In Part 1 of this comprehensive article on ways to build your accounting business web presence, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following topics:
- Challenges Accounting & Financial Professionals Face Online
- Opportunities For Accountants In The Online Economy
- Your Website Pages
- Improve Your Web Content
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Improving Web Traffic With WordPress
- Tips For Generating New Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Driving More Web Traffic
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
Ways Of Improving Website Traffic Using WordPress
Web traffic is an important part of your online business growth. This section discusses WordPress plugins for improving search engine optimization, better user engagement and generating more visitors.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines
There are loads of ways that WordPress helps improve SEO:
- SEO-Friendly – Set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the web address of your pages.
- Post Tags – Specify the keywords that you want your article pages (posts) to be indexed by in the search engines.
- Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose an excerpt that search engines will display.
- Images – title your images with keywords for improved search results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that allows you to easily create internal links for better indexing of pages
- Post Notification – Set up your site to automatically notify (ping) other sites and directories whenever a new post is published on your site.
How To Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Traffic With WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are dozens of WordPress plugins that will improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your site’s search engine optimization:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your site’s search engine optimization)
Other things you can do to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social features. Here are some WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Use the BuddyPress plugin to set up and manage your own online social community on your website.
- bbPress – This plugin allows you to set up your own community forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – Use E-Newsletter to send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – Power discussions and helps to increase engagement on your website.
- Social Media Feather – Add social sharing features on your site.
(WordPress users can easily add social features to their site using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries
Let’s take a look now at ways to improve your sales and generate new leads and enquiries.
Provide An Email Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is an excellent way to retain and grow your readership. Adding email newsletters] provides many benefits, like:
- Sends targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides useful information and advice
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Increases user engagement
- Provides you with additional ways for your content to be shared around with others
A proven strategy for attracting subscribers is to provide users with content of high value and offer them something valuable for free in exchange for their details. This can be a useful report, checklists for handling finances, access to tax calculators, coupons, access to subscriber-only content, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for prospective clients to get in touch with you. Contact forms also allow visitors to report issues, contact specific departments, ask for quotes, send suggestions for new services or products and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits, like:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Contact forms can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your website
- Convenience for users
One of the most popular contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin is easy to install and set up and allows you to create and manage multiple contact forms into any page or post, customize the form and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
The plugin supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
Something to consider is to add sections to your contact form so users can select which department they want to contact. This helps you get the comment to the right person.
Map
Adding a map to your website helps your visitors and clients find you.
Inserting maps (e.g. Google Maps), into your website also provides many benefits, such as:
- A map increases local SEO
- Helps visitors find your office easily
- Displays location of events
(Maps help your visitors and customers find you)
Below are some popular 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
Improving SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation Using WordPress Plugins
Financial WordPress Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting or financial services site that will immediately make available a range of functional tools for visitors. Here are just some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of over 400 calculators. You can embed them 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:
- Interest rate
- Rate of return
- Leases
- Debit
- And many more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a widget that displays a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many portfolios as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker WP Plugin)
This free plugin lets you place a custom stock ticker on any sidebar, page or post using shortcodes.
The plugin includes loads of customizable ticker. Choose from built-in skins or customize these yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. 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 plugin allows your site visitors to calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for car loans, property, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator – Loan Calculator)
The plugin also contains an application form that sends a message to the email address you specify.
It will show payment protection, calculate 12 to 60 months loans and create 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 itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of invoices, provide quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WP user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
You can add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create email notification templates, display reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, ten 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 WP Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and ticketing system, client relationship management and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application – Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application 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 Plugin For WordPress)
iBilling 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 – WordPress Plugin – Invoice)
iBilling integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting And Financial Services Themes For WordPress
To benefit the most from using WordPress, it’s best to choose a theme specifically for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best themes themes available for accountancy firms. With the themes listed below you can own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme)
This premium WordPress theme is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accounting 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, auto-resized images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be customized with premium add-ons.
More information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy WP Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress comes with a variety of styles and layouts to help give your accounting website a professional look and feel.
This fully responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search engine friendly, and loads fast. Accountancy provides what you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. The cost of purchasing includes free updates and one year of support.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme For WordPress)
This theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your website any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is fully responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
Go here to learn more this WordPress theme:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was built specifically for accounting services. It comes with a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, flexible rotator, call to action boxes, author boxes for single or multiple bloggers, a variety of color choices, is easy to use, inexpensive, search optimized, and is responsive. Although this theme can easily fit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy WordPress slider plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
Go here for more info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was designed to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and elements specifically designed to make your accounting business site 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 services, contact section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
Go here for more information about this WordPress theme:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme)
This is a free corporate theme specifically designed 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 adding employee profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s clean and fast-loading.
More information:
Divi
(Divi)
This premium theme is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ collection. Divi lets you create any type of professional website you want using its page builder or pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and easily change the structure of their pages without touching code.
(Divi – Page Builder)
It comes with 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. This includes accordion, call to action, contact form, countdown timer, filterable portfolio, map, post title, shop, social media follow, toggle, fullwidth code, fullwidth portfolio, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is mobile-friendly and fully customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all beautifully-designed themes.
Go here to learn more about this theme:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme was specifically developed to create good-looking corporate websites.
It has a page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider. It also has a blog design. It has six different color schemes. It also has 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 over 80 professional themes.
For more details, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme was specifically developed to help finance industry professionals build trust with a clean business design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services such as investing advice or tax help. The Adviser theme 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 info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help – WordPress Theme)
Tax Help was specifically built for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and firms that provide tax assistance. This theme is designed to show your services professionally and help establish your professional reputation. It provides a range of blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
Go here for more info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
This premium theme was developed for firms that provide any type of financial service including consulting, tax help, insurance, corporate, finance, loans, accounting, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content. It also includes a custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page settings, color management, animated elements, 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, you have found this article on WordPress plugins that improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and increase web traffic generation useful.
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