Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

This article focuses on helping accountants and financial service professionals grow their business online and contains useful information on ways to improve the effectiveness of your accounting or finance-related web presence.

Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The Ultimate Guide To Building And Growing Your Accounting Web PresenceThe information economy has not only transformed businesses worldwide, it has also created a number of challenges and opportunities for accountants.

Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online

CPAs today must work harder than ever before to remain competitive. Not only do they have to maintain an active presence in the communities and industries they serve, they must also develop and maintain a strong presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better promote your services online.

As well as spending money advertising offline, businesses in the accounting industry are now finding that they need to allocate a larger share of their marketing budget towards the development and management of a website that can drive prospects, engage visitors, outperform the competition in search engines and help give their business wider marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, your 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 the needs of the website may change over time and sections will need to be updated often. This requires the implementation of a sound website and content management strategy.

Another difficult challenge that accounting businesses (and other businesses) face online, is that your site has around thirty seconds or less to provide users 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 CPAs In The Web Economy

As well as facing many challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting profession that are willing to evolve to meet digital economy demands and who can think outside the box about improving their online marketing skills.

In this article, you will discover new ways to drive more traffic and establish stronger online credibility for your business.

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As well as providing useful website improvement tips, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress content management system (CMS) to power your accounting website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress, go here:

Useful Tips For Improving Your Website

Let’s start by reviewing 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 your website needs, what content works best for accounting and financial services websites, your navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your website, visit this page: A Practical Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Your Website Pages

All websites require a number of basic web pages. Let’s take a look at the pages your  need and how to set up your accounting or financial services website for best results.

Products And Services Page

You need a page that explains your services or products.

This page should include all the services you offer, such as:

  • Business – business planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, book keeping, financing, budgeting, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
  • Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advising, 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, 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 your services and direct them to your appointment booking page.

About Us Page

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

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

List all of your awards recognitions, accreditations, certifications, associations, publications, etc. in your About page

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

Core Team

Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to grow your business online or get prospects to engage more on your site? Then make it easier for your prospective clients to get to know, like and trust you, your team 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 people. It should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors won’t be very well-versed in accounting terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons that will allow your site 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 person’s expertise, 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 page that introduces your staff members to prospective new clients

(Make sure to add a staff description page. Screenshot image sourced from: deepsky.com)

We have written a detailed tutorial on how to easily add a simple and easy-to-manage simple team members directory in your website here: How To Easily Create A Simple Employee List In Your WordPress Site Without Editing Code

Recruitment Page

This is a listing of career opportunities within the organization. This page can include training, benefits, professional development, etc. It should include stories of recruits who have worked their way up in 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 this page, join your updates list, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials And Case Studies

Case studies and client reviews are a great way to show prospective clients what type of financial solutions you are capable of implementing to help solve their problems. Adding a web page with case studies and testimonials from past clients also provides prospective clients with social proof online.

Add a page with client reviews and case studies

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

We have created a comprehensive article about using testimonials and user reviews get better results online. Go here to learn more: Discover How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Leads Using Highly Effective Client Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should include:

  • Name
  • Physical location
  • Telephone
  • Fax number
  • Contact email address
  • Map
  • Web address
  • Contact form
  • Request for more information – who to contact
  • Links to social media pages
  • Interactive chat (optional feature)

If your business services multiple locations you want to make this clear when showing your address and contact info.

You could also include a few links for commonly-asked questions, frequently-visited pages, special offers, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Blog

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Many blogging platforms are built around a content management system that is easy to use and allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content like news and events, updates, useful articles, opinions on current topics, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

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

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

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Very few businesses know that WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic system that can help attract a stream of targeted traffic to your business, simply by publishing regular content to your site.

An expertly configured WordPress site can generate web traffic automatically to your site

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

To learn more about this go here: Website Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Growing Your Web Traffic Automatically

Legal Info Pages

As a professional business, ensuring that you have a website that complies will all legal requirements online is important, not just for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaking laws or regulations in whichever region you do business in.

Depending on what services you provide, adding the following legal pages to your site will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

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

To learn more about adding legal pages to your website, see this article: What You Need To Know About Adding Legal Pages To Your WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s globally competitive economy, the sooner you begin to publish great content on your site, the faster you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from the competition.

You will want to provide great content with useful information and tips that will get your readers to share your content with others and come back for more information. Content marketing is the most effective way to inform and teach your visitors and prospects about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting business could cover:

  • How balance sheets work
  • Overlooked tax deductions
  • Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
  • Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
  • Cashflow planning advice
  • Business insurance
  • Protecting revenues
  • Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
  • Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

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

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

Tip

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will show you how to drive more traffic to your site, 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 100% FREE!

Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Using RSS Feeds

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

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

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

  • All of your content updates are kept in one place
  • your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
  • RSS feeds can be shared online
  • Feeds allow users to subscribe
  • It provides a way for links to point back to your site
  • Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
  • There are various ways readers can receive your content (e.g. subscribers can view your content on their mobile device using different applications)
  • RSS is 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.

You can find many useful RSS feeds by searching online for relevant government departments and industry bodies.

For example, here are a few useful RSS feeds you could add to your accounting site:

Use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to improve your site's user experience.

(RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your accounting site’s user experience.)

Adding Forms & Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase user engagement and add value to your audience. Forms and checklists can give them useful instructions and resources to get necessary tasks completed. Forms and checklists are great business planning tools.

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

  • How To Set Up A Company
  • Rental Property Worksheet
  • Fundraising Governance Checklist
  • Disclosure Requirements
  • Company Tax Checklist
  • Trust Tax Checklist
  • Income Tax Variation Forms
Add Online Tools

Providing unique tools and applications for businesses can help 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 tools can include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we will look at a several WordPress plugins and themes you can add to your accounting site that can improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and generate more traffic to your business.

How To Grow Your Accounting Business Online Using WordPress

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

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