Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The information economy has not only transformed the way business is done globally, it has also created significant challenges and opportunities for accounting businesses.

Online Challenges For The Accounting & Financial Services Profession

Accounting businesses today must work harder than ever to remain in business. Not only do they have to participate in the communities and industries they serve, they must also develop and maintain an active web presence. This includes having a website and learning how to better market your business online.

As well as investing money in offline marketing activities, you will probably find that in order to compete with other accounting businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their budget need to be assigned to develop and maintain a website that drives prospective clients, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and increases your marketing reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look great, your pages have to be fast-loading, and your website layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of the website may change over time and sections may need to be updated frequently. This requires the implementation of a well-developed website and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that accounting businesses face (and other professions for that matter), is that your site has only around 30 seconds or less to give visitors the information they are searching for or they will look elsewhere.

“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 Professionals

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

This comprehensive article will help you uncover opportunities to increase web traffic and create significant improvements in your accounting and financial business presence online.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform to power your accounting website or blog.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform, go here:

• Discover How A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Business And What To Do About It
• Everything You Need To Know About Growing Your Business Online Using A WordPress Blog

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

This section covers ways to improve your accounting website and get better results online. We show you what pages a financial services website needs, what content works best for accounting and financial services sites, navigation structure, etc.

If you need additional information about website planning, go here: The Web Site Planning Process Explained - A Basic Primer For Business Owners

Your Web Pages

All business websites require a number of essential web pages. Let’s discuss the pages your  need and how to set up your website for best results.

Services And Products Description Page

It’s essential to have a page that explains your products and services.

This page will include all the products and services you offer, such as:

• Business – business planning, incorporation of companies, general accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, budgeting, financing, forecasting, 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 businesses, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

List all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about what these services do and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

About Us

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

Remember to also mention any professional awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote your company and set it above your competitors.

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

Team

Are you searching for cost-effective ideas to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know you and your organization better.

You want prospective clients to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team members. It should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors won’t be that well-versed in accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. It should also include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow selected team members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline each staff member’s experience, how they contribute to the success of 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)

We have created a detailed tutorial on how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update simple team directory in WordPress here: How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory

Recruitment Page

This is a listing of career opportunities within the organization. This page could include training offered, benefits, advancement opportunities, social aspects of working with your organization, etc. It should include information about new career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

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

Testimonials

Testimonials and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients what kind of solutions you are capable of implementing to help them solve problems. By adding a page with case studies and client reviews, you are also helping to establish social proof online.

(Add a page to your site with case studies and reviews from clients. Screenshot source: pcg-services.com)

We have written extensively about using testimonials and user reviews to improve your business results online. For more info, see this article: Learn How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Prospects Using Meaningful Testimonials

Contact Us

A contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should include some or all of the following:

• Name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Fax
• Email
• Google Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media profiles
• Online chat feature (optional feature)

If your business operates out of several locations you should make this clear when showing the address and contact info.

You could also include links to an FAQ section, main pages, special offers, support area, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business using timely content like company news, product releases, educational articles and tutorials, opinions and discussions, how-to videos, webinars, etc.

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

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

Very few people know that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic machine that can help begin to deliver new visitors to your site, simply by publishing new content on a consistent basis to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more about this: WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Generating More Website Visitors Automatically Using WordPress

Legal Information Pages

As a professional accountant or financial services provider, ensuring that you have a website that complies will all legal requirements online is essential, not just for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaking any local, regional or federal laws or regulations wherever your do business in.

Adding some or all of the legal pages below to your website will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions Of Use
• 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.

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website. For more details: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your Website

Improving Your Content

In today’s globally competitive economy, content generosity has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

You want to provide great content with useful advice and tips that will get your readers sharing your content and coming back for more information. Content marketing is the most effective way to inform and educate your visitors and prospects about your business and about using your services.

For example, for an accounting or financial services business, topics could cover:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Understanding profit and loss statements
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Business cashflow planning tips
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Tips on structuring a 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 educational articles that will help your your readers understand your services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, tax planning for small business, reducing business debt, understanding financial conventions, etc.

Remember to include the same keywords and terms in your articles that readers would search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating high-quality content for your visitors and grow your business online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Content Syndication – RSS Feeds

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed provides lots of benefits for your business.

If you provide information that adds value to others, other sites may want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

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

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared online
• Allows for subscribing
• An RSS feed provides links to your site
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• There are several ways readers can receive your content (e.g. read the content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits to adding syndicated content to your website from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find many useful RSS feeds for your website by searching online for relevant government departments or well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of RSS feeds you could add to your website:

• 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

(Adding RSS feeds can help to improve your accounting site’s UX.)

Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to increase user engagement, add value to your readers and set yourself apart from the competition. They can provide step-by-step instructions and resources to perform a task. Checklists and forms can also be great planning tools.

You can provide a range of online or downloadable checklists and forms covering areas such as:

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Non-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Company Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Add Unique Tools

Providing useful online tools and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are some of the most popular tools for accounting websites. Other tools can include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we take a look at a number of WordPress-based tools you can use in your site that can help to improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section one.

Click on this link to view Part Two:

• Your Accounting Website – How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Generate More Visitors To Your Site Using Plugins And Themes

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