In Part 1 of this step-by-step guide on ways to build your accounting web presence, we provided in-depth information on the following areas:
- Challenges Accounting And Financial Professionals Face Online
- Opportunities For Accounting Businesses
- Ways To Improve Your Web Pages
- Tips For Improving The Content On Your Site
In this section, we will continue looking at more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Traffic With WordPress
- Ways To Generate New Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
- WordPress Plugins & Themes That Can Help Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
Online Business Tips For Accountants – WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Traffic Generation
Web traffic is vital to your business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines
There are loads of ways WordPress can help to optimize your accounting website for search engines:
- URLs – Set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the URL of your pages.
- Tags – Choose the keywords that you want search engines to index your articles for.
- Post Categories – Add categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose an excerpt that search engines will show.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for improved search engine results.
- Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily link your content to other posts and pages
- Pinging – WordPress can be set up to automatically notify (ping) other sites and directories the moment a new post is published on your site.
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors With WordPress Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are dozens of WordPress plugins that will improve your accounting or financial services website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more visitors to your site.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your SEO)
Other things you can do to improve your site’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing features. Here are a few plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – This free plugin allows you to run a social network on your site.
- bbPress – This free WordPress plugin can be used to set up your own discussion forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – This plugin lets you send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases user engagement on your site.
- Floating Social – This WordPress plugin lets you add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online on your pages and posts.
(You can add social sharing to your website easily with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Applications
This section explains how to improve your sales and generate more leads and enquiries for your accounting or financial services business.
Adding An Email Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. It] provides many benefits, like:
- Sends targeted traffic
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides updates
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to provide special services or products to a select audience
- Increases interaction
- Provides another way for your content to be shared online with other potential clients
An effective way to attract newsletter subscribers is to provide them with valuable content and offer them a free gift in exchange for their details. This could be a time-saving guide, tips for handling finances, access to tax calculators, discount coupons, access to subscriber-only content, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms make it easy and simple for prospective clients to get in touch. Contact forms also allow visitors to report issues, contact specific departments, request a quote, and more.
Contact forms provide a number of benefits including:
- Reducing spam
- Set up automated responses
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any post or page
- Looks professional
- Convenient for site visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7)
This free plugin allows you to create and manage multiple contact forms on your site, customize the form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and Akismet spam filtering is supported.
Something to consider is adding sections to your contact form so users can select the aspect of your business they are contacting you about. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Map
Adding a map helps your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a very useful tool for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Clients can better plan their visits and appointments
- Shows location of events
(A map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Below are just some of the more plugins that let you embed, customize and display Google maps on your WordPress site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins And Themes That Can Help Improve Your Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
Accounting And Financial Services – WordPress Plugins
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting site that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for users. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This is a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can display on your website. The plugin also supports internationalization
Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- Mortgage
- Payments
- CD
- Equity
- And many more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin gives you a widget that shows a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker – WordPress Plugin)
With this plugin you can place custom stock tickers on any sidebar, page or post using shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker comes with a number of customizable features. You can choose to use built-in skins or customize it yourself to match the look and feel of your website. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing height, width, background color, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, text color, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator)
This free calculator lets your visitors calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for calculating repayments on automotive loans, property, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator WordPress 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 showing payment protection, calculating 12 to 60 months loans and creating a form that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice – WordPress Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets WordPress blog owners send itemized invoices to their clients.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send clients 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, create PDF versions of invoices, provide quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WordPress user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and several others.
The plugin gives you the ability to add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, 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, 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 WordPress Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with ticket management system, CRM and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application WordPress Plugin – Client Invoice)
The plugin supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools like document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin For WordPress)
This is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoices, track your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Invoice)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software lets you get paid faster online by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Financial WordPress Themes
To get the best features and professional look for your website, it’s best to choose a theme specifically for accounting. Here is a look at some of the best accounting themes available. With the themes listed below you can have a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro)
This premium WordPress theme is a turn-key theme for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be customized with premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress comes with a variety of built-in styles and layouts that helps give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, SEO friendly, loads fast, and is responsive. Accountancy Theme provides the features you need without bloating your theme. Free updates and 1 year of support is included with your purchase.
More information:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme)
Accounting includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive. It looks clean and modern and loads fast.
To learn more about this theme, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
Kathryn is designed for accounting businesses. It provides multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, flexible rotator, call to action boxes, author boxes for single or multiple bloggers, many colors, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine optimized, and is mobile-friendly. Although it could easily suit any profession, 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.
For more information, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This one was developed to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and elements specifically designed to 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 responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your accounting services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a corporate theme designed specifically for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. It also 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.
Go here for more information:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. You can create a unique, professional site using its page builder or beautiful pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
Divi’s page builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily change the structure of their web pages without touching any code.
(Divi WordPress Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. This includes bar counter, blurb, code, email optin, filterable portfolio, map, portfolio, sidebar, testimonial, video slider, fullwidth image, fullwidth map, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is mobile-friendly and completely customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 professional themes.
More info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This one was specifically created to create good-looking corporate websites.
The Corporation has a page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider, blog design, 6 unique color schemes, multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to all professional themes.
For more information, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser WordPress Theme)
This theme was designed to help businesses in the financial industry to build trust through clean web design. It’s ideal for those that provide services like investment advice or tax advice. Adviser 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.
More information:
Tax Help
(Tax Help WordPress Theme)
This theme was built specifically for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and firms offering tax assistance. It’s designed to showcase your services professionally and help grow 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 additional custom shortcodes.
For more details, go here:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme For WordPress)
Finance Business WordPress Theme was developed for businesses that provide any type of financial service including tax help, consulting, corporate, finance, insurance, loans, accounting, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, the custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management features, animations, and a lot 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
We hope that you have found this comprehensive guide on ways of improving your accounting business online using WordPress useful.
Subscribe below to receive 101+ useful WordPress tips that will help you grow your business …
***
"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum
***