Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only transformed business worldwide, it has also created new challenges and opportunities for accounting businesses.

Challenges Certified Public Accountants Face Online

Today, more than ever, accountancy firms must find smarter ways to remain competitive, find new business, and keep their current clientele. Not only do they have to become actively involved in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop and maintain an active presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better market your services online.

In addition to investing money marketing offline, businesses in the accounting industry are now finding that they need to allocate a greater amount of their marketing budget towards the development and management of a website that drives prospective clients, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and helps create a wider reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your pages have to load fast, and be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of the website will change over time and sections may need to be updated frequently. This requires implementing well-developed website and content management strategy.

One other problem that accounting firms (and all other professions) face, is that your site has an average of 30 seconds to give users what they are searching for or they will go elsewhere to find what they need.

“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

Online Opportunities For CPAs

As well as facing significant challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available to accounting firms that are willing to evolve to meet digital economy demands and think progressively when it comes to improving their online business marketing skills.

In this detailed guide, you will discover new ways and opportunities to drive more web traffic and establish online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on ways to improve your accounting website, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress Content Management System to power your accounting website or blog.

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

• Why A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Lose You Business
• The Beginner’s Guide To Growing A Small Business Using A WordPress Site

Useful Tips For Improving Your Accounting Or Financial Services Website

We’ll start first by going over the basic information you need. In this section, we’ll look at how to improve your website and get better results. We show you what web pages you need, what content you need, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your website, read this detailed guide: Planning Your Small Business Web Site: A Cost-Saving Blueprint For Non-Technical Business Owners

How To Improve Your Website Pages

All business websites need some basic pages. Let’s go over the pages your  should have and how to set up your accounting or financial services website for best results.

Services

It’s essential to include a page that explains your services or products.

It will include services such as:

• Business accounting – planning, formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, budgeting, forecasting, financing, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate finance
• 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

List all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about what these services do and direct them to your appointment booking page.

About Us

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, community activities, etc.

Remember to include any CPA awards, accreditations, certifications, recognitions, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your company and position it above other competitors.

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

Your Staff

Are you looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online or get visitors to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

You want prospects to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff or team members. This page should include a photo and a mini 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. It should even include social buttons that will allow your prospective clients to follow your staff members on their social pages.

On this page, make sure to outline your person’s expertise and 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 an employee description page. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to add a simple staff directory in WordPress using free plugins, go here: Adding A Staff List Directory In WordPress

Recruitment Page

List any career opportunities available within your company. This page would include training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, social aspects of working for your firm, etc. You can also include case studies of graduates who have worked their way up in your organization and information such as the job outlook and upcoming career opportunities in the accounting industry.

Also include a positions available section in your page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, join your newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials And Case Studies

Case studies and testimonials from past clients are a great way to show prospective clients what type of financial solutions you are capable of implementing to help them solve problems. Adding a page with case studies and reviews from clients also provides visitors social proof online.

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

We have written extensively on using testimonials and reviews to grow your business online. Go here to learn more about this: How To Achieve Better Results Online With Highly Effective Testimonials

Contact Us

Having a clean contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should include the following:

• Name
• Physical address
• Phone
• Facsimile number
• Email
• Map and directions
• Website address
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media profiles
• Live chat (optional feature)

If your business operates out of different areas you should make that clear when showing your address and contact info.

You should also include links to the most commonly asked questions, frequently-visited pages, special offers, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Many blogging platforms typically include a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content such as company announcements, updates, educational information, discussions on current topics, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

If you already have an accounting site, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your business.

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

Something not many people know about, is that WordPress can become an automated traffic system that can begin attracting a stream of web traffic to your business, simply by publishing content on a consistent basis to your website.

(WordPress can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more: Web Traffic Blueprint – How To Create A Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Pages

It’s vitally important to ensure they have a compliant website, not just for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaking any laws and regulations wherever your business services clients.

Adding the following legal pages to your accounting website will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of threats and legal inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

Go here if you want to learn more adding legal pages to your website: What You Need To Know About Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s globally competitive economy, being generous with content that educates and informs readers has become one of the key differentiators for businesses selling similar products or services.

You will want to provide great content with useful advice and tips that will get your readers to share your content with others and come back for more information. This is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospects about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting business could include:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Understanding profit and loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• How to present accounts for fundraising activities
• Cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring your self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your prospective clients understand accounting services, such as forensic accounting, tax accounting, business auditing, reducing debt, understanding financial conventions, etc.

Remember to use keywords and terms in your articles that prospective clients will be searching for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information that will show you how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating high-quality content for your visitors and grow your business online using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Tips For Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Syndicate Content With RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and user experience in several ways.

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

Some of the benefits of syndicating your content to other websites using RSS feeds, include:

• All of your content updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared
• RSS feeds allow for subscribing
• An RSS feed provides links back to your content
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• RSS provides multiple ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. users can view the content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits to adding syndicated content to your site from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find RSS feeds with useful content for your website by searching online for relevant government departments or industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of useful RSS feeds you may want to add to your 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

(RSS feeds can help to improve your site’s UX.)

Provide Online Forms & Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a fantastic way to help increase user engagement and add value to your readers. Forms and checklists can provide visitors with useful instructions and resources to perform tasks. They are great planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Business
• Negative Gearing Checklist
• Not-For-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Provide Other Tools

Providing useful online tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are some of the most popular tools for accounting websites. Other tools can include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we look at a number of WordPress plugins and themes you can add to your accounting or financial services site that can help improve your search engine optimization, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of part 1 of this guide on ways to build your accounting business web presence.

To continue reading, click here:

• Online Business Tips For CPAs – WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Generating More Traffic

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