article pages.
- Post Tags – Specify the keywords that you want your article pages (posts) to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Categories – Create categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Excerpts – Create descriptions for your posts that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for better search results.
- Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily create internal links for better indexing of pages
- Post Notification – Configure your site to automatically notify (ping) other sites and directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your website.
WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Generating More Web Traffic
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress development community makes available a number of plugins that will improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your website.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin
- 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 search engine optimization)
Other WordPress plugins you can add to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing features. Here are a few powerful WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below can be downloaded at no cost):
- BuddyPress – BuddyPress allows you to set up a social community on WordPress, with member profiles, activity streams, messaging, user groups, and more.
- bbPress – bbPress can be used to run your own discussion forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – Use E-Newsletter to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress dashboard, without third-party subscriptions.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases user engagement on your site.
- Floating Social – Use this WordPress plugin to add social sharing features and buttons on your site.
(You can add social sharing to your site easily using WordPress plugins)
Generating New Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Tools
Let’s discuss now how to improve sales and generate more leads and enquiries.
Providing A Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is an excellent way to build a subscriber list. Adding newsletters] provides several benefits, like:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides useful updates
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to provide special services or products to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for improving user interaction
- Provides an additional way for readers to share your content
One of the things you can do to get visitors to subscribe to your email newsletter is to provide users with valuable content and give them free gifts in exchange for their personal details. This can be a handy guide, checklists for handling finances, access to financial calculators, discount coupons, access to courses, contests, etc.
Provide A Contact Form
Contact forms make it easy and simple for prospective clients to get in touch with you. Visitors can report issues, ask questions to specific departments, request a quote, and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits including:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Different forms can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenience for site visitors
A popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin)
This plugin is easy to install and configure and allows you to add and manage multiple contact forms, customize the forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and Akismet spam filtering is supported.
Another feature to consider is adding sections to your contact form so users can choose which topic they are contacting your company about. This ensures that contact form requests reach the right person.
Provide Maps
Adding a map to your website helps your visitors and customers find you.
Integrating maps (e.g. Google Maps), with your WordPress site also provides a number of benefits, such as:
- A map increases local SEO
- Helps visitors find your office easily
- Show location of events
(Adding a map to your website helps your visitors and clients find you)
Below are just some of the more popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display maps on your WordPress site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins & Themes That Can Help Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Generate More Web Traffic
Accounting – WordPress Plugins
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting site 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 Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can display on your website. Internationalization is supported.
Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- 401k
- Payments
- CD
- Credit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin installs a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many portfolios as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
With this plugin you can place a custom stock ticker on any post, page or sidebar using shortcodes.
This plugin provides a number of customizable ticker. You can choose from built-in themes or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also add custom stocks to individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing width, height, scrolling speed, opacity, number of stocks displayed at one time, text color, font size, font family, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress)
This free calculator allows your site visitors to calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for calculating auto loans, real estate loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress – Loan Calculator)
The 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 a form that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice WordPress Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send clients itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures, create PDF invoice versions, create quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and several others.
Plugin features include adding custom payments and charges, adding pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly viewing invoice status and progression, filtering and finding invoices, showing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating notification e-mail templates, displaying 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 WP Plugin)
This complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with ticket system, client relationship management and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application – WordPress Plugin – Client Invoice)
All In One Business Management Application 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 WP Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customers and invoices, 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 – Invoicing)
It integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Accounting Themes
To get the best features and professional look for your website, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting. Here is a look at some of the best accountancy themes available. These themes allow you to own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of website design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme is an inexpensive turn-key theme designed for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, a custom menu feature, 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 customized with premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
Accountancy has a variety of built-in styles and layouts to help give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, search optimized, fast loading, and is responsive. Accountancy Theme provides what your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and one year of support is included in the price.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting)
This 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 types of headers, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, custom slider, 3 blog types, and is fully responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
More info:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
Kathryn is created specifically for accounting businesses. It has a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, a variety of color options, is easy to use, search engine friendly, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although it could easily suit any profession, 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.
Visit this website to learn more this theme:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This theme was developed with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., is designed specifically to help make your accounting business site look professional while not looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s fully responsive and includes pages for your services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
Go here for more info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate – WordPress Theme)
This is a corporate theme developed for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type for staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean-looking and fast-loading.
More information:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
Divi is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create any kind of professional site you want using the page builder or pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and easily edit the structure of their web pages without touching code.
(Divi WP Theme – Page Builder)
Divi comes with 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These include accordion, blog, circle counter, divider, filterable portfolio, login, portfolio, slider, testimonial, video slider, fullwidth header, fullwidth portfolio, fullwidth slider, and more.. Divi is fully responsive and fully customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all sleek business themes.
Visit this website to learn more about using this WordPress theme:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
This theme was developed specifically to make corporate sites look great.
This theme has a sleek page-based home page design with a prominent slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It has 6 color schemes. It also has 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 access to 80+ themes.
Go here for more info:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
The Adviser WordPress Theme was designed specifically to help finance professionals build trust through clean design. It’s perfect for those that provide services like investments or tax advice. It includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, lease calculator, multiple shortcodes and widgets, and a drag-and-drop visual composer..
More info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was designed for financial organizations, tax and finance advisors, and those that offer tax services. This theme is designed to showcase your services professionally to help build your business reputation. It comes with a range of blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
More info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WP Theme)
This one was developed specifically for organizations that provide any type of financial service including consulting, tax help, insurance, corporate, finance, accounting, loans, and more. This theme 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, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management, animations, and a lot more.
Go here for 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
Hopefully, you have found this comprehensive guide on ways of improving your business online with WordPress helpful.
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