In Part 1 of this step-by-step guide on ways to grow your accounting business online, we covered the following topics:
- Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online
- Online Opportunities For Accounting Businesses
- Your Web Pages
- Ways To Improve Your Content
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting business online. Areas covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Traffic
- Ways To Generate New Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins That Can Help Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Generate More Visitors
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins That Can Help To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
Your web traffic is vital to your online business growth. This section explores ways to improve your accounting or financial services website with WordPress themes and plugins.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines Using WordPress
There are lots of ways that WordPress helps improve SEO:
- Search Engine-Friendly URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the post.
- Tags – WordPress lets you specify the keywords that you want your article pages (posts) to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Post Categories – Create SEO-friendly categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Post Excerpts – Set an excerpt that will show to search engine users.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for improved search results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links for better page indexing
- Post Notification – WordPress can be configured to automatically notify other sites and directories as soon as a new post is published on your site.
WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Traffic Generation
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are various WordPress plugins that improve your accounting website’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your website.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your site’s SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(A plugin like Yoast SEO can improve your site’s search engine optimization)
Other things you can do to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social features. Here are some plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below are also free):
- BuddyPress – Set up an online social networking community on your site, with member profiles, user groups, messaging, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – This free WordPress plugin can be used to run your own forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter lets you send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard.
- Disqus – This plugin lets you power discussions and helps to increase engagement on your website.
- Social Media Feather – Use this plugin to add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your website.
(You can easily add social sharing features to your website using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Tips For Generating More Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
This section will show you how to improve sales and generate more leads and enquiries.
Providing A Newsletter
Providing a newsletter is a great way to build a subscriber list. Adding a newsletter provides several benefits, like:
- Sends targeted traffic to your website
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides updates that could save businesses time and money
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to provide special services or products to a select audience
- Increases user interaction
- Provides another way for your content to be shared around with others
An effective way to attract newsletter subscribers is to provide high value information and give users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their personal details. This can be a guide, checklists for handling tax, access to financial calculators, discount coupons, access to courses, contests, etc.
Add A Contact Form
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for readers to contact you. Users can send feedback, ask questions to specific departments, ask for a quote, and more.
A contact form provides a number of benefits and advantages, like:
- Reducing spam
- Set up automated responses
- Giving you control over what is sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenience for visitors
A very popular contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7)
This free plugin is easy to install and configure and allows you to insert multiple contact forms to your website, customize your forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something to consider is adding sections to your contact form so prospective clients can select the aspect of your business they are contacting your company about. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Adding Maps
Adding maps to your site helps your visitors and clients find you.
Inserting maps (e.g. Google Maps), into your website also provides visitors with a number of benefits, such as:
- A map increases local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Shows location of events
(Adding a map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Below are just some plugins that let you embed, customize and display maps on your website:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins And Themes That Can Help To Improve Your Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic
Accounting Plugins For WordPress
WordPress makes available a number of plugins you can add to your accounting site that will immediately add a range of functional tools for users. Here are some of these:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WP Plugin)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators. You can embed these into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. It also supports internationalization
Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Mortgage
- Payments
- Leases
- Equity
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes WP Plugin)
With this plugin you get a widget that shows a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many widgets as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin lets you place custom stock tickers on any post, page or sidebar with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker offers loads of customizable features. Choose from built-in themes or customize it yourself to match the look and feel of your website. You can also create custom stocks for specific categories.
Customize the appearance by changing colors, size, speed, text, and symbols, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin)
This free calculator lets your users calculate indicative repayments online. It’s great for car loans, property loans, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculators)
The plugin also contains an application form that sends a notification message to a specified email address.
Other features of this plugin include displaying payment protection, calculating 12 to 60 months loans and creating forms that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice Plugin For WordPress)
WP-Invoice lets WordPress blog owners send itemized invoices to their clients.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send clients 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, create 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 payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
WP-Invoice lets you add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create e-mail notification templates, view 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 Plugin For WordPress)
This complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and ticket system, client relationship management and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application – Invoice)
All In One Business Management Application supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides additional 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 Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage client data and invoices, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin – Client Invoicing)
iBilling lets you get paid faster by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Financial WordPress Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting businesses. Below is a list of some of the best WordPress themes available for accounting. These themes allow you to have a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is an inexpensive turn-key theme designed for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, offers several page templates, a custom menu feature, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
You can easily customize this theme by installing premium add-ons.
More info:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme For WordPress)
Accountancy has a variety of styles and layouts to make your accounting site look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, search engine optimized, loads fast, and fully responsive. Accountancy Theme provides what you need without bloating your theme. Your purchase includes free updates and one year of support.
Visit this website to learn more about using this WordPress theme:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme)
This one 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 types of headers, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
To learn more about this theme, visit the theme website:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was designed specifically for accounting businesses. The theme provides multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, many color choices, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine optimized, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although it could easily suit 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.
Go here to learn more this theme:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WordPress Theme)
This one was created to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., is designed specifically to make your accounting business site look professional without 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 form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
WP Advocate is a corporate theme built specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. You can 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 and fast-loading theme.
For more information, go here:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire theme collection. You can create a professional site using its page builder or beautiful pre-made layouts. You can change your layout to your heart’s content.
Divi’s page builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and change the structure of their page without touching a single line of code.
(Divi – WordPress Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These include audio player, blurb, code, email optin, image, number counter, portfolio, shop, social media follow, text, fullwidth code, fullwidth map, fullwidth post title, and more.. Divi is responsive and fully customizable. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 stunning themes.
For more details about using this theme, visit the theme site:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was specifically designed to make corporate websites look great.
This theme has a page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider, blog design, 6 unique color schemes, multiple page templates which 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 sleek business themes.
Go here to learn more about this WordPress theme:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
The Adviser WordPress Theme was developed specifically to help finance industry professionals build trust online through clean web design. It’s ideal for those that provide services like investment advice or tax advice. The Adviser theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a lease calculator. It includes widgets and multiple shortcodes, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
Visit the theme site to learn more about this WordPress theme:
Tax Help
(Tax Help – WordPress Theme)
This one was specifically designed for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and businesses that offer tax assistance. Tax Help is designed to show your services professionally and help establish your business reputation. It provides a range of blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
For more information, go here:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
This premium WordPress theme was built for businesses that provide any type of financial service such as consulting, tax help, insurance, finance, corporate, accounting, loans, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, a custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management features, animated elements, and lots 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 guide has helped you learn how to improve your website using WordPress themes and plugins.
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