In Part 1 of this article on ways to build your accounting business presence online, we provided many practical tips and suggestions on the following topics:
- Online Challenges For Accounting Businesses
- Online Opportunities For Professional Accountants
- Basic Web Pages
- How To Improve Your Content
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Improving Traffic
- Generating New Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins And Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Driving More Visitors
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Using WP Plugins To Improve Your Web Site’s Features And Functionality
- WordPress For Beginners – An Introduction To WP Themes
Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins And Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Traffic Generation
Web traffic is an important part of your business growth. This section discusses WordPress plugins that improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and increase web traffic generation.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines
There are so many ways WordPress can help to improve SEO:
- Search Engine-Friendly URLs – configure the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the web address of your pages.
- Tags – WordPress lets you select the keywords that you want search engines to index your article pages for.
- Post Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Excerpts – Set descriptions for your posts that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your content images for improved search engine results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily link internal content
- Post Notification – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories the moment a new post is published on your site.
WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Better User Engagement And Web Traffic Generation
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress developer community makes available a number of plugins that improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more visitors to your business.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your site’s SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (lists all of your pages and posts for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your SEO)
Other WordPress plugins you can use to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing features. Here are some WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below can be downloaded at no cost):
- BuddyPress – Run an online social networking community on WordPress.
- bbPress – Run your own community forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress dashboard.
- Disqus – Power discussions and helps to increase engagement on your website.
- Social Media Feather – Easily add social sharing features and buttons to your pages and posts.
(You can easily add social sharing features to your website using WordPress plugins)
Ways To Generate Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Applications
Let’s take a look now at ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Add An Email Newsletter
Adding an email newsletter is an excellent way to grow and retain your readership. Adding email newsletters] provides several benefits and advantages, like:
- Drives targeted traffic
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides useful updates
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special services or products to a select audience
- Provides new opportunities for user interaction
- Provides another way for your content to be shared around with other prospective customers
A proven strategy for attracting subscribers is to provide users with information of high value and offer them something for free in exchange for their personal details. This could be an exclusive guide, tips for handling tax, access to tax calculators, coupons, membership access to videos, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for prospective customers to get in touch. Readers can report issues, ask questions to specific departments, request a quote, and more.
Contact forms provide many benefits, like:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Contact forms can be added to any page or post
- Improves the professional look of your site
- Convenient for site visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin)
This free plugin allows you to create multiple contact forms into any post or page, customize the forms and the email 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 visitors can choose the topic they want to discuss. This helps you get the comment to the right person.
Provide Maps
A map helps your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a great tool for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Allows customers to better plan their meeting or appointments
- Show location of events
(Adding maps helps your visitors and clients find you)
Some of the most popular Google Maps plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Visitors To Your Website Generation Using WordPress Plugins And Themes
Accounting Plugins For WordPress
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting or financial services site that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for users. Here are some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WP Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators. You can embed these into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. It supports internationalization
Note: Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few for:
- Mortgage
- Loans
- Leases
- Debit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes WordPress Plugin)
This plugin installs a widget that shows a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many widgets as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin)
This free plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any page, post, or sidebar with shortcodes.
The plugin includes several customizable features. Choose from built-in themes or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also create custom stocks for specific categories.
Customize the appearance by changing height, width, scrolling speed, opacity, background color, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, text color, font family, font size, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator lets your site visitors calculate indicative repayments online. This is a useful financial tool for calculating car loans, property loans, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator – Loan Calculators)
This plugin also contains an application form that will send a notification 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 WP Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
This plugin lets you integrate 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 business, accept electronic signatures, create PDF versions of your invoices, provide quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, USAePay, and others.
WP-Invoice features include adding custom payments and charges, creating pre-defined line items and discounts, viewing invoice status and progression, filtering and finding invoices, seeing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating email notification templates, displaying 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 Plugin For WordPress)
This complete business management solution includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticket system, CRM and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – Invoice)
All In One Business Management Application supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools like 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 and communicate with customers, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Invoice)
It integrates with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting – WordPress Themes
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 WordPress themes available for accounting firms. With the themes listed below you can own a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WordPress Theme)
This is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded through premium add-ons.
For more information, go here:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
This inexpensive theme offers a variety of styles and layouts to give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
This responsive theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, it’s lightweight, search engine optimized, and fast loading. It provides the flexibility you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and one year of support is included with your purchase.
Visit this website to learn more this theme:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your site any way you want. The theme also has unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
For more details, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
This one is developed specifically for accountants. It has a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, many color options, is easy to use, search engine friendly, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although it can easily fit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy slider plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
Visit this site for more information about this WordPress theme:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress was developed to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features an authoritative color scheme and elements specifically designed to give your accounting business website a professional look. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s responsive and includes pages for your accounting services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate)
This is a corporate theme specifically designed for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type for staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s clean-looking and fast-loading.
For more details, go here:
Divi
(Divi WP Theme)
This theme is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. Divi lets you create a professional site using the page builder or pre-made layouts. You can change your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily change the structure of their web pages without touching any code.
(Divi WordPress Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi comes with 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. Divi is responsive and fully customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all professional themes.
More information:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This premium theme was developed specifically to create good-looking corporate websites.
This theme has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It comes with six color schemes. It also comes with multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to all stunning themes.
More information:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
The Adviser Theme was specifically developed to help those in the financial industry to build trust with a clean business design. It’s ideal for those that provide services such as investing or tax advice. It 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.
Go here for more information:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme)
This one was developed for financial organizations, tax and finance advisors, and those that provide tax assistance. It’s designed to show your services professionally and help build your business reputation. It has different blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
Go here to learn more this theme:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
Finance Business was built for businesses that provide financial services such as consulting, tax help, corporate, finance, insurance, loans, accounting, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management features, animated elements, and a lot more.
For more details, go here:
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 WordPress plugins that improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more traffic.
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