Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accountants face a number of challenges in the online economy, especially when it comes to growing a successful business online.

Challenges Accountants Face Online

Now, more than ever, certified public accountants must work hard to remain competitive, find new business, and keep their current clients. Not only do you have to be fully involved in the communities and industries your business serves, you must also maintain an active web presence. This includes having an effective web presence and learning how to better market your business online.

As well as investing money marketing offline, you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to remain competitive, increasingly larger amounts of their budget will need to be assigned towards developing and maintaining a website that attracts new prospective clients, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and social media, and helps to give your business a wider degree of marketing reach online.

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

Another challenge that accounting organizations (and all other businesses) face with their websites, is that your site has around 30 seconds to provide users with what they are looking 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

Opportunities For CPAs In The Web Economy

As well as facing significant challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting profession that can evolve to meet digital economy demands and can think outside the box when it comes to marketing their business better online.

This comprehensive guide will help you uncover new opportunities to drive more traffic and improve your business results online.

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

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

• Learn How A Poorly Built Web Site Can Cost You Customers And What To Do About It
• The Small Business Owner’s Guide To Using WordPress

Useful Tips For Improving Your Accounting Site

In this section we’ll show you how to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what pages your website needs, what type of content works best, your navigation structure, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, go here: How To Plan Your Business Web Site - A Useful Guide For Non-Technical Business Owners

Ways To Improve Your Website Pages

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

Products And Services Page

You need to include a page that lists your services and any products that you offer.

Your page will include services such as:

• Business accounting – business planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, budgeting, financing, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting services, 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 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. Educate your visitors about what your services do and why they should book an appointment.

About Us Page

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

Remember to list any accounting awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote the company and position it above your competitors.

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

Meet Your Staff

If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is help prospective clients get to know your organization 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 mini bio. Since most visitors will not tend to be that 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 also include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow individual staff members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your 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.

(Add a staff description page. Image source: deepsky.com)

We have written a detailed tutorial about how to easily create and add an easy-to-update simple team directory to your website using a free WP plugin here: Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your Site

Career Opportunities Page

List any career opportunities available within your organization. This page should include training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, social activities sponsored by your firm, etc. It should include information such as the job outlook and career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Include also a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, join your newsletter, follow your social pages, etc.

Testimonials & Case Studies

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to show potential clients what kind of accounting solutions you will implement to help them solve problems. Adding a page with client reviews and case studies also provides prospective clients with social proof.

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

To learn more about using case studies, testimonials and user reviews, refer to this article: How To Achieve Better Results Online Using Effective Testimonials

Contact Page

A functional contact page is crucial.

It should include some or all of the following information about your firm:

• Business Name
• Physical address
• Phone
• Facsimile
• Contact email address
• Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Request for more information – contact details
• Social media links
• Live chat feature (optional feature)

If your business services several locations you will want to make that clear when displaying your address and contact information.

You should also include links to an FAQ page, main pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter, blog, etc.

Blog Section

A blog is a very powerful marketing tool. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business by publishing timely content like company events, updates, training articles and tutorials, opinions on current topics, how-to videos, media presentations, etc.

If you already have an established website, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to promote your business.

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

Very few businesses know that an expertly configured WordPress site can turn your web presence into an automated traffic-generation machine that can begin to deliver new targeted traffic to your website, simply by publishing regular content to your site.

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

For more details, go here: WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Automatically Increase Your Website Traffic For Your Business

Legal Info Pages

It’s crucially important to ensure they have a website that complies will all legal requirements online, not just for building credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that no laws or regulations are being breached wherever your business is located.

Adding some or all of the legal pages below to your 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 Statement
• 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
• and others

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your site. Go here to learn more: Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Ways To Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s fiercely competitive online economy, the willingness to deliver valuable content at no cost has become one of the key success factors for businesses.

Providing great content with useful information and tips will get your visitors to share your web pages and come back for more information. Content marketing is the most effective way to educate site visitors and prospects about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting business could include:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Profit and loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• How to present accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

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

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

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable information that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating useful 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 100% FREE!

Ways To Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Syndicating Content Using RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide many benefits for your site.

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

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

• All of your content updates are in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• RSS feeds allow for subscribing
• A feed provides links to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides multiple ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to providing valuable content 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 useful content for your website, visit sites of finance-related government departments or industry bodies.

For example, here are a few feeds containing useful information that 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 (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to provide your visitors with a better user experience.)

Checklists And Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. Checklists and forms can provide users with useful instructions and resources to perform a task. Forms and checklists are great planning tools.

You can provide online or downloadable checklists and forms covering a range of subjects such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Checklist
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Company Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Provide Unique Tools

Providing unique online tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) on your website can help increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are great tools to add to accounting websites. Other tools could include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part 2, we will be discussing a several online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins and themes that can help to improve your seo, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section one.

To view the rest of this guide, click this link:

• Grow Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins & Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Better User Engagement And Traffic Generation

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