In Part 1 of this step-by-step article on ways to grow your accounting business presence online, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following areas:
- Challenges Accountants Face Online
- Opportunities For The Accounting Profession In The Digital Economy
- Essential Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered include:
- Improving Web Traffic Using WordPress
- Generating More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
- WordPress Plugins That Can Help Improve Search Engine Optimization, Create Better User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Adding New Features And Functionality To Your Website With Plugins
- WordPress For Beginners – An Overview Of WordPress Themes
Tips For Improving Traffic With WordPress
Web traffic is an integral part of your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines With WordPress
There are so many ways that WordPress helps improve SEO:
- SEO-Friendly – configure the permalinks to create search engine-optimized URLS for your posts.
- Tags – Specify the keywords that you want search engines to index your posts for.
- Post Categories – Create categories for your posts and products.
- Excerpts – Set an excerpt that search engines will display.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for improved search engine results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links for faster indexing of your content
- Post Notification – Set up your site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your website.
WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Web Traffic Generation
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are also a number of plugins for WordPress that improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your site.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your website’s search engine optimization:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your SEO)
Other WordPress plugins you can use to improve your accounting site’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social features. Here are some WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – This free WordPress plugin allows you to run your own social network on your WordPress site, with member profiles, user groups, messaging, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – Use this free WordPress plugin to set up and manage your own community forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – Use E-Newsletter to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without requiring third-party subscriptions.
- Disqus – Power discussions and helps to increase user engagement on your website.
- Monarch – Use this WordPress plugin to add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your site.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing features to their site using free or inexpensive plugins)
Tips For Generating Leads & Enquiries
Let’s discuss now ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries for your accounting or financial services business.
Add An Email Newsletter
Adding an email newsletter is an excellent way to retain and grow your readership. Adding email newsletters] provides many benefits including:
- Sends targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides useful updates
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for improving engaging with your users
- Provides you with additional ways for your content to be shared around with other prospective clients
One of the things you can do to get visitors to subscribe is to provide them with valuable content and offer them free gifts in exchange for their details. This can be an exclusive report, tips for handling tax, access to financial calculators, coupons, membership access to courses, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms make it easy and simple for readers to contact you. A contact form also allows users to provide feedback, contact specific departments, request a quote, and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits including:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Giving 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
- Improves the professional look of your website
- Convenience for visitors
A very popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 WordPress Plugin)
This plugin is easy to install and configure and allows you to insert multiple contact forms on your site, customize the forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is also supported.
Another feature to consider is to segment your contact form so prospects can select which topic they are contacting your company about. This ensures that contact form requests reach the right person.
Adding Maps
Adding a map to your site helps your visitors and clients find you.
Inserting maps, such as Google Maps, into your website also provides a number of benefits, such as:
- A map increases local SEO
- Helps visitors find you easily
- Display location of events
(Adding maps helps your visitors and customers find you)
Popular map plugins for WordPress include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors With WordPress Plugins
Accounting WordPress Plugins
WordPress provides a number of plugins you can add to your accounting website that will immediately add a range of practical tools for visitors. Here are some of these:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators. You can embed these into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. The plugin supports internationalization
Note: Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Interest rate
- Loans
- Tax
- Debit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes WordPress Plugin)
With this plugin you get 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 Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a custom stock ticker to any page, post, or sidebar using shortcodes.
The plugin includes loads of customizable ticker. You can choose from built-in themes or customize these yourself to match the look and feel of your site. You can also create custom stocks for specific categories.
Customize the appearance by changing size, symbols, colors, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress)
This free plugin allows users to calculate indicative repayments online. This is a useful financial tool for car loans, property loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculators)
The plugin also contains an application form that will send a 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)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress site owners with clients to bill.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with free and premium add-ons that let you manage business, accept electronic signatures, create PDF invoices, provide quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WP user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, and many others.
The plugin gives you the ability to add custom payments and charges, insert pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email templates, view 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)
This complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and support ticket management system, client relationship management and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application WordPress Plugin – 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 WordPress Plugin)
This is a scalable business software that lets you manage client data and invoices, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Invoice)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting And Financial Services WordPress Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting businesses. Here is a look at some of the best themes themes available for accounting firms. These themes allow you to own a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WP Theme)
Accounting Pro is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accounting firms. It’s a responsive theme with a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resizing for images, and a whole lot more.
You can expand Accounting Pro with premium add-ons.
Visit the theme site for more information about using this WordPress theme:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
Accountancy Theme offers a variety of styles and layouts that helps make your accounting site look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, search optimized, loads fast, and fully responsive. Accountancy Theme provides the flexibility 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 info:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme For WordPress)
Accounting Theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. The theme also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is responsive (mobile-friendly). Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
Go here for more info:
Kathryn
(Kathryn WP Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was built specifically for accountants. It allows you to use WordPress as a true CMS and offers a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, call to action boxes, various colors, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine optimized, and is fully responsive. Although it could easily suit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
More information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WordPress Theme)
Accounting WordPress Theme was created to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features an authoritative color scheme and elements designed specifically to help make your accounting website look professional while not looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s fully responsive and includes pages for your services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
For more information, go here:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme developed specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate includes a custom post type adding staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
For more details, go here:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire theme collection. You can create any style of professional site you want using its page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can change your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily edit the structure of their pages without editing any code.
(Divi – Flexible Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. This includes multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is mobile-friendly and fully customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ stunning themes.
Go here to learn more about using this theme:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
The Corporation was specifically created to create good-looking corporate sites.
It has a page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider, blog design, 6 different color schemes, multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all stunning themes.
To learn more about using this WordPress theme, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme was designed to help finance industry professionals build trust with a clean business design. It’s ideal for those that provide services such as investments or tax help. The theme 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.
Go here for more info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help WP Theme)
This theme was built specifically for financial organizations, tax and finance advisors, and businesses that provide tax assistance. The theme is designed to showcase your services professionally and help grow your professional reputation. It has different blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
Go here for more details:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme)
Finance Business was specifically built for organizations that provide any type of financial service such as tax help, consulting, insurance, corporate, finance, accounting, loans, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content. It also includes a custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management features, animations, and a whole lot more.
To learn more about this theme, visit this site:
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 article on ways of improving your business online using WordPress themes and plugins helpful.
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