In Part 1 of this article on ways to build your accounting business online, we covered the following areas:
- Online Challenges For Accounting Businesses
- Online Opportunities For Accountants
- How To Improve Your Web Pages
- Tips On How To Improve Your Content
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Topics covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Web Traffic
- Generate New Leads & Enquiries
- How To Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic To Your Site Generation With Plugins & Themes
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Online Business Tips For Accountants – WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Better User Engagement And Driving More Visitors
Web traffic is an important part of your online business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimize Your Website For Search Engines (SEO) Using WordPress
There are lots of ways that WordPress helps improve SEO:
- SEO-Friendly – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your articles and posts.
- Post Tags – Choose the keywords that you want your article pages to be indexed by in the search engines.
- Categories – Create categories for your posts and products.
- Excerpts – Create an excerpt that search engines will show.
- Images – title images with keywords for better search results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that lets you easily link internal content
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories as soon as a new post is published on your site.
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress community makes available various plugins that improve your website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your website.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your site’s search engine optimization:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously called WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your site’s SEO)
Other things you can do to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing features. Here are a few more WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – This free WordPress plugin can be used to run your own social networking community on your site.
- bbPress – bbPress helps you set up a community forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress site.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and helps to increase engagement on your site.
- Floating Social – This plugin lets you add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online on your website.
(You can easily add social sharing to your site with free or inexpensive plugins)
Generate Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
In this section, we’ll look at how to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries for your business.
Adding An Email Newsletter
Adding an email newsletter is a great way to retain and grow your readership. It provides a number of benefits, like:
- Drives targeted traffic
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides updates that could save businesses time and money
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for increasing user interaction
- Provides additional opportunities for subscribers to share your content
A proven way to attract newsletter subscribers is to provide users with valuable content and give them free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their details. This could be a time-saving guide, tips for handling finances, access to tax calculators, coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Adding Contact Forms
Contact forms make it easy and simple for prospective customers to contact you. Contact forms also let visitors report issues, ask questions to specific departments, request a quote, send suggestions for improvements and more.
A contact form provides many benefits, like:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your website
- Is convenient for site visitors
A popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7)
This free contact form plugin is easy to install and set up and lets you add multiple contact forms into any page or post, customize the forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is supported.
Another option you may want to consider is to segment your contact form so prospective customers can select which department they want to contact. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Map Integration
Adding maps to your website helps your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a great tool for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Visitors can easily find you
- Shows location of events
(Adding maps helps your visitors and customers find you)
Popular Google Maps plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins And Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Generating More Visitors
Accounting And Financial Services Plugins For WordPress
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your website that will immediately add a range of practical tools for visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WP Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can provide to users on your website. Internationalization is supported.
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few for:
- Interest rate
- Loans
- Leases
- Equity
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a widget that shows up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker WordPress Plugin)
With this plugin you can place a custom stock ticker on any sidebar, post or page with shortcodes.
This plugin includes a number of 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.
Appearance customization features include height, width, background color, scrolling speed, opacity, number of stocks displayed at one time, font family, text color, font size, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin)
This free calculator allows your visitors to calculate indicative repayments. This is a useful tool for calculating repayments on vehicle loans, real estate loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculators)
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 forms that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice Plugin)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress users with clients to bill.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices. It also allows you to set up recurring billing. It can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quoting, 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 payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and several others.
WP-Invoice features include adding custom payments and charges, adding pre-defined line items and discounts, viewing invoice status and progression, easily filtering and finding invoices, showing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating email notification templates, viewing 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 is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticketing management system, client relationship management and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin – Client Invoice)
All In One Business Management Application supports multiple 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 WordPress Plugin)
This is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoicing, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – WordPress Plugin – Invoice)
It allows you to get paid faster by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting WordPress Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best WordPress themes available for accountancy businesses. With the themes listed below you can own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme is a turn-key theme created for accountants and accounting firms. It’s a responsive theme with a drag-and-drop page-builder, has 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 customized using premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
This premium WordPress theme comes with a variety of styles and layouts to make your accounting website look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, search optimized, fast loading, and is responsive. It provides the features your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and one year of support is included with your purchase.
Visit the theme site to learn more about this theme:
Accounting
(Accounting)
This theme 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 responsive. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
More information:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
This one is a child theme for the Genesis Framework that’s developed specifically for accounting businesses. The theme provides a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, many color choices, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine friendly, and is fully responsive. Although this theme can easily fit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy WordPress responsive slider plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
More information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
Accounting WordPress Theme was developed to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., is designed specifically to help 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 services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
To learn more about using this theme, visit this website:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme)
This is a corporate theme designed specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type for staff profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s a clean and fast-loading theme.
To learn more about about using this WordPress theme, go here:
Divi
(Divi WP Theme)
This theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. You can create any kind of professional site you want using its page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can change 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 any code.
(Divi – WordPress Theme – Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. Modules include accordion, call to action, contact form, countdown timer, gallery, number counter, post title, pricing table, tabs, toggle, fullwidth header, fullwidth map, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is responsive and completely customizable. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 professional themes.
More information:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme from Elegant Themes was specifically created to make corporate websites look great.
This theme has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider. It also has a blog design. It has six different color schemes. It also has multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes access to over 80 stunning themes.
Go here for more information:
Adviser
(Adviser Theme For WordPress)
This theme was developed specifically to help finance industry professionals build trust online with a clean business design. It’s ideal for those that provide services like investments or tax help. Adviser 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.
For more information, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help WP Theme)
This one was developed for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and firms offering tax services. The theme is designed to show your services professionally to 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.
To learn more about this theme, visit the theme website:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme)
Finance Business was developed for businesses that provide any type of financial service including consulting, tax help, finance, corporate, insurance, accounting, loans, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, a custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page options, color management, animations, and lots more.
Go here to learn more this WordPress theme:
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 your accounting or financial services business online with WordPress plugins and themes.
Subscribe below to receive 101+ useful WordPress tips that will help you grow your business …
***
"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com
***