Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accountants face many challenges in the digital economy, especially when it comes to growing a business presence online.

Challenges Certified Public Accountants Face Online

Accounting businesses today must work harder than ever before to remain competitive. Not only do you have to become more involved in the communities and industries your business serves, you must also develop an active digital presence. This includes having an effective web presence and learning how to better market your business online.

In addition to spending dollars in offline marketing, businesses in the accounting industry are now also finding that increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be allocated towards the development and management of a website that attracts prospective clients, engages visitors, outperforms the competition in search engines and social media, and increases their reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your pages have to be fast-loading, and your website has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of your website may change over time and some aspects will need to be updated frequently. This requires implementing well-planned web and content management strategy.

Another challenge that accountancy firms face with their websites, as other professions do for that matter, is that your site has only about thirty seconds or less to give users 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

Online Opportunities For CPAs

As well as facing a number of significant challenges, there are also many online opportunities available to businesses in the accounting sector that are willing to adapt to meet online demands and think strategically about improving their online marketing skills.

This guide will help you uncover new opportunities to attract new accounts and establish stronger online credibility for your business.

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

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform, go here:

• Learn Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Customers And What To Do About It
• WordPress And Small Business – The Beginner’s Guide To Building A Successful Business With WordPress

Useful Tips For Improving Your Accounting Or Financial Services Website

In this section we will start with the basics and show you ways to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what pages your site needs, what type of content works best, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, check out the guide we have written here: A Comprehensive Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Improve Your Web Pages

Professional business websites need some essential pages. Let’s discuss the pages your  should have and how to structure your accounting website for best results.

Your Products And Services

You need to include a page that describes your products or services.

This page will include services such as:

• Business accounting – business planning, incorporation of companies, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, budgeting, forecasting, financing, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, 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

List all of the services you provide. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about what these services do and why they should choose you.

About Us Page

This page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical programs, etc.

It’s important to also list any awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, publications, associations, etc., that could be used to promote the company and position it above other competitors.

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

Staff

If you are looking for inexpensive ways to grow your business online, then something you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees. This page should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors will not tend to 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. This page should also include social buttons that will allow your visitors to follow selected staff members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight each staff member’s expertise and qualifications, how their skills contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a staff page. Screenshot source: deepsky.com)

We have created a detailed tutorial about how to add a directory of employees in your web site without coding skills here: How To Easily Create A Simple Staff Directory In Your WordPress Site

Job Opportunities

This is a listing of career opportunities within the organization. This page would include training offered, benefits, professional development, etc. You can include information about additional career opportunities in the accounting industry.

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

Case Studies

Reviews from clients and case studies are a great way to show potential clients what type of accounting solutions you will implement to help them solve their problems. Adding a page with case studies and client reviews also provides visitors social proof online.

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

We have created a comprehensive article about using client testimonials and client reviews get better results online. Go here to learn more: Create Better Results Online Using Knockout Testimonials

Contact Page

A functional contact page is essential.

It should include the following information:

• Name Of Your Organization
• Your physical address
• Phone
• Fax
• Contact email
• Map and directions
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Request for information – contact details
• Links to social media pages
• Online chat feature (optional feature)

If you operate from several areas you will want to make that clear when showing the address and contact information.

You can also include links to an FAQ section, main pages, special offers, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog

A blog is a very powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business using content like news and events, updates, training articles, informative posts, videos, media presentations, etc.

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

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

Very few businesses know that an expertly configured WordPress site can turn your web presence into an automated traffic-generation system that will begin to drive web traffic to your website, simply by adding regular content to your web site.

(WordPress can generate traffic automatically to your site)

Go here to learn more: Web Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Growing Your Website Visitors Automatically Using WordPress

Legal Info Pages

It’s crucially important to make sure they have a website that complies will all legal requirements online, not just for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no laws and regulations are being broken wherever your do business in.

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

• Contact Page
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your website. Go here to learn more: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your Website

Tips For Improving The Content On Your Site

In today’s fiercely competitive online economy, the earlier you begin to engage in the practice of content marketing, the sooner you will begin to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

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

For example, topics for an accounting business could include:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Understanding profit and loss statements
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• How to present accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring 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 educational articles that will help your your prospective clients gain a better understanding of your accounting services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, tips on using office accounting software, reducing debt, understanding accounting conventions, etc.

Remember to include keywords and terms in your articles that readers would search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating useful content for your site 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 keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you ways you can improve visitor engagement and user experience.

RSS Feeds – Content Syndication

Adding RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and user experience in many ways.

If you provide useful content, other sites may want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

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

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

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

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

Here are a few 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 (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your website’s user experience.)

Adding Forms & Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your readers and set yourself apart from the competition. Checklists and forms can give them step-by-step instructions and resources to complete a necessary task. Forms and checklists can also be great business planning tools.

Checklists and forms could address subjects such as:

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Not-For-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Capital Gains Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Other Tools

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

In the next section of this detailed guide, we will be discussing a number of online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins and themes that can help improve your seo, increase user engagement and generate more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part one of this article on ways to improve your accounting business online.

To view Part Two, click this link:

• Your Accounting Website – How To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation With Plugins

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