In Part One of this step-by-step article on ways to improve your accounting business web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following areas:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Opportunities For Accountants In The Web Economy
- Basic Web Pages
- How To Improve The Content On Your Site
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Improve Traffic
- Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
- WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Creating Better User Engagement And Web Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Using WP Plugins Extend Your Site’s Features
- WordPress For Newbies – An Overview Of WordPress Themes
Grow Your Accounting Website – Improving Your Business Online With WordPress Themes And Plugins
Web traffic is vital to your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Site For SEO
There are lots of ways WordPress can help to optimize your website for search engines:
- SEO-Friendly – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized URLS for your article pages.
- Tags – WordPress lets you select the keywords that you want search engines to index your articles for.
- Post Categories – Add search engine-friendly categories for your posts and products.
- Post Excerpts – Create the description for your posts that will display to search engine users.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for better search results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that allows you to easily create internal links for faster indexing of pages
- Post Notification – Set up your site to automatically notify other search directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your website.
WordPress Plugins That Can Help Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
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 site.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your site’s search engine optimization)
Other things you can do to improve your accounting website’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing. Here are a few more plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below are also free):
- BuddyPress – Use the BuddyPress WordPress plugin to set up and run an online social network on your website.
- bbPress – This plugin allows you to set up and manage a forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – Use this plugin to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without requiring a 3rd party subscription.
- Disqus – Power discussions and increases user engagement on your site.
- Monarch – Easily add powerful social sharing features on your posts and pages.
(You can easily add social sharing buttons to your site with WordPress plugins)
Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Applications
Let’s discuss now ways to improve your sales and generate new leads and enquiries for your accounting business.
Provide A Newsletter
Providing a newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. Adding email newsletters] provides many benefits and advantages, like:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides useful updates
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to provide special products or services to a select audience
- Increases interaction
- Provides another way for your content to be shared online with other prospective clients
A proven strategy for attracting newsletter subscribers is to provide users with content of high value and offer them a free gift in exchange for their details. This can be a special report, tips for handling tax, access to financial calculators, coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms make it easy and simple for prospective customers to contact you. Contact forms also allow users to report issues, ask questions to specific departments, ask for a quote, send suggestions and more.
Contact forms provide many benefits including:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what is sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Different forms can be added to any post or page
- Looks professional
- Convenience for site visitors
A popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
Contact Form 7 is easy to install and set up and allows you to create multiple contact forms on your site, customize the forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is also supported.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so visitors can choose which topic they are contacting your company about. This will help you to get the comment to the right person.
Adding Maps
Adding maps helps your visitors and customers find you.
Maps are a great tool for several reasons:
- A map helps to increase local SEO
- Helps visitors find you easily
- Displays location of events
(Adding maps to your site helps your visitors and customers find you)
Some of the more popular map plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins & Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Driving More Web Traffic
Accounting WordPress Plugins
WordPress provides a number of plugins you can add to your accounting website that will immediately add a range of functional tools for your site visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can display on your website. It also supports internationalization
Most of them aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are a few for:
- Mortgage
- Rate of return
- Tax
- Equity
- And many more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin gives you a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes WordPress Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any sidebar, page or post using shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker provides a number of customizable features. You can choose from built-in themes or customize these yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also add custom stocks to individual categories.
Appearance customization features include speed, text, colours, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator lets your users calculate indicative repayments. This is a useful tool for auto loans, property loans, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator – Loan Calculator)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that will send a notification message to the email address you specify.
Other features of this plugin include displaying 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 For WordPress)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices. It also allows you to set up recurring billing. WP-Invoice can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quoting, checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WordPress user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
The plugin lets you add custom payments and charges, add pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification e-mail templates, display reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 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 Plugin For WordPress)
This complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with ticketing management system, CRM and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin – Client Invoicing)
The plugin supports multiple 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)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoices, track your company’s cash flow and net worth, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Invoice)
It integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting – WordPress Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, 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 accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WP Theme)
This is an inexpensive turn-key theme created for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s a responsive theme with 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 lots more.
You can easily customize Accounting Pro through premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
Accountancy offers a variety of styles and layouts that helps give your accounting website a professional look and feel.
This fully responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, it’s lightweight, SEO friendly, and loads fast. Accountancy provides what you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and 1 year of support is included in your purchase.
Go here for more details:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is responsive (mobile-friendly). It is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
For more details, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
This one is built specifically for accounting services. It comes with multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, various color choices, is easy to use, search optimized, and is responsive. Although this theme could easily suit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
Go here for more info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WP Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was designed to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and elements designed specifically to give your accounting business site a professional look. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s mobile-friendly and includes pages for your accounting services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, visit this website:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme For WordPress)
This is a corporate theme built for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate includes a custom post type adding staff profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s a clean and fast-loading theme.
Visit the theme website for more information about using this theme:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. You can create a unique, professional website using the page builder or pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
Divi’s page builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and redesign the structure of their page without editing a single line of code.
(Divi WordPress Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. This includes accordion, blog, code, countdown timer, filterable portfolio, map, portfolio, shop, testimonial, toggle, fullwidth header, fullwidth portfolio, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is fully responsive and completely customizable. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all themes.
For more details, go here:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This premium WordPress theme was built specifically to create great-looking corporate websites.
This theme has a sleek page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider. It also has a blog design. It comes with six color schemes. It also comes with multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to 80+ professional themes.
Visit the theme website to learn more this theme:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
This theme was designed specifically to help finance professionals build trust through clean design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services like investments or tax help. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a built-in lease calculator. It includes multiple shortcodes and widgets, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
Go here for more information:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme was developed specifically for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and those that offer tax services. It’s designed to showcase your services in a professional way 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 additional custom shortcodes.
More info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WordPress Theme)
This premium theme was specifically built for businesses that provide financial services such as tax help, consulting, insurance, corporate, finance, accounting, loans, and more. It includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page settings, color management, animations, and lots 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
Hopefully, you have found this comprehensive guide on ways to improve your accounting or financial services website with WordPress themes and plugins useful.
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