Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The online economy has not only transformed business around the world, it has also created new challenges and opportunities for businesses offering accounting and financial services.

Online Challenges For Certified Public Accountants

Today, more than ever, certified public accountants must work harder and find smarter ways to stand out from the crowd, source new clients, and retain current clients. Not only do you have to become actively involved in the communities and industries you serve, you must also develop a strong web presence. This includes having an effective web presence and learning how to better promote your business services online.

In addition to spending money in offline marketing activities such as advertising on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television, etc., you will probably find that in order to compete with other accounting businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be delegated to develop and manage a website that will bring new prospective clients, engage users, outperform the competition in search engines and help to increase your reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, your pages have to be fast-loading, and your site layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, your site’s needs may change in time and sections will need to be updated frequently. This requires the implementation of a sound website and content management strategy.

Another problem that accounting businesses (and most professions) face online, is that they have only about 30 seconds to help users find what they are searching for or they will look 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 The Accounting Profession In The Web Economy

As well as facing many new challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for accounting firms that can evolve to meet digital economy challenges and who can think outside the box when it comes to marketing themselves better online.

This guide will help you uncover a number of ways to increase web traffic and create significant improvements in your business results online.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system to power your accounting business website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress, see these articles:

• How A Poorly Built Website Can Lose You Prospective Customers And What To Do About It
• A Beginner’s Guide To Growing Your Business Using WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

Let’s start by covering the basics. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what pages your site needs, what content works best, your navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your accounting website, read this detailed guide: The Web Site Planning Process: A Comprehensive Blueprint For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Pages

All websites need a number of essential web pages. Let’s take a look at these.

Services And Products Description Page

You need a page that lists your products and services.

Your page should include services such as:

• Business accounting – planning, incorporation of companies, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, financing, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, 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, transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

List all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Educate your visitors about what these services do and why they should book an appointment with you.

Who We Are

This page needs to describe your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, sponsored community projects, etc.

It’s important to list any CPA awards, recognitions, accreditations, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote the company and set it above the competition.

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

Team Profile

If you are searching for cost-effective ways to grow your business online or get people to engage more on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know you 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 team. It should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not that well-versed in accounting terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should even include social buttons that will allow your prospective clients to follow your team members on their social networks.

In this page, make sure to outline each team member’s qualifications, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your team members to prospective new clients. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to easily add a simple employee directory in WordPress using free plugins, see this tutorial: How To Create A Simple Staff List In Your WordPress Site

Career Opportunities

List any career opportunities available within the firm. This page can include type of training provided, employee benefits, professional development, etc. You should also include information about upcoming career opportunities in the accounting and financial services 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, subscribe to your contact list, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies & Testimonials

Testimonials and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients minimise tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. By adding a page with case studies and reviews from clients, you are also helping to establish social proof online.

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

To learn more about using client case studies and reviews, see this article: How To Create Better Results Online With Effective Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a clean contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should include some or all of the following information:

• Name Of Your Organization
• Your address
• Telephone
• Facsimile
• Email address
• Map
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media pages
• Online chat (optional)

If your business operates from different locations you will want to make this clear when displaying 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.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog

A blog is a very powerful marketing tool. Blogs typically comprise of a content management system that allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content such as announcements, product updates, training information, discussions on current topics, videos, media presentations, etc.

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

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing accounting site is very hard to add new content to or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can act both as your business website and business blog.

Very few businesses know that an expertly configured WordPress site can turn into an automated traffic-generation system that can help begin delivering new visitors to your web site, simply by adding new content to your website on a consistent basis.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can generate traffic automatically to your website)

For more info, see this article: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Turn Your WordPress Website Into An Automated Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is extremely important, not just for building trust with visitors, but also to ensure that no laws or regulations are being breached wherever you provide services to.

Adding the legal pages below to your accounting website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

We have written a comprehensive article about adding legal pages to your website. To learn more, go here: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Improving The Content On Your Website

In today’s globally competitive economy, the earlier you begin to engage in the practice of content marketing, the sooner you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from the competition.

Providing great content with useful advice and tips will get your readers to share your web pages with others online and come back for more information. This is the most effective way to inform and teach site visitors and prospective clients about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting or financial services business can include:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Tips on structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, claiming business expenses, etc.)

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

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

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 teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site 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 completely FREE!

Improving User Experience

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

RSS Feeds – Content Syndication

RSS feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and user experience in many ways.

If you provide content that adds value to others, other sites may 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
• Feeds can be shared
• Allows for subscribing
• A feed provides links back to your content
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• RSS provides various ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. view your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits when it comes to providing information on your website from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find RSS feeds with useful content for your website by visiting sites of finance and tax-related government departments and key industry bodies.

Below we have listed a few useful RSS feeds you may want to add to your accounting 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

(Adding RSS feeds can help to improve your accounting site’s UX.)

Add Online Forms & Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your readers and set yourself apart from the competition. Forms and checklists can provide step-by-step instructions and resources to get necessary tasks done. Forms and checklists are also great business planning tools.

Forms and checklists could address topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Negative Gearing Worksheet
• Not-For-Profit Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Individual Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Online Tools

Providing unique tools and applications for businesses on your website can help increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to your potential clients. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are great tools to add to accounting websites. Others could include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we discuss a number of online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins that can help to improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of part one of this article on ways to improve your accounting business presence online.

Click here to read the rest of this guide:

• Online Business Tips For Certified Public Accountants – How To Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors To Your Website With WordPress Plugins And Themes

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