In Part 1 of this guide on ways to build your accounting business online, we provided in-depth tips and suggestions on the following topics:
- Challenges Accountants Face Online
- Online Opportunities For Accountants
- Improving Your Web Pages
- Ways To Improve Your Content
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered include:
- Tips For Improving Web Traffic
- Ways To Generate Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins & Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Creating Better User Engagement And Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
- Add New Features And Functionality To Your WP Blog With Plugins
- WordPress For Business – An Introduction To WordPress Themes
Tips For Accountants – Improve Your Business Online Using WordPress
Web traffic is an integral part of your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Site For Search Engines (SEO) With WordPress
There are many ways that WordPress helps improve your website’s SEO:
- SEO-Friendly – Set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the URL of your pages.
- Tags – Choose the keywords that you want search engines to index your articles for.
- Categories – Create categories for your posts and products.
- Post Excerpts – Set descriptions for your posts that will display to search engine users.
- Images – title your images with keywords for better search engine results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily link your content to other posts and pages on your site
- Post Notification – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify other search directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your site.
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are many plugins that will improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your SEO)
Other WordPress plugins you can use to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing features. Here are some more WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins described below can be downloaded at no cost):
- BuddyPress – This free plugin helps you run a social network on your site, with member profiles, user groups, messaging, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – This plugin can be used to run a community forum on your website.
- E-Newsletter – E-Newsletter allows you to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard.
- Disqus – Power discussions and helps to increase user engagement on your website.
- Floating Social – Use this plugin to add social sharing features to your posts and pages.
(You can easily add social features to your site using free or inexpensive plugins)
Generating New Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Adding A Newsletter
Adding a newsletter is an excellent way to grow and retain your readership. It] provides several benefits and advantages, like:
- Drives targeted traffic
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to provide special products or services to a select audience
- Increases engagement with users
- Provides another way for your content to be shared online with other prospective clients
One of the things you can do to get visitors to become subscribers is to provide users with content of high value and give them free gifts in exchange for their personal details. This can be a guide, checklists for handling finances, access to financial calculators, coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Provide Contact Forms
A contact form makes it easy and simple for readers to contact you. Users can provide feedback, contact specific departments, request quotes, and more.
A contact form provides many benefits, like:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenience for site visitors
A popular contact form plugin for WordPress is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7)
This plugin lets you insert multiple contact forms, customize the form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Another feature you may want to consider is to add sections to your contact form so users can select which topic they are contacting you about. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Map Integration
A map helps your visitors and customers find you.
A map is a very useful tool for several reasons:
- They increase local SEO
- Helps visitors find you easily
- Show location of events
(A map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Popular Google Maps plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increase User Engagement And Increase Traffic Generation With Plugins
Accounting WordPress Plugins
WordPress provides a number of plugins you can add to your website that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are just some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators. You can embed these into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. It supports internationalization
Note: Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Mortgage
- Loans
- Leases
- Credit
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress)
This free plugin gives you a widget that displays a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin For WordPress – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any post, page or sidebar using shortcodes.
This plugin includes several customizable features. Choose from built-in skins or customize these yourself to match your website. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Appearance customization features include width, height, background color, number of stocks displayed at one time, typeface, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator)
This free calculator allows your visitors to calculate indicative repayments. It’s great for automotive loans, real estate, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – Loan Calculator)
The plugin also contains an application form that will send a message to the email address you specify.
It will show payment protection, calculate 12 to 60 months loans and create forms that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice)
WP-Invoice lets WordPress blog owners send itemized invoices to their clients.
WP-Invoice integrates billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of invoices, create quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
The plugin lets you add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email templates, view reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 10 most valuable clients and top grossing line items), and more.
For more details, go here}:
All In One Business Management Application
(All In One Business Management Application – WordPress Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticket management system, CRM and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application WP Plugin – Client Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools like document management, to do app, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software)
This is a scalable business software that lets you manage customers and invoicing, track your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin For WordPress – Invoicing)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software lets you get paid faster online by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting – WordPress Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, it’s best to choose a theme specifically for accounting. Below is a list of some of the best accounting themes available. These themes allow you to own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of website design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is an inexpensive turn-key theme designed for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menus, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded using premium add-ons.
For more details, go here:
Accountancy
(Accountancy Theme)
This theme comes in a variety of built-in styles and layouts to make your accounting website look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, search optimized, loads fast, and is responsive. Accountancy Theme provides the features your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and 1 year of support is included with your purchase.
Go here for more information:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme)
This premium theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom administration panel, different color schemes, custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). It is a clean-looking, modern and fast-to-load theme.
For more information, go here:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme)
Kathryn is a premium WordPress child theme for the Genesis Framework built specifically for accounting businesses. It has multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, call to action boxes, many colors, is easy to use, search engine friendly, and is mobile-friendly. Although it could easily suit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy WordPress slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
Go here to learn more about this theme:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was created to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was designed specifically to help make your accounting site look professional while not looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
Visit this site to learn more about using this theme:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme For WordPress)
This is a free corporate theme built for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. It includes a custom post type adding staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean and fast-loading theme.
Go here to learn more this theme:
Divi
(Divi WP Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ collection. Divi lets you create a unique, professional website using its page builder or beautiful pre-made layouts. You can change your layout as much as you need.
Divi’s page builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and change the structure of their pages without editing a single line of code.
(Divi WordPress Theme – Flexible Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These modules include audio player, call to action, contact form, divider, gallery, map, post title, sidebar, testimonial, video, fullwidth code, fullwidth menu, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is fully responsive and fully customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes access to 80+ beautifully-designed themes.
More info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation WP Theme)
This one from Elegant Themes was created specifically to make corporate sites look good.
It has a page-based home page design with a eye-catching slider, blog design, 6 unique color schemes, multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 professional themes.
For more information, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser WP Theme)
The Adviser Theme was built to help finance professionals build trust with a clean business design. It’s perfect for those that provide services such as investing advice or tax help. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a lease calculator. It includes multiple shortcodes and widgets, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, visit the theme website:
Tax Help
(Tax Help WP Theme)
Tax Help WordPress Theme was specifically designed for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and businesses offering tax services. This theme is designed to showcase your services in a professional way to help establish your business reputation. It has different blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and many custom shortcodes.
To learn more about this theme, visit this site:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WP Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was specifically designed for businesses that provide financial services such as tax help, consulting, insurance, corporate, finance, accounting, loans, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around one hundred shortcodes that includes charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page options, color management features, animations, and lots more.
More information:
Avada
(Avada Finance WordPress Theme)
Avada is a fully responsive and versatile multipurpose theme that lets you easily build, configure, and run any kind of website you want without touching code, including a website for an accounting or finance-related organization.
To learn more about the Avada theme for WordPress, go here: Avada
Hopefully, this article has helped you learn WordPress plugins and themes for improving search engine optimization, increasing user engagement and web traffic generation.
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