In Part One of this guide on ways to build your accounting web presence, we provided practical tips and suggestions on the following areas:
- Online Challenges For Accounting Businesses
- Online Opportunities For Accounting Professionals
- Your Web Pages
- Improve Your Web Content
In this section, we continue exploring more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Topics covered below include:
- Improving Traffic
- Generate New Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins & Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Generating More Visitors
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
- Add New Functionality To Your Blog With Plugins
- WordPress For Beginners – An Overview Of WordPress Themes
Tips For Accountants – WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Generating More Visitors To Your Site
Your web traffic is an important part of your business growth. In this section, we explore how to improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and increase web traffic generation using WordPress plugins.
Optimizing Your Website For SEO Using WordPress
There are lots of ways WordPress can help to optimize your accounting website for search engines:
- Search Engine-Friendly URLs – Set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized URLS for your articles and posts.
- Post Tags – Choose the keywords that you want your article pages (posts) to be indexed for in the search engines.
- Post Categories – Create categories for keeping your content organized and easy to find.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose the description for your posts that will display in search results.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for improved search results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily link your content to other posts
- Post Notification – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify other sites and directories the moment a new post is published on your site.
WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Better User Engagement And Driving More Web Traffic
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are various plugins for WordPress that improve your accounting or financial services website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more visitors to your business.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your site’s search engine optimization:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your SEO)
Other things you can do to improve SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social sharing. Here are a few more WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Use BuddyPress to set up an online social community on your site, with member profiles, user groups, messaging, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – Set up a discussion forum on your site.
- E-Newsletter – This plugin lets you send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases engagement on your site.
- Floating Social – Easily add powerful social sharing features and buttons on your posts and pages.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing features to their site with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Generating Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Applications
Let’s now take a look at ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries online.
Adding An Email Newsletter
Adding an email newsletter is an excellent way to retain and grow your readership. It] provides several benefits including:
- Sends targeted traffic
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Provides updates
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Increases user interaction
- Provides you with an additional way for your content to be shared online with new prospective customers
A proven strategy for getting visitors to subscribe is to provide users with high value information and give them free gifts in exchange for their details. This can be an exclusive report, checklists for handling tax, access to tax calculators, discount coupons, membership access to courses, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
A contact form makes it easy and simple for readers to get in touch. Visitors can report issues, contact specific departments, request quotes, send suggestions for new services or products and more.
Contact forms provide a number of benefits including:
- Reduces spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what is sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- More convenient for visitors
One of the most popular WordPress contact form plugins is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 – WordPress Plugin)
This free contact form plugin lets you create multiple contact forms on your pages and posts, customize the form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and Akismet spam filtering is also supported.
Something else to consider is to add sections to your contact form so prospective customers can select which topic they are contacting you about. This helps visitors get the comment to the right person.
Map
Adding maps helps your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a useful tool for several reasons:
- Maps increase local SEO
- Allows customers to better plan their meeting or appointments
- Display location of events
(A map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Below are some of the more popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display Google maps on your website:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic With WordPress Plugins
WordPress Plugins
WordPress provides a number of plugins you can add to your website to immediately add a range of functional tools for site visitors. Here are 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 that you can provide to users on your website and embed into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. The plugin supports internationalization
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Interest rate
- Rate of return
- Leases
- Equity
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes)
This plugin lets you add a widget that shows a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many widgets as you like.
(Show Stock Quotes – WordPress Plugin – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker – WordPress Plugin)
With this plugin you can place a custom stock ticker on any post, page or sidebar with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker includes several customizable features. You can choose from built-in skins or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing width, height, scroll speed, background color, opacity, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, font size, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator lets your site visitors calculate indicative repayments. This is a useful tool for automotive loans, property loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculator)
This plugin also contains an application form that will send a notification message to a specified email address.
Other features of this plugin include showing payment protection, calculating 12 to 60 months loans and creating a form 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.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices. It also allows you to set up recurring billing. It can be expanded through both free and premium add-ons, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quoting, checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WordPress user management database to keep track of your clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and many others.
The plugin gives you the ability to 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, access reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, ten 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)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and ticketing system, CRM and many more features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – Client Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports international languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful tools such as document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoices, track your company’s net worth and cash flow, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin – Client Invoicing)
iBilling allows you to get paid faster by integrating with several online payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting WordPress Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting. Here is a list of some of the best WordPress themes available for accountancy businesses. With these themes you can have a professional-looking accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of web design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme)
This is a turn-key theme developed for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, custom menu features, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
You can easily customize this theme with premium add-ons.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, go here:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme comes in a variety of built-in styles and layouts to help make your accounting website look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, search engine friendly, loads fast, and fully responsive. Accountancy provides what your business needs without bloating your theme. Free updates and 1 year of support is included in the cost of purchase.
More info:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your site 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, 3 blog types, and is responsive. It looks clean and modern and loads fast.
More info:
Kathryn
(Kathryn – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was built for accounting services. It allows you to use WordPress as a true content management system and offers a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, various colors, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine optimized, and is mobile-friendly. Although this theme can easily fit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
For more information, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme was developed to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and elements specifically designed to make your accounting business 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 and includes pages for your services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
More info:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate Theme)
This is a corporate theme specifically designed for professional service providers such as accountants and attorneys. Use the bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate also includes a custom post type adding staff profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s clean and fast-loading.
More information:
Divi
(Divi WP Theme)
This premium theme is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection of WordPress themes. Divi lets you create a unique, professional website using the page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and edit the structure of their web pages without touching code.
(Divi Theme – Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. Modules include accordion, blog, code, email optin, filterable portfolio, map, person, slider, social media follow, video slider, fullwidth header, fullwidth map, fullwidth post title, and more.. It is mobile-friendly and completely customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 stunning themes.
More info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation)
This one from Elegant Themes was designed specifically to make corporate sites look good.
The Corporation has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent slider, blog design, six unique color schemes, multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to all beautifully-designed themes.
Go here to learn more about this theme:
Adviser
(Adviser)
Adviser was built specifically to help professionals in the financial industry to build trust through clean design. It’s perfect for those that provide services such as investments or tax advice. Adviser includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, a lease calculator, multiple shortcodes and widgets, and a drag-and-drop visual composer..
For more information, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme For WordPress)
Tax Help was specifically designed for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and businesses that offer tax services. The theme is designed to show your services professionally and help build your professional reputation. It has different blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
More information:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was developed specifically for firms that provide any type of financial service such as consulting, tax help, finance, insurance, corporate, accounting, loans, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin. It also has around one hundred shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content. It also includes the custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management, animations, and lots more.
For more details, go here:
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 guide has helped you learn how to improve your accounting or financial services business online using WordPress.
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