Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accountants face many new challenges in the online economy, especially in terms of growing a business online.

Challenges Accountants Face Online

Certified Public Accountants today must work harder than ever before to remain competitive. Not only do you have to participate in the communities and industries you serve, you must also maintain an active presence online. This includes having a dynamic website and figuring out better ways to promote your business services online.

In addition to spending dollars marketing offline, you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to compete, increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be directed to develop and maintain a website that drives new prospects, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and gives you wider marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look great, your web pages have to load fast, and your website has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that the needs of your website may change over time and some areas will need to be updated often. This requires the implementation of a well-developed website and content management strategy.

Another problem that accountants face with their websites, and most other businesses for that matter, is that your site has an average of thirty seconds to help users find what they are looking for or they will go away.

“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 Accounting Businesses In The Web Economy

As well as facing a number of challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting sector that are willing to evolve to meet digital economy challenges and can think progressively when it comes to marketing their business services better online.

In this guide, you will learn ways and opportunities to attract and engage new visitors and create significant improvements in your business online.

As well as providing tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your business online, we also recommend that you consider using WordPress to power your accounting or financial services website or blog.

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

• How A Poorly Built Website Can Lose You Customers
• A Beginner’s Guide To Growing Your Small Business With WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Accounting Or Financial Services Website

In this section we will start with the basics and show you ways to improve your website and get better results online. We show you what pages an accounting website needs, what content works best for accounting websites, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, go here: The Web Site Planning Process Explained - A Comprehensive Guide For Business Owners

Essential Web Pages

All websites need a number of basic pages. Let’s discuss the pages your  should have and how to structure your accounting website for best results.

Description Of Products And Services

You need to include a page that describes your services and products.

Your page will include all the services you offer, such as:

• Business accounting – planning, company structures, general accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, budgeting, financing, forecasting, 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 businesses, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about what these services do and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

Who We Are

The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, causes supported, etc.

It’s important to also list any awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your company and position it above the competition.

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

Meet Your Staff

If you are looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

You want your business to be relatable. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff. This page should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in accounting terms your bio descriptions 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 site visitors can follow some of your team members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline each person’s expertise and qualifications, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your staff to prospective new clients. Image sourced from: deepsky.com)

If you need help how to add a list of employees in a WordPress site, refer to this tutorial: How To Easily Add A Simple Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site

Recruitment Page

List any career opportunities available within the firm. It can include type of training provided, benefits, opportunities for advancement, social aspects of working for your firm, etc. You can also include information such as the job outlook and upcoming career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Also include a positions available section in your page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, join your newsletter, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials & Case Studies

Reviews from clients and case studies are a great way to show potential clients the benefits of doing business with your company. By adding a page with testimonials and case studies, you will also help to provide social proof.

(Add a web page with reviews from clients and case studies. Screenshot source: pcg-services.com)

For a detailed article about using testimonials, case studies and reviews to grow your business online, go here: How To Get Better Results Online Using Knockout User Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a clean contact page is essential.

Your contact page should include the following information:

• Company Name
• Address
• Telephone
• Facsimile number
• Contact email
• Map
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Request for more information – contact details
• Links to social media profiles
• Online chat feature (optional)

If your business operates in several areas you should make that clear when displaying the address and contact info.

You could also include links to an FAQ page, useful pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content like news, company updates, training information, discussions on current topics, promotional videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established website, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your firm.

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

Not many businesses know this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic-generation machine that can begin to attract targeted visitors to your website, simply by publishing regular content to your site.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can automate your traffic generation)

For more details: WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint – A Complete Guide To Generating More Web Visitors For Your Business Automatically

Legal Information Pages

As a professional accountant or financial services provider, ensuring that you have a website that complies will all legal requirements online is crucially important, not just for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaching any laws and regulations wherever you service clients.

Depending on what products and services you provide, adding the legal pages below to your website will help you stay out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Links Policy
• Health/Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• and others

Go here if you want to learn more adding legal pages to your site: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Improving Your Content

In today’s fiercely competitive online economy, being generous with content that educates and informs visitors has become one of the key differentiators for businesses that sell similar products or provide similar services.

You want to provide great content with useful advice and tips that will get your readers sharing your web pages with others and coming back for more. Content marketing is a great way to educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business and about using your products and services.

For example, topics for an accounting or financial services business could cover the following:

• How balance sheets work
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your your readers gain a better understanding of your accounting or financial services, such as finance accounting, business accounting, business budgeting, reducing debt, understanding accounting concepts, etc.

Remember to include the same keywords and terminology in your content that your readers will be searching for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable information and practical tips that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content for 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 Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Syndicate Content With RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide lots of benefits for your accounting business.

If you provide useful information, other businesses may want to syndicate your content.

Some of the benefits of syndicating your content to other businesses using RSS feeds, include:

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Feeds can be shared online
• Allows for subscribing
• A feed provides a way for external links to point back to your content
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are various ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. view your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also benefits when it comes to adding syndicated content to your site 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 by searching online for tax-related government departments and well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed some RSS feeds 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 site’s user experience.)

Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase user engagement and add value to your audience. Checklists and forms can provide useful instructions and resources to perform tasks. Checklists and forms are also great business planning tools.

You can provide online or downloadable forms and checklists covering a range of topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Non-Profit Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Other Tools

Providing useful online tools and applications for businesses is a great way to increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to users. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are popular tools for accounting websites. Other applications could include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we will be discussing a number of online tools you can use in your website using WordPress plugins that can help improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part one.

To view the rest of this guide, click this link:

• How To Successfully Grow Your Accounting Online Presence With WordPress – Part Two

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