Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The web economy has not only revolutionised the way business is done worldwide, it has also created growing challenges and opportunities for accounting and financial services businesses.

Online Challenges For The Accounting & Financial Services Profession

Certified Public Accountants today must work harder than ever before to remain competitive. Not only do you have to become actively involved in the communities and industries you serve, you must also develop an active presence online. This includes having a website and learning better ways to market your business online.

In addition to investing money in offline marketing activities such as advertising on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are now finding that increasingly larger amounts of their budget need to be delegated towards developing and managing a website that will drive new clients, engage visitors, outperform the competition in search engines and social media, and help increase their marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, load fast, and your site layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website will change over time and many aspects will need to be updated frequently. This requires having a well-planned web and content management strategy in place.

Another problem that accounting firms face with their websites, as most other professions do for that matter, is that they have an average of 30 seconds to give visitors what they need or they will look elsewhere.

“Websites have evolved into central information hubs where service information is still present but enhanced with web portals, hyperlinks to state and federal sites, and a variety of free tools.”

Michael Alter, http://www.accountingweb.com/technology/accounting-software/tips-for-improving-your-website

Opportunities For Certified Public Accountants In The Digital Economy

As well as facing significant challenges, there are also many online opportunities available to accounting companies that can evolve to meet the demands of the digital economy and can think strategically about improving their online business marketing skills.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn about opportunities to drive more traffic and establish stronger online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your accounting business online, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) to power your accounting business website.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system (CMS), go here:

• Discover How A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Potential Customers
• WordPress In Business – An Online Guide To Growing A Successful Business Using A WordPress Site

Practical Tips For Improving Your Accounting Website

We’ll start first by covering some basics. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your accounting website and get better results online. We will look at what pages an accounting website needs, what content you need, layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, visit this page: A Money-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Pages

All websites require several basic pages. Let’s review the pages your  should have and how to structure your website for best results.

Services And Products Description Page

It’s essential to have a page that explains your products or services.

Your page will include all the services and products you offer, such as:

• Business – business planning, incorporation of companies, accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, book keeping, forecasting, budgeting, financing, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate finance
• Wealth creation
• Superannuation/retirement plan (401k) advice
• Audit risk assessment and assurance
• Quickbooks – setup, training, tune up, and support
• Specialist services – mergers, acquisitions, information technology, secretarial, rentals, trusts, fiduciary accounting, succession planning, selling a business, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using these services and why they should book an appointment with you.

Who We Are

This page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical donations, etc.

It’s important to also list any business awards, recognitions, certifications, accreditations, publications, associations, etc., that you can use to promote the company and position it above the competition.

(List all of your awards accreditations, certifications, recognitions, publications, associations, etc. in the About Us page. Image sourced from: deloitte.com)

Team Profile Page

If you are searching for simple ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your business better.

Potential clients need to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees or team members. This page should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors will not tend to be familiar with accounting terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should even include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow your staff members on their social networks.

On this page, make sure to highlight each team member’s expertise and qualifications, why they are an asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a ‘meet the team’ page. Image source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to easily add a simple team members directory in your web site without using code, go here: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory

Work With Us

This is a listing of career opportunities available within your company. It should include type of training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. You can also include case studies of trainees who have risen within your organization and information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the accounting industry.

Maintain a positions available section in your page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, subscribe to your newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials

Customer reviews and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients businesses minimize tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. By adding a page with case studies and client reviews, you are also helping to provide social proof online.

(Add a page to your site with client reviews and case studies. Image source: pcg-services.com)

If you want to learn more about using case studies, testimonials and reviews, see this article: Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Prospects With Effective Client Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a contact page is essential.

Your contact page should include the following information about your company:

• Business Name
• Physical location
• Telephone
• Facsimile number
• Contact email
• Map and directions
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Links to social media pages
• Live chat feature (optional)

If your business services different areas you want to make this clear when showing the address and contact information.

You could also include links to an FAQ section, useful pages, special offers, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business using timely content such as announcements, company updates, training information, informative posts, videos, media presentations, etc.

If you already have an existing site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your company.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing site is very hard to keep updated with new content or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can act both as your website and blog.

You may not be aware of this, but WordPress can become an automated traffic-generation system that can instantly begin driving web traffic to your web site, simply by adding new content to your website on a consistent basis.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can generate new visitors automatically to your website)

Go here to learn more about this: WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Driving More Website Traffic For Your Business Automatically Using WordPress

Legal Pages

It’s vitally important to make sure they have a compliant website, not just for establishing trust and credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that no local, regional and federal laws and regulations are being contravened wherever your do business in.

Depending on what products and services you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your accounting site will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Financial/Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website here: Why You Need To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Improving Your Web Content

In today’s ultra competitive global economy, the sooner you begin to publish great content on your site, the quicker you will begin to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

Providing great content with useful advice and tips will get your readers sharing your content and coming back for more information. Using content is the most effective way to inform and teach site visitors and prospective clients about your business.

For example, for an accounting business, topics could include the following:

• How balance sheets work
• Profit and loss statements
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Business cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Risk protection
• How to structure your self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing insurance, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your readers gain a better understanding of your services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, tax planning for small business, reducing debt, understanding financial conventions, etc.

Remember to use the same keywords and terms in your content that prospective clients would search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable information that will teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your website, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Tips For Improving User Experience

Improving website user experience (known as UX) will help to keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and UX.

RSS Feeds

RSS feeds provide plenty of benefits for your site.

If you provide content that adds value to others, other businesses may want to syndicate your content.

Some of the benefits of syndicating your content to other businesses using RSS feeds, include:

• All of your updates are in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Can be shared online
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• A feed provides a way for external links to point back to your content
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• There are a number of ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. view your content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits to adding syndicated content to your site from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find many useful RSS feeds by visiting sites of finance and tax-related government departments or industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of RSS feeds you may want to consider adding to your site:

• Taxation Policy Center: http://www.taxpolicycenter.org/press/rss.cfm
• Australian Taxation Office: https://www.ato.gov.au/RSS-news-feeds.aspx
• Canada Revenue Agency: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/rssfeeds/
• UK HM Revenue and Customs: http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/rss/rss.htm
• South Africa Revenue Service: http://www.sars.gov.za/Pages/RSS-Feeds.aspx

(Use RSS feeds to provide your visitors with a better user experience.)

Adding Forms & Checklists

Checklists and forms are a fantastic way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your audience and provide something unique. Forms and checklists can give them useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete necessary tasks. Forms and checklists are great planning tools.

You can provide forms and checklists (or links to these) covering a range of topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Checklist
• Fundraising Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Company Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Add Online Tools

Providing unique tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are some of the most popular tools for accounting websites. Others could include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part two, we take a look at a several WordPress-based tools you can add to your site that improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

***

This is the end of section one of this guide on ways to build your accounting business presence online.

To keep reading, click this link:

• Grow Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Generating More Visitors To Your Website

Subscribe To WPCompendium.org And Get Notified When New Tutorials Get Published!

***

***

***