Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accountants face a number of challenges in the digital economy, especially in terms of growing their presence online.

Online Challenges For Accountants

Today, more than ever, CPAs must find smarter ways to remain competitive, obtain new business, and keep their current clients. Not only do they have to become more involved in the communities and industries they serve, they must also develop a strong presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better promote your services online.

In addition to spending money in offline marketing activities like advertising on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv spots, etc., you will probably find that in order to compete with other accounting businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their budget need to be assigned to developing and managing a website that attracts new prospective clients, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and social media, and helps to give your business a wider amount of marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your web 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 many aspects will need to be updated frequently. This requires implementing sound website and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that accountants face with their websites, as all other professions do for that matter, is that you have an average of thirty seconds or less to provide users what they need or they will leave the site and go 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

Opportunities For CPAs

As well as facing a number of challenges, there are also many online opportunities available for accounting businesses that can evolve to meet online demands and can think outside the box in terms of marketing their services better online.

The guide below will help you uncover ways and opportunities to source new clients and establish online credibility for your accounting or financial services business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on ways to improve your accounting website, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) to power your accounting business website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress, see these articles:

• Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Potential Buyers And What To Do About It
• The Small Business Owner’s Guide To Using WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Accounting Site

This section covers ways to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what web pages you need, what content works best, your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need help with website planning, read this article we have written: A Money-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Web Pages

All websites need several essential web pages. Let’s discuss these.

Services Description Page

It’s essential to include a page that describes your products and services.

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

• Business accounting – planning, incorporation of companies, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, financing, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting, 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 businesses, transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them 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, sponsored community projects, etc.

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

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

Staff

If you are looking for ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to interact more with your site, then make it easier for prospects to get to know you, your team and your business better.

People need to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your people. It should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not familiar with accounting terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. This page should even include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow selected staff members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your staff member’s qualifications, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your staff or team members to prospective new clients. Screenshot image sourced from: deepsky.com)

We have written a detailed tutorial on how to create and add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory to WordPress using a free plugin here: Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory

Work With Us

List any career opportunities available within the company. This page should include type of training provided, employee benefits, advancement opportunities, etc. It should include information such as the job outlook and upcoming 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, subscribe to your updates list, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies And Testimonials

Case studies and reviews from clients are a great way to show prospective clients what type of accounting solutions you can implement to help them solve their problems. Adding a page with reviews from clients and case studies also helps to provide potential clients with social proof online.

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

For a detailed article on using client case studies and reviews to grow your business online, go here: Learn How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Leads With Highly Effective Client Testimonials

Contact Us

Having a contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should provide the following information about your firm:

• Business Name
• Location
• Phone
• Facsimile number
• Contact email
• Map
• Web address
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media pages
• Live chat (optional feature)

If you operate in multiple areas you should make this clear when showing the address and contact info.

You could also include links to an FAQ section, frequently-visited pages, special offers, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that allows you to promote your business using timely content like news, company updates, training articles, opinions and discussions, how-to videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established accounting site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your firm.

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

Something few people know about, is that WordPress can turn into an automated traffic machine that will begin to drive targeted visitors to your business, simply by publishing regular content to your website.

(WordPress can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Automatically Attract More Website Visitors For Your Business Using WordPress

Legal Information Pages

It’s important to have a compliant website, not just for building trust with visitors, but also to ensure that no local, regional and federal laws or regulations are being broken wherever your business services clients.

Adding the legal pages below to your site will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:

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

We have written a comprehensive article about adding legal pages to your website here: Adding Legal Pages To Your Website

Ways To Improve Your Content

In today’s fiercely competitive online economy, the sooner you begin to publish great content on your site, the quicker you will begin to differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

By committing to providing great content with information and tips, you will get your readers to share your content and come back for more. Publishing content is a great way to educate site visitors and prospective clients about your business and about using your services.

For example, topics for an accounting business can cover:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Understanding profit and loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing insurance, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your readers gain a better understanding of your accounting services, such as forensic accounting, tax accounting, business budgeting, reducing debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to include the same keywords and terms in your content that prospective clients would search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content for 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 100% FREE!

Ways To Improve User Experience

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

Syndicating Content - RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide many benefits for your accounting business.

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

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

• All of your updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared online
• Allows for subscribing
• A feed provides links back to your content
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• There are several ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. subscribers can view your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• RSS is built into WordPress

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

You can find RSS feeds with useful content by searching online for finance-related government departments or key industry bodies.

For example, here are a few RSS feeds you may want to consider adding to your accounting 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

(Use RSS feeds to provide your visitors with a better UX.)

Add Downloadable Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a fantastic way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your audience and set yourself apart from the competition. Forms and checklists can provide useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete tasks. Checklists and forms can also be great business planning tools.

You can provide checklists and forms (or links to these) covering a range of areas such as:

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

Other Tools

Providing unique online tools and applications for businesses is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to potential clients. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are useful tools for accounting websites. Other applications can include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section of this guide, we will look at a number of WordPress-based tools you can add to your accounting or financial services site that can improve your search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section 1.

Click on this link to read the rest of this article:

• How To Build And Grow An Accounting Or Financial Services Online Presence With WordPress – Part Two

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