In Part One of this article on ways to build your accounting business web presence, we covered the following areas:
- Challenges Accounting And Financial Businesses Face Online
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses In The Web Economy
- Your Website Pages
- Tips For Improving The Content On Your Website
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered below include:
- Improving Web Traffic Using WordPress
- How To Generate More Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins That Can Improve Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Add New Functionality To Your Web Site With WP Plugins
- WP For Newbies – An Overview Of WordPress Themes
Your Accounting Website – How To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins & Themes
Your web traffic is a vital part of your online business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimizing Your Site For Search Engines Using WordPress
There are so many ways WordPress can help to improve SEO:
- URLs – Set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized URLS for your article pages.
- Post Tags – Specify the keywords that you want search engines to index your article pages (posts) for.
- Post Categories – Add SEO-friendly categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Excerpts – Set the description for your posts that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your images for improved search engine results.
- Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily link internal content
- Pinging – WordPress can be set up to automatically notify other sites and directories immediately upon publishing new content on your site.
WordPress Plugins That Can Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress community makes available also a number of plugins that will improve your accounting or financial services website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your site.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your site’s search engine optimization:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin (lists all of your pages for search engines)
- 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 your accounting or financial services website’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing. Here are some more powerful WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – This free plugin allows you to run your own social network on your site.
- bbPress – This plugin allows you to set up a discussion forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – This plugin lets you send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – use this plugin to power discussions and increases engagement on your website or blog.
- Floating Social – This plugin lets you add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your website.
(You can easily add social sharing to your website with WordPress plugins)
Generating New Leads & Enquiries
Let’s discuss now how to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Providing An Email Newsletter
Providing a newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It provides a number of benefits including:
- Sends targeted traffic to your website
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides updates that can save businesses time and money
- Provides you with a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to provide special services or products to a select audience
- Increases interaction
- Provides you with 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 high value information and offer users additional items of value for free in exchange for their details. This could be a guide, tips for handling finances, access to tax calculators, coupons, access to subscriber-only content, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch with you. Readers can send feedback, contact specific departments, request a quote, and more.
A contact form provides several benefits and advantages, like:
- Reducing spam
- Set up automated responses
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Can be added to any post or page
- Looks professional
- Convenient for visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 – WordPress Plugin)
This free contact form plugin is easy to install and set up and allows you to insert multiple contact forms into any page on your site, customize your forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Contact Form 7 also supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something else to consider is to segment your contact form so users can select the topic they are contacting you about. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Add A Map
Adding maps helps your visitors and customers find you.
Maps are useful tools for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Shows location of events
(Adding maps to your website helps your visitors and customers find you)
Here are some of the more popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display maps on your site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors To Your Site With Plugins & Themes
WordPress Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting website to immediately add a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are just some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin For WordPress)
This is a free collection of 400+ calculators. You can embed these into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. Internationalization is supported.
Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Interest rate
- Rate of return
- Leases
- Debit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes)
This plugin gives you a widget that displays a number of 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 WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a custom stock ticker to any sidebar, post or page with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker includes a number of customizable ticker. Choose from built-in themes or customize it yourself to match your website. You can also add custom stocks to specific categories.
Appearance customization features include width, height, scroll speed, opacity, background color, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, font size, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator lets users calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for auto loans, real estate, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculator)
This plugin also contains an application form that sends a notification message to the email address you specify.
Other features of this plugin include showing 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 WP Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices. It even allows you to set up recurring billing. It can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of invoices, provide quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WP user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and many others.
Plugin features include adding custom payments and charges, adding pre-defined line items and discounts, viewing invoice status and progression, easily filtering and finding invoices, seeing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating email notification templates, viewing 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 is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with ticketing management system, client relationship management and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application – WordPress Plugin – Client Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful tools like document management, to do app, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage client data and invoices, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Client Invoicing)
It integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting – WordPress Themes
To get the most benefit out of growing your business online with WordPress, it’s best to choose a theme specifically for accounting businesses. Here is a list of 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 web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s a responsive theme with a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menu features, 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 expanded using premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
This inexpensive theme offers a variety of styles and layouts to make your accounting website look and feel professional.
This mobile-friendly theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, it’s lightweight, SEO friendly, and loads fast. Accountancy Theme provides what you need without bloating your theme. Free updates and 1 year of support is included in your purchase.
For more information, go here:
Accounting
(Accounting)
Accounting Theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. The theme also provides 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-to-load theme.
Go here for more information:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was created for accounting businesses. Kathryn offers a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, many color choices, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine optimized, and is fully responsive. Although it can easily fit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy slider plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
For more details, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This theme was developed to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was designed specifically to give your accounting business website a professional look while not looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s responsive and includes pages for your services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
Go here for more info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme built for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type adding employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
For more information, go here:
Divi
(Divi WP Theme)
This is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire theme collection. You can create any style of professional website you want using the page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can change your layout to your heart’s content.
The builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and redesign 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 modules include accordion, call to action, code, countdown timer, filterable portfolio, login, post title, slider, testimonial, video, fullwidth header, fullwidth menu, fullwidth slider, and more.. Divi is fully responsive and fully customizable. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all sleek business themes.
More information:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme)
This premium theme from Elegant Themes was specifically created to create great-looking corporate websites.
It has a sleek page-based home page design with a nice slider, blog design, 6 different color schemes, 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+ professional themes.
More information:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
The Adviser WordPress Theme was developed specifically to help professionals in the financial industry to build trust through clean web design. It’s perfect for those that provide services such as investing or tax advice. The Adviser theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a built-in lease calculator. It includes widgets and multiple shortcodes, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
Visit the theme website to learn more about this WordPress theme:
Tax Help
(Tax Help)
Tax Help WordPress Theme was developed for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and firms providing tax assistance. The theme is designed to show your services professionally and help establish your professional reputation. It comes with a range of blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
Visit the theme website for more details about using this theme:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme For WordPress)
This theme was built for firms that provide financial services such as tax help, consulting, corporate, insurance, finance, loans, accounting, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page options, color management features, animations, and a lot more.
Go here to learn more about using this WordPress theme:
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, this comprehensive guide has helped you learn WordPress plugins that can help improve SEO, increase user engagement and increase web traffic generation.
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