Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today face increasing challenges.

Challenges Certified Public Accountants Face Online

CPAs today must work harder than ever to remain in business. Not only do they have to become more involved in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop and maintain an active presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better market your business online.

In addition to spending money advertising offline, you will probably find that in order to remain competitive, increasingly larger amounts of their budget will need to be assigned towards the development and maintenance of a website that will bring in clients, engage visitors, outperform the competition in search engines and help to increase your marketing reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your pages have to be fast-loading, and your site has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website may change over time and many aspects may need to be frequently updated. This requires a sound website and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that certified public accountants face online, as do other professions for that matter, is that you have only around 30 seconds or less to help users find the information they are looking for or they will go elsewhere to get their needs met.

“Websites have evolved into central information hubs where service information is still present but enhanced with web portals, hyperlinks to state and federal sites, and a variety of free tools.”

Michael Alter, http://www.accountingweb.com/technology/accounting-software/tips-for-improving-your-website

Online Opportunities For Accounting Services

As well as facing a number of significant challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available to businesses in the accounting sector that are willing to evolve to meet digital demands and who can think outside the box about improving their online marketing skills.

In this guide, you will learn new ways and opportunities to attract more visitors and establish stronger online credibility for your business.

As well as providing tips and information on ways to improve your website, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress content management system to power your accounting or financial services business website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform, see the articles below:

• Learn Why A Poorly Designed Website Can Lose You Customers
• The Small Business Owner’s Guide To Using WordPress

Practical Tips To Improve Your Accounting Site

In this section we will show you how to improve your accounting website and get better results online. We show you what pages you need, what type of content you need, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need additional information about website planning, visit this page: A Comprehensive Guide To Website Planning For Business Owners

Essential Web Pages

All business websites need a number of basic web pages. Let’s take a look at these.

Services Page

You need a page that lists your products or services.

This page should include services such as:

• Business – business planning, company structures, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, forecasting, financing, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advising, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate finance
• Wealth creation
• Superannuation/retirement plan (401k) advice
• Audit risk assessment and assurance
• Quickbooks – setup, training, tune up, and support
• Specialist services – mergers, acquisitions, information technology, secretarial, rentals, trusts, fiduciary accounting, succession planning, selling a business, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

List all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Educate your visitors about what your services do and direct them to your appointment booking page.

About Us

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical activities, etc.

It’s important to also list any awards, recognitions, accreditations, certifications, publications, associations, etc., that you can use to promote your company and set it above other competitors.

(List all of your awards certifications, recognitions, accreditations, publications, associations, etc. in your About page. Screenshot image source: deloitte.com)

Core Team

Are you looking for ideas to sell more products online or get prospects to engage more with your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know you and your organization better.

You want your business to be relatable. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff. It should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in accounting terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. This page should even include social buttons that will allow your prospective clients to follow individual staff members on their social networks.

In this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline each team member’s expertise and qualifications, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your staff or team members to prospective new clients. Image source: deepsky.com)

If you need help how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of employees to WordPress using a free WP plugin, refer to this step-by-step tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory

Job Opportunities Page

List any career opportunities within your firm. This page could include training offered, employee benefits, professional development, social activities sponsored or encouraged by your firm, etc. You should also include information such as the job outlook and career opportunities in the accounting industry.

Maintain a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, subscribe to your newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to show potential clients what type of financial solutions you are capable of implementing to help them solve their problems. By adding a page with client reviews and case studies, you are also helping to establish social proof.

(Add a page with reviews from clients and case studies. Image source: pcg-services.com)

We have written extensively on using case studies, testimonials and reviews get better results online. For more details: Discover How To Convert More Visitors Into Qualified Prospects Using Meaningful Testimonials

Contact Us

Having a contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should provide:

• Business Name
• Address
• Phone
• Fax
• Contact email address
• Map
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Social media web addresses
• Live chat (optional feature)

If you operate in different areas you should make this clear when showing your address and contact info.

You should also include links to an FAQ page, useful pages, special offers, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Blog Section

A blog is a powerful business marketing tool. Many blogging platforms typically include a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business using content such as news, updates, training information, opinions on current topics, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your organization.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing accounting or financial services site is very hard to keep updated with new content or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can be used both as your website and blog.

Not many people know this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can turn your web presence into an automated traffic machine that will begin to deliver targeted traffic to your web site, simply by publishing content to your website on a consistent basis.

(WordPress can automate your traffic generation)

For more info, see this article: WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Driving More Website Visitors Automatically With WordPress

Legal Info Pages

As a professional business, having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is crucially important, not just for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no local, regional and federal laws and regulations are being broken in whatever area you do business in.

Adding some or all of the legal pages below to your accounting or financial services site will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Financial/Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

Go here if you would like to learn more about adding legal pages to your website: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s ultra competitive digital economy, the earlier you begin to publish great content on your site, the sooner you will begin to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

You want to provide great content with information and tips that will get your visitors to share your web pages with others online and come back for more information. Publishing content is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospects about your business and about doing business with you.

For example, topics for an accounting business could include the following:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• How to present accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning
• Business insurance
• Risk prevention
• Structuring your self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your readers gain a better understanding of your accounting or financial services, such as finance accounting, tax accounting, tax planning for small business, reducing debt, understanding accounting concepts, etc.

Remember to use keywords in your articles that prospective clients would search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Ways To Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

Improving website user experience (generally referred to as UX) helps you keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and user experience.

Content Syndication – RSS Feeds

RSS feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and user experience in a number of different ways.

If you provide valuable information, other sites may want to syndicate your content.

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:

• All of your updates are kept in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared online
• Feeds allow for subscribing
• It provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides several ways for readers to receive your content (e.g. subscribers can view the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits when it comes to providing great information on your website from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find RSS feeds with useful content for your website by searching online for finance and tax-related government departments or well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of useful RSS feeds you could consider adding to your site:

• Taxation Policy Center: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/press/rss.cfm
• Australian Taxation Office: https://www.ato.gov.au/RSS-news-feeds.aspx
• Canada Revenue Agency: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/rssfeeds/
• UK HM Revenue and Customs: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rss/rss.htm
• South Africa Revenue Service: http://www.sars.gov.za/Pages/RSS-Feeds.aspx

(Add RSS feeds to provide your visitors with a better UX.)

Provide Forms And Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a fantastic way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your visitors and set yourself apart from the competition. Forms and checklists can give them step-by-step instructions and resources to perform tasks. Forms and checklists are great business planning tools.

You can provide a range of checklists and forms (or links to these) covering topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Checklist
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Company Tax Checklist
• Capital Gains Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Online Tools

Providing useful online tools and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) on your website can help increase visitor engagement and add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are useful tools you can add to accounting websites. Other tools could include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part 2, we discuss a number of WordPress-based tools you can use in your site that improve your seo, improve user engagement and generate more web traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part 1.

Click on this link to continue:

• The Complete Step-By-Step Guide On How To Successfully Build And Grow An Accounting Business Online – Part 2

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