In Part 1 of this comprehensive article on ways to build your accounting business web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following areas:
- Challenges Accountants Face Online
- Online Opportunities For Accountants
- How To Improve Your Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting business online. Areas covered include:
- How To Improve Web Traffic
- Generating More Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins & Themes That Can Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Visitors To Your Website Generation
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
- WP Plugins – The Easy Way To Extend Your Web Site’s Features
- WP For Business – An Overview Of Themes
Your Accounting Website – How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors To Your Site With Plugins & Themes
Your web traffic is vital to your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines With WordPress
There are so many ways that WordPress helps optimize your website for search engines:
- URLs – configure the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your article pages (called posts).
- Post Tags – Choose the keywords that you want your article pages (posts) to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Post Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose an excerpt that search engines will display.
- Images – title images with keywords for better search results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that allows you to easily link internal content
- Post Notification – WordPress can be set up to automatically notify other search directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your website.
WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Better User Engagement And Driving More Visitors
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, the WP development community makes available quite a number of plugins that improve your website’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your site.
Here are some plugins you can use to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your website’s SEO)
Other ways to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing features. Here are a few more useful plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below are also free):
- BuddyPress – Run an online social network on WordPress, with member profiles, activity streams, messaging, user groups, and more.
- bbPress – Run your own community forum on your WordPress website.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter lets you send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without a 3rd party subscription.
- Disqus – This WordPress plugin lets you power discussions and helps to increase user engagement on your website.
- Social Media Feather – Use this WordPress plugin to add social sharing features and buttons to your posts and pages.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing features to their site with free or inexpensive plugins)
Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries
Let’s take a look now at how to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries online.
Adding An Email Newsletter
Providing a newsletter is an excellent way to retain and grow your readership. It] provides a number of benefits and advantages, like:
- Sends targeted traffic
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides useful updates
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to provide special products or services to a select audience
- Increases interaction
- Provides another way for readers to share your content
One of the best ways to get visitors to subscribe to your newsletter is to provide high value content and give users something valuable for free in exchange for their personal details. This can be a guide, checklists for handling tax, access to financial calculators, coupons, membership access to courses, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch. A contact form also lets readers report issues, contact specific departments, ask for quotes, send suggestions for improvements and more.
A contact form provides a number of benefits including:
- Reducing spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your site
- Convenience for users
A popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin)
This free plugin lets you create and manage multiple contact forms, customize your form and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
The plugin also supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Another option you may want to consider is adding sections to your contact form so visitors can choose the aspect of your business they are contacting your company about. This ensures that contact form requests reach the right person.
Map Integration
Adding a map helps your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a useful tool for several reasons:
- A map improves local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Display location of events
(Adding a map helps your visitors and customers find you)
Below are some popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display maps on your WordPress site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Traffic Using Plugins & Themes
Accounting And Financial Services – WordPress Plugins
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting or financial services site that will immediately make available a range of functional tools for visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WP Plugin)
This is a free collection of 400+ calculators. You can embed them into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. It also supports internationalization
Most of them aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- 401k
- Rate of return
- Leases
- Debit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a widget that displays a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes WP Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin)
With this plugin you can place a custom stock ticker on any post, page or sidebar with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker offers several customizable ticker. Choose from built-in skins or customize it yourself to match your site. You can also add custom stocks to individual categories.
Appearance customization features include colors, size, speed, text, and symbols, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator)
This free plugin allows your visitors to calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for calculating repayments on automotive loans, real estate loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculators)
This plugin also contains an application form that will send a message to the email address you specify.
It will display payment protection, calculate 12 to 60 months loans and create forms that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice Plugin)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress site owners with clients to bill.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand plugin functionality with free and premium add-ons, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quoting, single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WP user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and many others.
WP-Invoice lets you add custom payments and charges, add pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create e-mail notification templates, view reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 10 most 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)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with ticketing system, client relationship management and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application – Client Invoice)
The plugin supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful tools such as document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage client 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 – Client Invoicing)
iBilling lets you get paid faster by integrating with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Themes For Accounting Businesses
To benefit the most from using WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting. Here is a list of some of the best themes themes available for accounting. With these themes you can own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
Accounting Pro is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
You can expand Accounting Pro by installing premium add-ons.
Go here for more info:
Accountancy
(Accountancy WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme comes in a variety of built-in styles and layouts to help give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, search optimized, fast loading, and fully responsive. Accountancy Theme provides what your business needs without bloating your theme. Your purchase price includes free updates and 1 year of support.
Go here for more details about this WordPress theme:
Accounting
(Accounting – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your site any way you want. The theme also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, custom slider, 3 blog types, and is fully responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
Visit the theme website to learn more this theme:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme)
This premium theme was built for accountants. It has multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, many colors, is easy to use, search optimized, and is responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme could easily suit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
More information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was created with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. It features an authoritative color scheme and elements specifically designed to make your accounting site look professional while not looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s mobile-friendly and includes pages for your services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
For more details, go here:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme)
This is a free corporate theme specifically designed for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate also includes a custom post type for employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean-looking and loads fast.
For more details, go here:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire theme collection. You can create a unique, professional website using its page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and redesign the structure of their pages without touching a single line of code.
(Divi – WordPress Theme – Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These modules include multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is mobile-friendly and fully customizable. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all sleek business themes.
More information:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme)
This one was specifically built to make corporate websites look good.
It has a sleek page-based home page design with a eye-catching 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 full access to all stunning themes.
More information:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme)
This premium theme was built to help finance professionals build trust online with a clean business design. It’s perfect for those that provide services like investing advice or tax advice. It includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a lease calculator. It includes multiple shortcodes and widgets, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
More info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help)
Tax Help Theme was developed for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and businesses that provide tax assistance. This theme is designed to showcase your services professionally to help build your business reputation. It comes with different blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
Visit this site to learn more this WordPress theme:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
Finance Business was specifically built for organizations that provide financial services such as tax help, consulting, insurance, corporate, finance, loans, accounting, and more. It includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, a custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management, animations, and a whole lot more.
For more details, go here:
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 guide has helped you learn WordPress plugins that can improve SEO, improve user engagement and generate more visitors.
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