In Part 1 of this article on ways to grow your accounting business online, we provided in-depth information on the following topics:
- Online Challenges For Accountants
- Online Opportunities For Accounting Professionals
- How To Improve Your Website Pages
- Improving Your Content
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting business online. Areas covered include:
- Ways Of Improving Traffic
- Tips For Generating Leads & Enquiries With WordPress
- WordPress Plugins And Themes That Can Help To Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, see the articles below:
Grow Your Accounting Website – Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins And Themes
Web traffic is an important part of your business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic.
Optimizing Your Site For Search Engines (SEO) With WordPress
There are loads of ways that WordPress helps optimize your accounting or financial services website for search engines:
- Search Engine-Friendly URLs – Set the permalinks to create search engine-optimized web addresses for your article pages.
- Tags – Specify the keywords that you want search engines to index your posts for.
- Categories – Create categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose an excerpt that visitors will see in the search engine results.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for improved search results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily create internal links for better indexing of pages
- Post Notification – Configure your site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories immediately upon publishing new content on your site.
Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are many WordPress plugins that will improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your site.
For example, you can install the plugins below to improve your SEO:
- All in One SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (lists all of your posts and pages for indexing by search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your SEO)
Other WordPress tools you can add to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing features. Here are a few more WordPress plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – This free plugin allows you to run a social network on your website, with member profiles, user groups, messaging, activity streams, and more.
- bbPress – This free plugin can be used to run a community forum on your WordPress website.
- E-Newsletter – Send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WordPress dashboard, without requiring a third party subscription.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases engagement on your website or blog.
- Floating Social – Add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your posts and pages.
(You can add social sharing features to your website easily using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress-Based Tools
Let’s now discuss how to improve sales and generate more leads and enquiries online.
Providing A Newsletter
Adding an email newsletter is a great way to grow and retain your readership. Adding an email newsletter provides many benefits and advantages including:
- Drives targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides practical tips and advice
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for increasing engagement with your users
- Provides other ways for readers to share your content
An effective way to attract newsletter subscribers is to provide users with content of high value and give them free gifts or bonus items in exchange for their personal details. This can be a time-saving guide, tips for handling finances, access to tax calculators, discount coupons, access to subscriber-only content, contests, etc.
Provide A Contact Form
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch with you. Readers can report concerns, contact specific departments, request a quote, send suggestions and more.
A contact form provides several benefits including:
- Reducing spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any post or page
- Improves the professional look of your website
- Convenient for users
A very popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin)
This free plugin is easy to install and configure and allows you to create multiple contact forms, customize the forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
International languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, and spam filtering is supported.
Another feature to consider is to add sections to your contact form so prospective customers can select the topic they are contacting your company about. This ensures that contact form requests reach the right person.
Adding Maps
Maps help your visitors and clients find you.
Adding maps, such as Google Maps to your site also provides many benefits, such as:
- Maps help to increase local SEO
- Helps visitors find you easily
- Display location of events
(A map helps your visitors and clients find you)
Some of the most popular Google Maps plugins for WordPress include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins & Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Traffic Generation
Accounting Plugins For WordPress
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your website that will immediately add a range of functional tools for your site visitors. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators)
This plugin provides a free collection of over 400 calculators that you can display on your website and embed into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. It also supports internationalization
Note: Most of them aren’t focused on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- 401k
- Payments
- Tax
- Credit
- And many more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin)
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 like.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker WP Plugin)
With this plugin you can place custom stock tickers on any post, page or sidebar using shortcodes.
This plugin includes loads of customizable ticker. Choose from built-in themes or customize it yourself to match the look and feel of your site. You can also add custom stocks to individual categories.
Appearance customization features include colors, size, speed, text, and symbols, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin allows users to calculate indicative repayments online. It’s great for car loans, property loans, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculators)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that sends a message to the email address you specify.
Other features of this plugin include showing payment protection, calculating 12 to 60 months loans and creating forms that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice Plugin)
WP-Invoice is ideal for WordPress users with clients to bill.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send clients itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand functionality with both free and premium add-ons that let you manage locations, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of your invoices, create quotes, create single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into the WordPress user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, 2Checkout, PayPal Payments Pro, and many others.
WP-Invoice lets you add custom payments and charges, insert pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email templates, access reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, 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 Plugin For WordPress)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, help desk with knowledgebase and support ticketing management system, client relationship management and many added features.
(All In One Business Management Application – Client Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports different languages, is fully customizable and provides powerful tools like document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software WP Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage customer data and invoices, tracks your company’s net worth and cash flow, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin – Invoicing)
iBilling integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Themes - Accounting Businesses
To get the most benefit out of growing your business online with WordPress, it’s best to choose a theme specifically for accounting. Here is a look at some of the best accountancy themes available. With the themes listed below you can have a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is an inexpensive turn-key theme for accountants and accounting firms. It’s a responsive theme with a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, a custom menu feature, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resized images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be customized through premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy)
This one comes in a variety of styles and layouts that helps give your accounting website a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, SEO friendly, fast loading, and fully responsive. It provides the features your business needs without bloating your theme. The cost of purchasing includes free updates and one year of support.
More information:
Accounting
(Accounting)
Accounting includes a drag-and-drop builder that allows you to design your website any way you want. The theme also provides unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, four color schemes, a custom slider, three different blog types, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
For more information about using this theme, visit this website:
Kathryn
(Kathryn)
This one is designed for accounting businesses. Kathryn offers multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, flexible rotator, many colors, is easy to use, search optimized, and is mobile-friendly. Although this theme could easily suit any profession, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy slider plugin and is a separate purchase from the Genesis Framework.
To learn more about about using this theme, go here:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme was developed to exude professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and layout elements specifically designed to 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 fully responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
More information:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate – WordPress Theme)
This is a free corporate theme specifically designed for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. Use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate also includes a custom post type for staff profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean and fast-loading theme.
More info:
Divi
(Divi Theme For WordPress)
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 its page builder or pre-made layouts. You can change your layout as much as you need.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and edit the structure of their pages without editing any code.
(Divi Theme For WordPress – Flexible Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. Modules include audio player, blurb, circle counter, email optin, image, number counter, portfolio, pricing table, social media follow, video slider, fullwidth header, fullwidth map, fullwidth slider, and more.. It is responsive and fully customizable. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 professional themes.
More info:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme was designed specifically to make corporate sites look great.
It has a sleek page-based home page design with a prominent, flashy slider, blog design, six unique different 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 access to over 80 themes.
More info:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
Adviser was built to help finance professionals build trust online with a clean business design. It’s ideal for those that provide services like investment advice or tax advice. Adviser includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a lease calculator. It includes widgets and multiple shortcodes, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
Go here for more info:
Tax Help
(Tax Help Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was built for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and firms offering tax services. It’s designed to show your services in a professional way and help build your professional reputation. It provides different blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
Go here for more information:
Finance Business
(Finance Business WP Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was specifically developed for firms that provide financial services including consulting, tax help, finance, corporate, insurance, loans, accounting, and more. This theme includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page settings, 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
We hope that you have found this comprehensive guide on ways of improving your business online with WordPress plugins and themes helpful.
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