Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The digital economy has not only transformed the way business is done globally, it has also created increasingly difficult challenges and great opportunities for certified public accountants.

Online Challenges For CPAs

CPAs today must work harder than ever to remain in business. Not only do you have to become more involved in the communities and industries your business serves, you must also maintain an active presence online. This includes having a dynamic web presence and learning how to better market your business online.

In addition to investing dollars advertising offline on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv, etc., you will probably find that in order to remain competitive, you will need to invest a greater portion of your budget towards the development and management of a website that drives clients, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and social media, and helps to increase your reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, load fast, and your website layout has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of your website may change in time and sections will need to be updated often. This requires the implementation of a well-developed website and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that CPAs (and most professions) face online, is that your site has only around thirty seconds or less to give visitors the information they are searching for or they will go away.

“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

Online Opportunities For Accountants

As well as facing significant challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for accounting firms that are willing to evolve to meet the demands of the digital economy and who can think progressively when it comes to marketing their business better online.

The article below will help you uncover ways to attract new visitors and build more online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on ways to improve your website, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress content management system (CMS) to power your accounting or financial services business website.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform, see these articles:

• How A Poorly Built Website Can Cost You Potential Buyers
• WordPress – A Business Owner’s Guide

Tips To Improve Your Accounting Site

In this section we’ll show you ways to improve your website and get better results. We will look at what web pages you need, what content works best for accounting websites, your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, visit this page: The Web Site Planning Process: A Money-Saving Primer For Business Owners

Ways To Improve Your Web Pages

Professional business websites require a number of essential pages. Let’s review the pages your  should have and how to structure your website for best results.

Products And Services Page

You need a page that lists your products and services.

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

• Business – business planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, budgeting, financing, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate accounting
• 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, transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using your services and direct them to your appointment booking page.

About Us

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical activities, etc.

It should also mention any awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, publications, associations, etc., that you can use to promote the company and position it above your competitors.

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

Our Team

Are you looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to grow your business online? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

You want prospective clients to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team members. It should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors won’t be well-versed in accounting terms your descriptions 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 so your visitors can follow some of your staff members on their social pages.

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

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your staff or team members to prospective new clients. Screenshot image sourced from: deepsky.com)

We have written a detailed tutorial about how to add an updatable list directory of employees to your website with no coding skills required here: WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site

Work With Us

This is a listing of career opportunities available within your organization. It could include type of training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. You can include information such as the job outlook and new career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Also include a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, join your announcements list, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies & Testimonials

Customer reviews and case studies are a great way to show potential clients what kind of accounting solutions you can implement to help them solve problems. Adding a page with case studies and testimonials from past clients also helps to provide visitors social proof.

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

We have created a comprehensive article about using client testimonials and client reviews to improve your business results online. For more details, go here: Learn How To Achieve Better Results Online With Awesome Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should include some or all of the following information:

• Name Of Your Organization
• Physical address
• Phone
• Facsimile number
• Contact email
• Map
• Web address
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media networks
• Online chat feature

If you have different locations you will want to make this clear when showing the address and contact information.

You should also include links to an FAQ page, useful pages, special offers, support page, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Blog

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Most blogging platforms are built around a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business using timely content like company news, company updates, training articles and tutorials, opinions and discussions, videos, media presentations, etc.

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

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

Not many people know this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can turn your web presence into an automated traffic system that can begin to attract web traffic to your business, simply by publishing regular content to your web site.

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

Go here to learn more: WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Getting More Website Visitors Automatically With WordPress

Legal Information

As a professional accountant or financial services provider, ensuring that you have a website that complies will all legal requirements online is extremely important, not just for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaching any local, regional and federal laws or regulations in whichever location you service.

Adding some or all of the following legal pages to your website will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential sources of threats and legal inconveniences:

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

Go here to learn more about adding legal pages to your website: Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve Your Web Content

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

By committing to providing great content with information and tips, you will get your readers to share your web pages with others and come back for more. Content marketing is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business and about using your services.

For example, topics for an accounting or financial services business could include:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• How to present accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning advice
• Business insurance
• Risk protection
• How to structure 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 informative articles that will help your your prospective clients understand your services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, business budgeting, reducing business debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use the same keywords in your content that your readers would search for.

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

Improving User Experience

Improving your website’s user experience (generally referred to as UX) will help you keep visitors coming back and using your site. This section will show you ways you can improve your visitor engagement and user experience.

Using RSS Feeds

RSS feeds provide lots of benefits for your business.

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

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

• All of your updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• A feed provides links back to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are various ways readers can receive your content (e.g. read your content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• It’s built into WordPress

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

To find RSS feeds with loads of useful content just search online for relevant government departments and industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of useful RSS feeds you may want to add to your accounting website:

• 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

(RSS feeds can help to improve your accounting website’s user experience.)

Add Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your audience. Checklists and forms can provide visitors with useful instructions and resources to complete a task. Checklists and forms can also be great planning tools.

Forms and checklists can address topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Negative Gearing Checklist
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Online Tools

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

In the next section, we take a look at a number of online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins and themes that can help to improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more web traffic to your business.

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

To view Part Two, click this link:

• Grow Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins That Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Traffic To Your Website Generation

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