In Part 1 of this step-by-step article on ways to improve your accounting business web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following areas:
- Online Challenges For The Accounting & Financial Services Profession
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses In The Online Economy
- Improve Your Website Pages
- How To Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we will continue looking at more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Topics covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Web Traffic
- Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Tools
- WordPress Plugins That Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Visitors
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
Your Accounting Website – Improving Your Business Online Using WordPress
Your web traffic is vital to your business growth. This section explores WordPress plugins for improving search engine optimization, better user engagement and driving more visitors to your accounting or financial services site.
Optimizing Your Website For Search Engines With WordPress
There are so many ways that WordPress helps improve your website’s SEO:
- Search Engine-Friendly URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your article pages (called posts).
- Post Tags – WordPress lets you select the keywords that you want your articles to be indexed by in the search engines.
- Post Categories – Add search engine-friendly categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Excerpts – Create an excerpt that search engines will display.
- Images – title images with keywords for better search engine results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify other search directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your site.
WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Better User Engagement And Generating More Visitors
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WP developer community makes available many plugins that improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your site.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(A plugin like Yoast SEO can improve your site’s SEO)
Other things you can do to improve your accounting website’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 more useful WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below can be downloaded at no cost):
- BuddyPress – This free WordPress plugin allows you to run a social networking community on WordPress.
- bbPress – Run an online forum on your WordPress site.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP site.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases user engagement on your website or blog.
- Floating Social – This WordPress plugin lets you add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your site.
(You can easily add social sharing features to your site using WordPress plugins)
Generating New Leads & Enquiries
Let’s take a look now at how to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries for your accounting or financial services business.
Adding A Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It provides many benefits and advantages including:
- Drives targeted traffic
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides updates
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to provide special products or services to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for user interaction
- Provides you with an additional way for subscribers to share your content
A proven strategy for attracting subscribers is to provide high value information and offer users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their personal details. This could be an exclusive report, checklists for handling tax, access to tax calculators, coupons, membership access to subscriber-only content, contests, etc.
Add A Contact Form
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch. Users can provide feedback, ask questions to specific departments, request a quote, and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits including:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Different forms can be added to any page or post
- Improves the professional look of your site
- Convenient for visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin)
Contact Form 7 is easy to install and configure and allows you to insert multiple contact forms to your site, customize your forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, and Akismet spam filtering is also supported.
Another option to consider is to segment your contact form so prospective customers can select the department they want to contact. This ensures that visitors get the comment to the right person.
Adding A Map
Adding maps helps your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a great tool for several reasons:
- Maps increase local SEO
- Helps visitors find your office easily
- Display location of events
(A map helps your visitors and customers find you)
Some of the more popular Google Maps plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation Using WordPress Plugins
Financial Plugins For WordPress
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your site that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for visitors. Here are just some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators – WordPress Plugin)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can provide to users on your website and embed into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. Internationalization is supported.
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are a few for:
- 401k
- Rate of return
- CD
- Debit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes)
This plugin installs a widget that shows up to 20 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 For WordPress)
This plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any post, page or sidebar with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker includes a number of customizable ticker. You can choose to use built-in skins or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also add custom stocks to specific categories.
Appearance customization features include colours, speed, text, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin)
This free calculator allows your visitors to calculate indicative repayments online. This is a great tool for automotive loans, real estate, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculator)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that sends a notification message to a specified email address.
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 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. WP-Invoice can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons that let you manage business, accept electronic signatures, create PDF invoices, create quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WordPress user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, Interkassa, and several others.
You can add custom payments and charges, add pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email templates, access 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 system includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and ticketing management system, CRM and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application – Client Invoicing)
The plugin supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful 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 – WordPress Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage and communicate with clients, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin – Client Invoicing)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software allows you to get paid faster online by integrating with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Financial Themes For WordPress
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting businesses. Here is a look at some of the best WordPress themes available for accounting. These themes allow you to own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of website design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is a turn-key theme built 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 lots more.
Accounting Pro can be customized using premium add-ons.
To learn more about this theme, visit this site:
Accountancy
(Accountancy)
This theme comes in a variety of built-in styles and layouts to make your accounting website look and feel professional.
This responsive (mobile-friendly) theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search optimized, and loads fast. Accountancy provides what you need without bloating your theme. The cost of purchasing includes free updates and one year of support.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting)
Accounting Theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your website any way you want. The theme also provides unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, custom slider, 3 blog types, and is mobile-friendly. Accountancy looks clean and modern and loads fast.
To learn more about this theme, visit this website:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress was designed for accountants. Kathryn allows you to use WordPress as a true content management system and offers multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, various color choices, is easy to use, search optimized, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). 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 is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
To learn more about using this theme, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was developed with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was designed specifically to help give your accounting business website a professional look without 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 accounting services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
For more information, go here:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate WP Theme)
This is a free corporate theme developed 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 staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean-looking and fast-loading.
Go here for more information:
Divi
(Divi WP Theme)
This theme is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ collection. Divi lets you create a unique, professional website using the page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can change your layout to your heart’s content.
Divi’s page builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and change the structure of their pages without touching code.
(Divi Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
It comes with 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. It has accordion, call to action, circle counter, email optin, gallery, map, post title, shop, testimonial, video, fullwidth header, fullwidth menu, fullwidth slider, and more.. Divi is mobile-friendly and fully customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes access to all professional themes.
Go here for more info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
The Corporation was specifically developed to make corporate sites look good.
This theme has a page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider, blog design, 6 different color schemes, multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Themes start at $69 per year and includes access to over 80 stunning themes.
To learn more about using this WordPress theme, visit the theme site:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
This one was designed to help finance professionals build trust through clean design. It’s ideal for businesses that provide services such as investments or tax help. It includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, lease calculator, widgets and multiple shortcodes, and the drag-and-drop visual composer..
More information:
Tax Help
(Tax Help – WordPress Theme)
Tax Help was specifically designed for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and firms offering tax assistance. This theme is designed to show your services professionally to help grow your professional reputation. It provides a range of blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
More info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WordPress Theme)
Finance Business was designed for firms that provide any type of financial service including tax help, consulting, finance, corporate, insurance, loans, accounting, and more. It includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around one hundred shortcodes that includes charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management, animations, and lots more.
More information:
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 how to improve your accounting or financial services website with WordPress.
Subscribe below to receive 101+ useful WordPress tips that will help you grow your business …
***
"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
***