Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress
The online economy has not only transformed business globally, it has also created growing challenges and opportunities for accounting businesses.
Challenges Accounting Firms Face Online
Accounting businesses must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do they have to be fully involved in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop and maintain an active presence online. This includes having a website and searching for smarter ways to promote your business services online.
As well as investing dollars marketing offline, you will probably find that in order to compete with other web-marketing savvy accounting businesses, you will need to allocate a larger portion of your marketing budget to developing and maintaining a website that brings in clients, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and social media, and helps to give you wider marketing reach online.
This means that your website not only has to look great, load fast, and be easy to navigate, but it’s also important to keep in mind that your site’s needs may change over time and sections will need to be frequently updated. This requires the implementation of a well-planned website and content management strategy.
Another problem that accountants (and other professions) face with their websites, is that you have an average of 30 seconds or less to help users find the information 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
Online Opportunities For Certified Public Accountants
As well as facing many new challenges, there are also many online opportunities available to businesses in the accounting industry that can adapt to meet the challenges of the digital economy and can think outside the box when it comes to improving their online marketing skills.
In this comprehensive guide, you will learn new ways to drive more traffic and establish online credibility for your business.
As well as providing tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your website, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform to power your accounting website or blog.
To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System, go here:
- Discover Why A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Lose You Business
- Understanding WordPress – The Business Owner’s Guide
Useful Tips For Improving Your Website
This section explains how to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what pages a financial services site needs, what content works best, layout and navigation structure, etc.
If you need website planning assistance, visit this page: A Basic Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners
Essential Web Pages
Professional business websites need a number of essential web pages. Let’s take a look at these.
Services
You need to include a page that lists your services and any products that you offer.
It will include all the services you offer, such as:
- Business – planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, book keeping, forecasting, budgeting, financing, 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
List all of the services you provide. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using your services and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.
About Us Page
The ‘About Us’ page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical programs, etc.
It should also list any business awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your company and set it above the competition.
(List all of your business awards accreditations, certifications, recognitions, publications, associations, etc. in your About page. Screenshot image sourced from: deloitte.com)
Team Profile
Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is help your prospective clients get to know 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 members. It should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors are probably not familiar with accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. It should also include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow some of your staff members on their social networks.
On this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight each team member’s qualifications, why they are an asset to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.
(Add a team profile page. Image sourced from: deepsky.com)
We have written a detailed tutorial on how to create and add an easy-to-update list directory of employees to WordPress using a free WP plugin here: Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory
Job Opportunities
List any career opportunities available within your firm. It could include training offered, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. It should include 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, subscribe to your announcements list, follow your social pages, etc.
Testimonials
Testimonials from past clients and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients the benefits of doing business with your organization. Adding a web page with testimonials from past clients and case studies also establishes social proof.
(Add a web page with reviews from clients and case studies. Image source: pcg-services.com)
We have created a detailed article on using testimonials, case studies and client reviews to improve your business results online. If you are interested in learning more about this here: Learn How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Leads Using Profit-Boosting Testimonials
Contact Us Page
Having a clean contact page is essential.
It should provide some or all of the following information:
- Name Of Your Organization
- Street address of office
- Telephone number
- Fax number
- Map and directions
- Website address
- Contact form
- Name of person to contact
- Social media URLs
- Live chat feature
If your business services several locations you will want to make that clear when showing your address and contact information.
Consider also including links to an FAQ page, main pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.
Add An Accounting Blog
A blog can be a very powerful business marketing tool. Many blogging platforms are built around a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business using timely content such as industry news, updates, educational articles, informative posts, videos, infographics, etc.
If you already have an accounting site, then consider adding a WordPress blog to promote your company.
If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing website is very hard to keep updated or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can become both your business website and your blog.
You are probably not aware of this, but WordPress can become an automated traffic-generation system that can instantly begin driving targeted visitors to your business, simply by adding regular content to your web site.
(WordPress can drive new traffic automatically to your site)
If you would like to know more about this here: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Create A Traffic-Getting Machine With WordPress
Legal Info Pages
It’s very important to make sure they have a website that complies will all legal requirements online, not just for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no laws or regulations are being contravened wherever you provide services to.
Adding the legal pages below to your accounting site will help you stay out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential legal threats or inconveniences:
- Contact Us
- Privacy Policy
- Terms And Conditions Of Use
- Website Disclaimer
- Affiliate Agreement
- Anti-Spam Policy
- Compensation Disclosure
- DMCA Notice
- Earnings Disclaimer
- External Linking Policy
- Financial/Health Disclaimers
- Refund Policy
- Video/Audio Terms
- and others
Go here for a detailed article on adding legal pages to your site: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Website
Improve The Content On Your Site
In today’s highly competitive digital economy, the earlier you begin to engage in the practice of content marketing, the quicker you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from competing businesses.
Providing great content with useful advice and tips will get your visitors to share your content online with others and come back for more information. Using content is the most effective way to inform and teach your visitors and prospects about your business and about doing business with your firm.
For example, for an accounting or financial services business, topics could cover the following:
- How balance sheets work
- Profit and loss statements
- Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
- How to present accounts for fundraising activities
- Cashflow planning
- Business insurance
- Protecting revenues
- Tips on structuring your self-managed retirement fund
- Dos and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, setting up payroll systems, etc.)
You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your prospective clients gain a better understanding of accounting services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, business budgeting, reducing debt, understanding financial concepts, etc.
Remember to use keywords in your content that your prospective clients will be searching for.
We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with easy-to-digest information that will teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating useful content for your site 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!
Tips For Improving User Experience
Improving website user experience (generally referred to as UX) helps keep visitors coming back and using your site. This section will show you different ways to improve your visitor engagement and UX.
Syndicate Content Using RSS Feeds
Using RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and user experience in a number of different ways.
If you provide useful information, other businesses will want to syndicate your content to their visitors.
Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:
- All of your updates are in one place
- Doesn’t rely on email
- Can be shared and picked up by other sites online
- Allows users to subscribe
- An RSS feed provides a way for links to point back to your site
- RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
- There are various ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. read the content on their mobile device using feed readers)
- It’s built into WordPress
There are also benefits 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, search online for tax-related government departments or well-known industry bodies.
For example, here are some feeds containing useful information that you could add 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 feeds can help to improve your site’s UX.)
Add Forms & Checklists
Checklists and forms are a fantastic way to help increase visitor engagement and add value to your readers. Forms and checklists can provide visitors with useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete necessary tasks. They are great planning tools.
You can provide checklists and forms covering a range of subjects such as:
- How To Set Up A Business
- Rental Property Worksheet
- Fundraising Governance Checklist
- Disclosure Requirements
- Sole Trader Tax Checklist
- Capital Gains Tax Checklist
- Income Tax Variation Forms
Other Tools
Providing useful tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) can help increase visitor engagement and add significant value to your potential clients. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are useful tools you can add to accounting websites. Other applications would include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.
In part two, we look at a number of online tools you can use in your accounting website using WordPress plugins and themes that can help improve your seo, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.
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This is the end of part one.
To view the rest of this article, click here:
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)
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