In Part 1 of this comprehensive article on ways to build your accounting business online, we covered the following topics:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Online Opportunities For Professional Accountants
- Your Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Traffic With WordPress
- Tips For Generating Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Applications
- WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Creating Better User Engagement And Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Using WordPress Plugins To Enhance Your Website’s Features
- WordPress For Newbies – An Introduction To Themes
How To Improve Web Traffic
Web traffic is vital to your business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimize Your Website For SEO
There are lots of ways that WordPress helps improve SEO:
- URLs – Set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the web address of your pages.
- Post Tags – Choose the keywords that you want search engines to index your article pages (posts) for.
- Post Categories – Create SEO-friendly categories for your posts and products.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose the description for your posts that will display to search engine users.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for improved search engine results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily link internal content
- Pinging – Set up your site to automatically notify other search directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your site.
Improving Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress community makes available many plugins that improve your accounting website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your website.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (lists all of your pages for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO can improve your SEO)
Other ways to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing features. Here are a few more powerful plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below are also free):
- BuddyPress – BuddyPress can be used to set up your own social networking community on your site.
- bbPress – Run a forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – Power discussions and increases engagement on your website.
- Social Media Feather – Add social sharing features and buttons on your website or blog.
(You can easily add social sharing features to your website with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Generate Leads & Enquiries
Let’s now take a look at how to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries for your accounting business.
Provide A Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. Adding an email newsletter provides many benefits including:
- Drives targeted traffic
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides updates that could save businesses time and money
- Provides you with a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to provide special products or services to a select audience
- Increases user interaction
- Provides additional opportunities for your content to be shared online with others
An effective strategy for attracting newsletter subscribers is to provide users with valuable information and offer them a free gift in exchange for their personal details. This could be an exclusive report, tips for handling finances, access to financial calculators, coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Adding A Contact Form
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for prospective clients to get in touch. A contact form also lets users report issues, ask questions to specific departments, request a quote, give suggestions and more.
A contact form provides a number of benefits including:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any page or post
- Improves the professional look of your site
- Convenience for site visitors
A very popular contact form plugin for WordPress is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
Contact form 7 is a free plugin that is easy to install and configure and lets you create multiple contact forms into any page on your site, customize the form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is also supported.
Another option you may want to consider is adding sections to your contact form so visitors can choose the topic they are contacting you about. This ensures that visitors get the comment to the right person.
Add A Map
A map helps your visitors and clients find you.
Maps are a great tool for several reasons:
- Maps increase local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Display location of events
(Adding maps helps your visitors and clients find you)
Here are some plugins that let you embed, customize and display maps on your site:
- 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 Plugins & Themes
WordPress Plugins - Accounting Businesses
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting or financial services site that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are just some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WP Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of over 400 calculators. You can embed these into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. Internationalization is supported.
Note: Most of them aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- 401k
- Rate of return
- Tax
- Credit
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you add a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes WordPress Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
This plugin lets you place a custom stock ticker on any page, post, or sidebar with shortcodes.
This plugin includes several customizable ticker. You can choose to use built-in themes or customize it yourself to match the look and feel of your website. You can also add custom stocks to specific categories.
Customize the appearance by changing speed, text, colours, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator allows your visitors to calculate indicative repayments online. This is a great financial tool for calculating repayments on auto loans, property loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator WP Plugin – Loan Calculator)
The Finance Calculator plugin also contains an application form that will send 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 For WordPress)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress business users with clients to bill.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send clients itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, 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, and many others.
WP-Invoice features include adding custom payments and charges, creating pre-defined line items and discounts, viewing invoice status and progression, easily filtering and finding invoices, showing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating notification e-mail templates, viewing 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)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticket system, client relationship management and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin – Client Invoice)
The plugin supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools such as document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin For WordPress)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage clients and invoicing, track 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 Invoice)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software lets you get paid faster online by integrating with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting And Financial Services Themes For WordPress
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, it’s best to choose a theme specifically for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best themes themes available for accounting firms. With the themes listed below you can have a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro)
This premium theme for WordPress is a turn-key theme created 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 (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, performs auto resizing for images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded using premium add-ons.
Go here for more details:
Accountancy
(Accountancy WordPress Theme)
This one offers 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 section, and more. It’s lightweight, search engine friendly, fast loading, and is responsive. Accountancy provides the features you need without bloating your theme. Your purchase price includes free updates and 1 year of support.
For more information, go here:
Accounting
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your website any way you want. It also provides unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is responsive. It is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
Go here for more details:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
Kathryn is a premium child theme for the Genesis Framework that’s created for accountants. The theme allows you to use WordPress as a true content management system and comes with multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, call to action boxes, many color options, is easy to use, search optimized, and is 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 responsive slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
Go here for more details:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was created with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was specifically designed to make your accounting website look professional 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 services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
Go here for more info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate – WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme developed for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type for staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean-looking and loads fast.
For more details, go here:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. Divi lets you create a professional site using its page builder or beautiful pre-made layouts. You can change your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and easily change the structure of their web pages without touching any code.
(Divi WP Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. Modules include multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is mobile-friendly and fully customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 beautifully-designed themes.
To learn more about about using this WordPress theme, visit the theme website:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This one was specifically created to make corporate sites look good.
This theme has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It has six color schemes. It also has multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 themes.
Go here for more details:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
Adviser was specifically designed to help finance professionals build trust through clean design. It’s perfect for those that provide services such as investment advice or tax advice. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, lease calculator, widgets and multiple shortcodes, and a drag-and-drop visual composer..
More info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme)
This one was specifically built for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and those that provide tax services. The theme is designed to show your services in a professional way and help establish your business reputation. It comes with a range of blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
Go here for more info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme For WordPress)
Finance Business Theme was built specifically for organizations that provide any type of financial service including tax help, consulting, insurance, finance, corporate, loans, accounting, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around 100 shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management features, animations, and a lot more.
More info:
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 article has helped you learn WordPress plugins that can help improve SEO, improve user engagement and increase traffic to your business generation.
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