Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The information economy has not only revolutionised the way business is done around the world, it has also created increasingly difficult challenges and great opportunities for certified public accountants and financial service providers.

Challenges Professional Accountants Face Online

Now, more than ever, accountants must find smarter ways to remain competitive, source new business, and keep their current clientele. Not only do you have to participate in the communities and industries you serve, you must also develop and maintain a strong presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better market your business online.

As well as investing money in offline marketing activities like advertising on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are also finding that they need to delegate a more significant portion of their marketing budget towards the development and management of a website that will drive new clients, engage users, outperform the competition in search engines and social media, and help increase their marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your web pages have to load fast, and your website layout has to be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that your site’s needs will change over time and sections may need to be frequently updated. This requires the implementation of a sound web and content management strategy.

One other problem that accounting firms face with their websites (as most professions do for that matter), is that your site has only about thirty seconds to help users find what they are searching 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 Accountants

As well as facing a number of business and technology changes, there are also loads of online opportunities available for accounting companies that are willing to adapt to meet the demands of the digital economy and can think strategically about improving their online marketing skills.

In this comprehensive guide, you will discover opportunities to find more business and create significant improvements in your business results online.

As well as providing tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your accounting website, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform to power your accounting or financial services website.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using WordPress, see the articles below:

• Learn Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Business
• WordPress In Small Business – An Online Guide To Building Your Successful Business With WordPress

How To Improve Your Accounting Or Financial Services Site

Let’s start by going over the basic stuff. In this section, we’ll look at how to improve your website and get better results. We show you what pages you need, what content works best, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your accounting website, go here: How To Plan A Website: A Useful Blueprint For Business Owners

Essential Website Pages

Professional websites require a number of essential pages. Let’s go over the pages your  need and how to set up your accounting website for best results.

Services Description Page

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

This page will include all the services and products you offer, such as:

• Business – business planning, company structures, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, financing, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, 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, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about what your services do and why they should choose you.

Who We Are

This page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, causes supported, etc.

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

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

Staff

Are you looking for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products online or get visitors to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for your prospective clients to get to know your business better.

Your business needs to be relatable. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees or team members. This page should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not 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. This page should even include social buttons that will allow your visitors to follow some of your staff members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight each staff member’s expertise and qualifications, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add an employee description page. Screenshot image sourced from: deepsky.com)

We have created a detailed tutorial on how to easily add a simple employee directory to your website here: Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee Directory

Recruitment

This is a listing of career opportunities within your company. It can include type of training provided, benefits, advancement opportunities, etc. You can include case studies of graduates who have worked their way up in your firm and information about upcoming career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Include also a positions available section in this page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, join your newsletter, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies And Testimonials

Case studies and testimonials from previous clients are a great way to show prospective clients the benefits of doing business with your firm. Adding a web page with case studies and reviews from clients also provides social proof.

(Add a page to your site with case studies and testimonials from past clients. Screenshot source: pcg-services.com)

If you want to learn more about using client testimonials and client reviews, see this article: Learn How To Convert More Visitors Into Qualified Leads Using Awesome Testimonials

Contact Us

A clean contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should provide the following information about your business:

• Name Of Your Organization
• Your physical address
• Telephone
• Fax
• Email address
• Map and directions
• Web address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media links
• Interactive chat

If you operate in several areas you should make that clear when showing your address and contact information.

You could also include links to the most commonly asked questions, useful pages, special offers, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog

A blog is a powerful marketing tool. Blogs typically include a content management system that allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content like company events, updates, educational information, opinions on current topics, how-to videos, infographics, etc.

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

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

Not many people know this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic machine that will begin driving web traffic to your web site, simply by publishing regular content to your web site.

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

Go here to learn more: Web Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Grow Your Web Traffic For Your Business With WordPress

Legal Information Pages

It’s crucial to have a compliant website, not just for building credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no local, regional or federal laws or regulations are being broken wherever you provide services to.

Depending on what services and products you provide, adding some or all of the following legal pages to your accounting website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential legal threats and inconveniences:

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

Go here for a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Improving Your Web Content

In today’s ultra competitive global economy, content generosity has become one of the key differentiators for businesses that sell similar products or provide similar services.

By committing to providing great content with useful advice and tips, you will get your visitors to share your web pages online with others and come back for more information. This is the most effective way to inform and educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business.

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

• How balance sheets work
• Profit and loss statements
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• How to present accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Tips on structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Dos and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your your prospective clients understand your services, such as finance accounting, business accounting, tips on using business accounting software, reducing debt, understanding accounting concepts, etc.

Remember to use relevant keywords and terms in your content that your prospective clients would search for online.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will teach you how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating useful 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 100% FREE!

Tips For Improving User Experience

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

Adding RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide many benefits for your site.

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

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

• All of your updates are kept in one place
• Content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared online
• Feeds allow users to subscribe
• It provides links back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• There are several ways readers can receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read your content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also a number of 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.

To find useful RSS feeds for your website, visit sites of finance-related government departments and industry bodies.

Here are examples of useful RSS feeds you could consider adding to your 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

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

Adding Forms

Checklists and forms are a fantastic way to increase user engagement and add value to your readers. Forms and checklists can give them useful instructions and resources to complete necessary tasks. They are great business planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Fundraising Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Individual Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Unique Tools

Providing useful tools, gadgets and applications for businesses on your website can help increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to your users. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are popular tools for accounting websites. Other tools would include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part two of this guide, we will be discussing a number of online tools you can use in your accounting website using WordPress plugins and themes that can help improve seo, improve user engagement and generate 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 web presence.

To continue reading, click here:

• Your Accounting Website – How To Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Drive More Visitors To Your Website With Plugins

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