Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The online economy has not only transformed the way business is done worldwide, it has also created a number of challenges and great opportunities for certified public accountants and financial service providers.

Online Challenges For Certified Public Accountants

Today, more than ever, certified public accountants must work hard and find smarter ways to stand out from the crowd, obtain new clients, and keep their current clientele. Not only do they have to become actively involved in the communities and industries they serve, they must also develop and maintain an active web presence. This includes having a website and searching for better ways to market your business online.

As well as spending dollars in offline marketing activities like advertising on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are also finding that increasingly larger amounts of their budget need to be delegated towards developing and maintaining a website that can attract new clients, engage visitors, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help to increase their marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your pages have to be fast-loading, and your website has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that your site’s needs may change in time and sections will need to be frequently updated. This requires a sound website and content management strategy in place.

Another challenge that accounting firms face with their websites, and all other professions for that matter, is that you have an average of thirty seconds to give users the information they need or they will go elsewhere to find what they need.

“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

Opportunities For Certified Public Accountants In The Digital Economy

As well as facing a number of business and technology changes, there are also loads of online opportunities available to accounting firms that are willing to adapt to meet online economy challenges and who can think strategically when it comes to improving their online business marketing skills.

In this detailed guide, you will learn about new ways to find more accounts and establish stronger online credibility for your business.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) to power your accounting or financial services business website or blog.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress, see these articles:

• How A Poorly Designed Website Can Cost You Potential Buyers
• Learn How To Grow Your Small Business With WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

In this section we’ll start with the basics and show you how to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what pages you need, what type of content works best for accounting websites, your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, read this article: The Website Planning Process Explained - A Comprehensive Guide For Non-Technical Business Owners

How To Improve Your Website Pages

Professional websites need a number of basic web pages. Let’s take a look at the pages your  should have and how to set up your website for best results.

Description Of services And Products

It’s essential to have a page that lists your services or products.

Your page should include services such as:

• Business – business planning, company structures, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, forecasting, financing, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advising, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate accounting
• 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, transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using your services and direct them to your appointment booking page.

About Us

This page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, sponsored community activities, etc.

It’s important to include any awards, certifications, accreditations, recognitions, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote your company and position it above the competition.

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

Team

If you are looking for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to sell more products online or increase user interaction with your site, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your business better.

Your business needs to be relatable. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff members. This page should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors won’t be well-versed in accounting terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should even include social buttons so your visitors can follow individual team members on their social networks.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline each employee’s qualifications, how they add value or contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add an employee page. Image sourced from: deepsky.com)

We have written a detailed tutorial on how to create and add an updatable simple staff directory in WordPress here: How To Add A Staff List Directory To Your Site: Plugin Tutorial

Work For Us

List any career opportunities available within your firm. This page can include training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. You can also include stories of recruits who have worked their way up in your firm and information about additional career opportunities in the accounting industry.

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

Testimonials & Case Studies

Case studies and reviews from clients are a great way to show potential clients minimise tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. Adding a web page with client reviews and case studies also helps your accounting website to provide social proof online.

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

We have written extensively on using case studies, testimonials and reviews to improve your business results online. For more details, go here: How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Leads With Highly Effective Client Testimonials

Contact Us

A clean contact page is crucial.

It should provide visitors with some or all of the following information:

• Name
• Street address of office
• Telephone
• Facsimile number
• Contact email address
• Google Map and directions
• Web address
• Contact form
• Request for information – who to contact
• Links to social media pages
• Online chat feature

If your business services multiple areas you will want to make that clear when showing your address and contact info.

You can also include a few links for commonly-asked questions, main pages, special offers, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that is easy to use and allows you to easily promote your business by publishing content such as company announcements, updates, training articles, informative posts, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

If you already have an established website, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your business.

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

Something not many businesses know about, is that WordPress can turn into an automated traffic-generation system that can help drive targeted visitors to your site, simply by publishing content to your website on a consistent basis.

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

To learn more about this go here: WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Turn Your Website Into A Web Traffic Machine

Legal Pages

It’s crucial for accounting firms to make sure they have a compliant website, not just for building credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no local, regional or federal laws and regulations are being contravened wherever you provide services to.

Depending on the services you provide, adding some or all of the following legal pages to your site will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your site. Go here to learn more about this: What You Need To Know About Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s globally competitive economy, the practice of content marketing has become one of the key success factors for businesses that sell similar products or provide similar services.

You want to provide great content with advice and tips that will get your readers to share your web pages and come back for more. Using content is the most effective way to educate site visitors and prospective clients about your business and about using your services and products.

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

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• How to present accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning tips
• Business insurance
• Risk prevention
• Tips on structuring your self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your prospective clients understand your services, such as forensic accounting, small business accounting, business auditing, reducing business debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use the same keywords and terminology in your content that your readers would search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will show you how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating useful content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Tips For Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

Improving user experience (typically 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 UX.

Use RSS Feeds

RSS feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and user experience in many ways.

If you provide valuable information, other businesses will want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

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

• All of your updates are kept in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Allows for subscribing
• It provides links back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• RSS provides various ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. view the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also benefits to providing great content on your site 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 and industry bodies.

Here are some 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

(Use RSS feeds to improve your accounting website’s UX.)

Add Downloadable Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your visitors. They can provide step-by-step instructions and resources to get necessary tasks done. Checklists and forms are also great business planning tools.

Forms and checklists could cover subjects such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Checklist
• Not-For-Profit Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Company Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Adding Unique Tools

Providing useful tools and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to potential clients. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are popular tools for accounting websites. Other applications would include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part two, we look at a number of online tools you can use in your accounting website using WordPress plugins and themes that improve your seo, improve user engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section one.

Click on this link to keep reading:

• Grow Your Accounting Website – Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation Using Plugins & Themes

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