Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only transformed the way business is done around the world, it has also created a number of difficult challenges and opportunities for accounting and financial services businesses.

Online Challenges For Accountants

Accounting businesses today must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do they have to participate in the communities and industries they serve, they must also maintain an active presence online. This includes having a dynamic website and learning smarter ways to market your business online.

In addition to spending dollars in offline marketing activities like advertising on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are now also finding that they will need to invest a bigger amount of their marketing budget to develop and maintain a website that can attract new clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and give them wider marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, your web pages have to be fast-loading, and your site has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that your site’s needs will change in time and many areas will need to be frequently updated. This requires implementing sound web and content management strategy.

One other problem that accounting businesses face with their websites (and most businesses for that matter), is that your site has only around thirty seconds or less to provide users with what they need or they will find what they are looking for 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 Accounting Businesses In The Online Economy

As well as facing significant business and technology changes, there are also many online opportunities available to businesses in the accounting sector that are willing to adapt to meet the demands of the digital economy and think outside the box about marketing their services better online.

In this guide, you will learn about new opportunities to attract and engage more visitors and improve your business online.

As well as providing tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your accounting web presence, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System to power your accounting or financial services business website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform, see these articles:

• Why A Poorly Constructed Website Can Cost You Prospective Customers
• WordPress For Small Business – An Online Guide To Growing A Successful Small Business With A WordPress Blog

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

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

If you need website planning assistance, see this detailed guide: The Website Planning Process - A Money-Saving Guide For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Website Pages

All business websites need several basic pages. Let’s review these.

Services And Products

It’s essential to include a page that describes your services and any products that you offer.

Your page should include services such as:

• Business accounting – business planning, incorporation of companies, accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, book keeping, forecasting, budgeting, financing, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, planning, reviewing, auditing, advising, 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 businesses, transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

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 direct them to your appointment booking page.

About Us

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

It should list any professional awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your company and set it above the competition.

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

Meet The Team

If you are looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know, like and trust your organization better.

Potential clients need to relate to your business. One 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 mini bio. Since most visitors won’t be well-versed in accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons that will allow your prospective clients to follow some of your team members on their social pages.

In this page, make sure to highlight each employee’s expertise, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your employees to prospective new clients. Image source: deepsky.com)

If you need help how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple team directory in your site without messing around with code, go here: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site: Tutorial

Work For Us

List any career opportunities available within the company. This page would include training, employee benefits, professional development, etc. It should include stories of trainees who have risen within your organization and information about 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, join your newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies

Testimonials and case studies are a great way to show potential clients what kind of financial solutions you will implement to help them solve problems. By adding a page with case studies and testimonials from previous clients, you are also helping to provide potential clients with social proof.

(Add a web page with case studies and reviews from clients. Screenshot image source: pcg-services.com)

We have written extensively on using case studies, testimonials and reviews to grow your business online here: How To Improve Your Visitor-To-Lead Conversions With Knockout User Testimonials

Contact Us Page

A functional contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should provide some or all of the following information about your business:

• Name Of Your Organization
• Physical location
• Phone number
• Facsimile
• Contact email
• Google Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Request for more information – contact details
• Links to social media profiles
• Interactive chat (optional feature)

If your business operates in several areas you should make that clear when showing your address and contact info.

You can also include links to an FAQ section, main pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business using content like announcements, company updates, educational information, opinions and discussions, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

If you already have an accounting website, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your services.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing site is very hard to keep updated or not giving you the results you want, then WordPress can become both your business website and business blog.

Something few people know about, is that WordPress can become an automated traffic-generation machine that will begin to attract targeted traffic to your website, simply by publishing content on a consistent basis to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can automate your traffic generation)

Go here to learn more about this: WordPress Website Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Create A Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Info Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is vital, not just for building credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that you are not breaching any laws and regulations wherever your do business in.

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

• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• Terms Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Health/Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your website. For more details: Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve Your Content

In today’s globally competitive economy, having a sound content marketing strategy has become one of the key differentiators for businesses that sell similar products or provide similar services.

Providing great content with useful advice and tips will get your visitors to share your web pages with others online and come back for more. Content marketing is the most effective way to inform and educate site visitors and prospective clients about your business.

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

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Profit and loss statements
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• How to present accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Risk prevention
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your your readers gain a better understanding of your accounting services, such as software accounting, business accounting, business auditing, reducing debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use relevant keywords and terminology in your content that prospective clients will be searching for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your visitors and grow your business online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

Improving user experience (often referred to as UX) helps to keep visitors coming back and using your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and user experience.

Syndicate Content With RSS Feeds

An RSS feed provides many benefits for your accounting business.

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

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:

• All of your updates are kept in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared online
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• An RSS feed provides a way for external links to point back to your content
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• RSS provides multiple ways for readers to receive your content (e.g. users can view the content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to providing content on your website from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

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

Here are some feeds you may want to add 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 improve your site’s UX.)

Checklists And Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a fantastic way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your audience. Forms and checklists can provide useful step-by-step instructions and resources to perform necessary tasks. Forms and checklists are great planning tools.

Checklists and forms can address areas such as:

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Non-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Partnership Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Adding Unique Tools

Providing useful online tools, gadgets and applications for businesses on your website is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your potential clients. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are great tools to add to accounting websites. Other applications would include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we will look at a several online tools you can use in your accounting or financial services website using WordPress plugins and themes that can help to improve seo, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

***

This is the end of part one of this step-by-step guide on ways to improve your accounting web presence.

To continue, click this link:

• How To Successfully Grow An Accounting Or Financial Services Website – Part 2

Get Notified When New Tutorials Get Published – Subscribe To Our Site!

***

***

***