In Part One of this comprehensive guide on ways to improve your accounting business web presence, we covered the following topics:
- Online Challenges For The Accounting & Financial Services Profession
- Opportunities For The Accounting Profession In The Web Economy
- Your Web Pages
- Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Improving Web Traffic
- Generating Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Creating Better User Engagement And Driving More Visitors
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
How To Improve Web Traffic
Web traffic is a vital part of your online business growth. This section discusses ways of improving your accounting website with WordPress.
Optimize Your Site For SEO
There are many ways WordPress can help to optimize your website for search engines:
- SEO-Friendly – configure the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the web address of your pages.
- Tags – Choose the keywords that you want search engines to index your articles for.
- Post Categories – Create search engine-friendly categories for your posts and products.
- Post Excerpts – Set the description for your posts that search engines will show in their search result pages.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for better search engine results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that allows you to easily create internal links
- Post Notification – Configure 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 Increase Web Traffic Generation Using WordPress Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are quite a number of plugins that improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your website.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your website’s search engine optimization:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (lists all of your pages for indexing by 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 ways to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your site are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social features. Here are a few fantastic WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below are also free):
- BuddyPress – This free plugin allows you to set up and manage a social community on your WordPress website, with member profiles, user groups, messaging, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – This free WordPress plugin lets you run a community forum on your website.
- E-Newsletter – Use this plugin to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress dashboard, without a 3rd party subscription.
- Disqus – Power discussions and increases engagement on your website.
- Social Media Feather – Use this plugin to add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online on your posts and pages.
(You can add social sharing to your website easily using free or inexpensive plugins)
Tips For Generating Leads & Enquiries
Let’s now take a look at how to improve sales and generate more leads and enquiries.
Add An Email Newsletter
Adding an email newsletter is an excellent way to build a subscriber list. It] provides many benefits and advantages including:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides you with a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides new opportunities for improving interaction
- Provides you with additional ways for your content to be shared around with others
A proven strategy for attracting new subscribers to your newsletter is to provide high value content and offer users free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their details. This can be a handy guide, tips for handling tax, access to financial calculators, coupons, membership access to videos, contests, etc.
Add Contact Forms
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch. Contact forms also let readers raise problems, ask questions to specific departments, ask for quotes, give suggestions for new services or products and more.
A contact form provides a number of benefits, like:
- Reduces spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what is sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any post or page
- Looks professional
- Convenience for site visitors
A very popular contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 – WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin allows you to add multiple contact forms, customize the forms and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is supported.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so users can select the topic they want to discuss. This helps you get the comment to the right person.
Adding A Map
A map helps your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a useful tool for several reasons:
- A map increases local SEO
- Allows clients to better plan their visits and appointments
- Display location of events
(Adding a map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Some of the most popular map plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Generating More Visitors
Accounting And Financial Services WordPress Plugins
WordPress provides a number of plugins you can add to your accounting or financial services website to immediately add a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are just some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin For WordPress)
This is a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can display on your website. The plugin supports internationalization
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Interest rate
- Rate of return
- Tax
- Credit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes)
This plugin installs a widget that displays up to 20 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 – WordPress Plugin)
With this plugin you can add custom stock tickers to any sidebar, page or post using shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker provides loads of customizable features. You can choose to use built-in skins or customize it yourself to match your website. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing colours, size, text, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin allows your users to calculate indicative repayments online. It’s great for calculating repayments on car loans, property loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculators)
The plugin also contains an application form that will send a message to the email address you specify.
It will display 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.
This plugin integrates billing into WordPress. You can send clients itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF invoice versions, provide quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WordPress user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, and others.
You can add custom payments and charges, add pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create email notification templates, view 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 Plugin For WordPress)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticket management system, client relationship management and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin – Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports multiple 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 Plugin For WordPress)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoices, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin – Invoice)
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, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting. Here is a list of some of the best themes themes available for accountancy businesses. These themes allow you to have a professional accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro)
This premium WordPress theme 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 menus, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resizing for images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded by installing premium add-ons.
Go here for more details:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
Accountancy Theme has a variety of styles and layouts that helps give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
This responsive (mobile-friendly) theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, it’s lightweight, search engine optimized, and fast loading. Accountancy provides the flexibility you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and one year of support is included in your purchase.
Go here for more info:
Accounting
(Accounting WP Theme)
This premium theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your website any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). It looks clean and modern and loads fast.
Visit the theme website to learn more this theme:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme)
This one is a premium WordPress child theme for the Genesis Framework designed for accounting services. Kathryn allows you to use WordPress as a true CMS and comes with multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, flexible rotator, call to action boxes, author boxes for single or multiple bloggers, a variety of colors, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine friendly, and is 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 must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
Go here for more information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This one was created to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features an authoritative color scheme and layout elements 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 and includes pages for your accounting services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme For WordPress)
This is a free corporate theme designed specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type adding employee profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean and fast-loading theme.
Go here for more information about this WordPress theme:
Divi
(Divi Theme)
This is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire theme collection. You can create any style of professional website you want using its page builder or beautiful pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
Divi’s page builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and change the structure of their web pages without editing code.
(Divi Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
Divi has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These include multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is responsive and fully customizable. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes access to 80+ themes.
More info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme from Elegant Themes was specifically built to create good-looking corporate websites.
The Corporation has a page-based home page design with a nice slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It comes with 6 unique color schemes. It also comes with multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to all beautifully-designed themes.
More information:
Adviser
(Adviser WP Theme)
Adviser was designed specifically to help finance professionals build trust through clean web design. It’s perfect for those that provide services like investing or tax help. It includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, lease calculator, multiple shortcodes and widgets, and the drag-and-drop visual composer..
For more details about using this WordPress theme, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
This theme was designed specifically for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and businesses offering tax services. It’s designed to showcase your services professionally to help establish your professional reputation. It provides different 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 WordPress theme, visit the theme website:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
Finance Business WordPress Theme was specifically designed for organizations that provide financial services including consulting, tax help, corporate, finance, insurance, accounting, loans, and more. The theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, 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 comprehensive guide has helped you learn ways of improving SEO, improve user engagement and generate more web traffic with plugins and themes.
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