Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accountants today face a growing number of challenges.

Online Challenges For CPAs

Accountants today must work harder than ever before to remain competitive. Not only do they have to become actively involved in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop an active presence online. This includes having an effective website and figuring out better ways to promote your business online.

In addition to spending dollars advertising offline on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television spots, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are now also finding that increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be delegated towards the development and management of a website that drives prospective clients, engages users, outperforms the competition in search engines and helps to give them wider marketing exposure online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, load fast, 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 may need to be updated often. This requires having a well-developed web and content management strategy in place.

One other challenge that certified public accountants face online, and other businesses for that matter, is that your site has an average of thirty seconds or less to help users find what they are looking for 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

Online Opportunities For Certified Public Accountants

As well as facing many new challenges, there are also many online opportunities available for accounting companies that are willing to evolve to meet the demands of the online economy and think strategically about improving their online marketing skills.

This detailed guide will help you uncover new opportunities to attract and engage new visitors and build more online credibility for your business.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also recommend that you consider using WordPress to power your accounting website or blog.

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

• Why A Poorly Constructed Website Can Lose You Money
• Using A WordPress Blog To Grow A Successful Small Business

Useful Tips To Improve Your Website

We’ll start first by reviewing some basic information you need. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your website and get better results online. We show you what pages you need, what type of content works best, your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your accounting website, read this detailed step-by-step guide: Planning A Website - A Basic Blueprint For Business Owners

Basic Web Pages

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

Services

You need a page that explains your services and products.

Your page will include services such as:

• Business accounting – business planning, company formation, general accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, bookkeeping, budgeting, financing, 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 businesses, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

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

About Us Page

This page should give a description of your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

Remember to also list any accounting awards, recognitions, certifications, accreditations, publications, associations, etc., that you can use to promote your company and position it above other competitors.

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

Meet Our Team

Are you searching for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online or get prospects to stay longer on your site? Then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

You want prospects to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team. It should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors will not tend to be that well-versed in accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons so your visitors can follow individual staff members on their social pages.

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

(Add an employee page. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

If you need help how to create and add a simple employee directory in a WordPress site using a free plugin, go here: How To Add A Simple Employee Directory On Your WordPress Site With No Coding Skills Required

Career Opportunities Page

This is a listing of career opportunities available within the firm. This page should include training provided, employee benefits, professional development, etc. It should include case studies of recruits who have risen within your firm and information such as the job outlook and additional career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Also include a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to the page, join your updates list, follow your social pages, etc.

Testimonials

Case studies and testimonials are a great way to show potential clients what kind of accounting solutions you can implement to help them solve their problems. Adding a page with testimonials from past clients and case studies also establishes social proof online.

(Add a page to your site with reviews from clients and case studies. Screenshot image sourced from: pcg-services.com)

For a detailed article about using case studies, testimonials and user reviews to improve your business results online, go here: Learn How To Turn More Visitors Into Prospects Using Powerful Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a clean contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should provide:

• Name
• Physical location
• Phone
• Fax
• Email address
• Map and directions
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Links to social media networks
• Online chat (optional feature)

If your business operates from multiple locations you will want to make that clear when displaying your address and contact information.

Consider also including links to an FAQ page, main pages, special offers, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Blog

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool. Many blogging platforms are built around a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to promote your business using timely content such as announcements, updates, training articles and tutorials, opinions on current topics, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an accounting or financial services site, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to promote your services.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing website is very hard to manage or not giving you the results you want, then WordPress can serve both as your business website and blog.

Something not many businesses know about, is that an expertly configured WordPress site can turn into an automated traffic-generation machine that can instantly begin to drive targeted traffic to your website, simply by publishing content on a regular basis to your website.

(WordPress can generate new traffic automatically to your website)

To learn more about this go here: Web Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Create A Traffic-Getting Machine With WordPress

Legal Information Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is vitally important, not just for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not contravening laws and regulations wherever your business is located.

Adding some or all of the legal pages below to your accounting or financial services website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential sources of threats and legal inconveniences:

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

We have written a comprehensive article on adding legal pages to your site here: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Improve Your Content

In today’s highly competitive global economy, content generosity has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

You want to provide great content with advice and tips that will get your readers to share your content online with others and come back for more. Publishing content is a great way to educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting business can include the following:

• How balance sheets work
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning advice
• Business insurance
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

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

Remember to include keywords in your content that your prospective clients 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 that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your website, save money creating high-quality content for your visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Ways Of Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

Improving user experience (known as UX) helps keep visitors coming back and engaging with your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and user experience.

Add RSS Feeds

Adding RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and user experience in a number of different ways.

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

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

• All of your updates are kept in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Allows users to subscribe
• An RSS feed provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• RSS 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 feed readers)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also benefits to providing great 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 many useful RSS feeds by visiting sites of relevant government departments and well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed some feeds containing useful information that you could add to your accounting website:

• 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

(RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your website’s UX.)

Add Forms And Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a fantastic way to increase user engagement and add value to your visitors. Checklists and forms can provide useful instructions and resources to get necessary tasks done. Checklists and forms are great business planning tools.

You can provide a range of online or downloadable checklists and forms (or links to these) covering topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Not-For-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Individual Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Add Online Tools

Providing unique online tools and applications for businesses can help increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your potential clients. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are great tools you can add to accounting websites. Other tools can include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section of this detailed article, we will look at a number of online tools you can use in your site using WordPress plugins that improve your 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 grow your accounting business web presence.

Click on this link to keep reading:

• Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins And Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Better User Engagement And Generating More Web Traffic

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