In Part One of this article on ways to improve your accounting business online, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following topics:
- Online Challenges For Accounting & Financial Businesses
- Opportunities For The Accounting Profession In The Online Economy
- Essential Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve Your Web Content
In this section, we continue looking at more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered include:
- Tips For Improving Web Traffic
- Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
- WordPress Plugins That Improve SEO, Create Better User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- WordPress Plugins – The Easy Way To Enhance Your Website’s Capabilities
- WP For Beginners – An Overview Of Themes
Improve Web Traffic Using WordPress
Your web traffic is an important part of your business growth. In this section, we explore WordPress plugins for improving SEO, better user engagement and traffic generation.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines (SEO)
There are many ways that WordPress helps improve your accounting website’s SEO:
- Search Engine-Friendly URLs – Set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your article pages.
- Tags – WordPress lets you specify the keywords that you want your posts to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Categories – Add categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Excerpts – Create an excerpt that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – title images with keywords for better search results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily create internal links for better indexing of your content
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify (ping) other sites and directories immediately upon publishing new content on your website.
WordPress Plugins That Can Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Improve User Engagement And Drive More Traffic
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, the WP community makes available various plugins that improve your accounting website’s 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 (lists all of your pages and posts for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (formerly known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your site’s SEO)
Other things you can do to improve your site’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social features. Here are some more WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – This free WordPress plugin allows you to set up a social community on your website.
- bbPress – Set up an online community forum on your WordPress website.
- E-Newsletter – Send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – Power discussions and increases engagement on your website.
- Monarch – Use this WordPress plugin to add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online on your site.
(You can easily add social sharing features to your site using free or inexpensive plugins)
Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
This section will show you how to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries for your accounting business.
Add A Newsletter
Adding an email newsletter is an excellent way to grow and retain your readership. It provides a number of benefits and advantages, like:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides useful updates
- Provides you with a targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to provide special services or products to a select audience
- Increases user engagement
- Provides you with additional opportunities for your content to be shared around with others
An effective way to attract newsletter subscribers is to provide users with valuable information and offer them free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their details. This can be a special report, checklists for handling finances, access to tax calculators, coupons, access to courses, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for prospective customers to get in touch with you. Contact forms also let visitors send feedback, contact specific departments, ask for quotes, and more.
Contact forms provide many benefits including:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your site
- Convenience for users
A popular contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
This free plugin allows you to create multiple contact forms to your pages and posts, customize your form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Contact Form 7 supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so prospective clients can choose the aspect of your business they are contacting your company about. This ensures that visitors get the comment to the right person.
Map Integration
Adding maps helps your visitors and customers find you.
Inserting maps (e.g. Google Maps), into your site also provides many benefits, such as:
- A map increases local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Show location of events
(A map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Here are just some popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display Google maps on your website:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Traffic Using WordPress Plugins
WordPress Accounting Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting website to immediately add a range of functional tools for site visitors. Here are some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can provide to users on your website and embed into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. The plugin supports internationalization
Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- Interest rate
- Payments
- Leases
- Equity
- And many more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes WordPress Plugin)
This plugin installs a widget that shows up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin)
With this plugin you can place a custom stock ticker on any page, post, or sidebar with shortcodes.
The plugin includes loads of customizable ticker. Choose from built-in themes or customize these yourself to match the look and feel of your site. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing colours, speed, symbols, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator allows your site visitors to calculate indicative repayments online. It’s great for calculating repayments on automotive loans, property, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator WP Plugin – Loan Calculator)
The Finance Calculator 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 you send itemized invoices to clients.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices. It also allows you to set up recurring billing. WP-Invoice can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF invoices, create quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your 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, insert pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email templates, display 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 complete business management system includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with ticketing management system, client relationship management and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application – WordPress Plugin – Client Invoicing)
The plugin supports international 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 client data and invoicing, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin – Invoicing)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Themes - Accounting And Financial Services
To benefit the most from using WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting businesses. Here is a list of some of the best accountancy themes available. 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 – WordPress Theme)
This 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, auto-resized images, and lots more.
You can customize this theme by installing premium add-ons.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, go here:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme For WordPress)
This one comes with a variety of built-in styles and layouts to help make your accounting website look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, search engine optimized, fast loading, and is responsive. Accountancy Theme provides the flexibility you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Your purchase includes free updates and 1 year of support.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting – WordPress Theme)
Accounting includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your website any way you want. The theme also has unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive. It looks clean and modern and loads fast.
More information:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme)
This one is developed specifically for accounting services. It has multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, many color options, is easy to use, search engine optimized, and is mobile-friendly. Although it can easily fit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
To learn more about this theme, visit the theme site:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This 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 help make your accounting site look professional while not looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s fully responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials section, and a blog.
Visit the theme site to learn more this WordPress theme:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme)
This is a corporate theme specifically designed for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate includes a custom post type for employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is clean and loads fast.
More info:
Divi
(Divi)
This is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. You can create a unique, professional website using its page builder or pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
Divi’s page builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and redesign the structure of their pages without editing any code.
(Divi – WordPress Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. It has multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. It is mobile-friendly and fully customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes access to over 80 stunning themes.
Go here to learn more this WordPress theme:
The Corporation
(The Corporation WordPress Theme)
This one from Elegant Themes was specifically created to create great-looking corporate sites.
This theme has a sleek page-based home page design with a prominent slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It comes with 6 color schemes. It also has multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ sleek business themes.
Go here for more details:
Adviser
(Adviser)
This premium theme for WordPress was built to help finance industry professionals build trust online with a clean business design. It’s ideal for those that provide services like investing advice or tax help. The Adviser theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, a built-in lease calculator, multiple shortcodes and widgets, and a drag-and-drop visual composer..
Go here to learn more this theme:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
Tax Help Theme was built specifically for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and businesses that offer tax assistance. The theme is designed to show your services in a professional way and help build 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.
More info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme was developed for organizations that provide any type of financial service including consulting, tax help, finance, insurance, corporate, 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, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management, animated elements, and a whole lot more.
Go here for 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 ways of improving search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more traffic using WordPress plugins & themes.
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