Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today face a number of challenges.

Challenges Certified Public Accountants Face Online

Now, more than ever, CPAs must find smarter ways to stand out from the crowd, find new business, and keep their current business. Not only do they have to become actively involved in the communities and industries they serve, they must also develop and maintain a strong digital presence. This includes having a dynamic website and learning how to better market your business services online.

In addition to spending dollars in offline marketing, businesses in the accounting industry are also finding that they will need to delegate a bigger share of their marketing budget to developing and managing a website that drives clients, engages users, outperforms the competition in search engines and social media, and increases their marketing reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your pages have to load fast, and your website has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website may change over time and sections will need to be updated often. This requires having a sound web and content management strategy in place.

Another challenge that accountants (and most businesses) face with their websites, is that your site has around 30 seconds or less to provide users what they are searching 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 a number of business and technology changes, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for accounting companies that are willing to adapt to meet the demands of the digital economy and can think strategically when it comes to marketing their business services better online.

In this detailed guide, you will discover a number of ways to attract and engage new visitors and establish online credibility for your accounting or financial services business.

As well as providing tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your web presence, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using WordPress to power your accounting business website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress content management system, see the articles below:

• Discover How A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Cost You Potential Clients
• Using WordPress To Grow A Successful Small Business Online

Useful Tips To Improve Your Website

This section looks at how to improve your website and get better results. We show you what pages a financial services site needs, what content works best for accounting and financial services websites, layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, check out the detailed guide we have written here: The Website Planning Process: A Practical Primer For Business Owners

Ways To Improve Your Web Pages

Professional websites require some essential pages. Let’s discuss the pages your  need to have and how to set up your accounting website for best results.

Services And Products

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

This page will include services such as:

• Business – planning, formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, forecasting, financing, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, 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 a business, 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 book an appointment.

Who We Are

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

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

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

Our Team

Are you searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to sell more products or services online? Then make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your organization better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff or team members. It should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors won’t be familiar with accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should also include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow individual staff members on their social networks.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your staff member’s experience, how they add value or contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your team to prospective new clients. Screenshot image sourced from: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to easily create and add a list of employees in your WordPress site with no coding skills required, see this tutorial: WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory

We’re Hiring

This is a listing of career opportunities within your company. This page should include training, benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. It should include case studies of recruits who have risen within your firm and information about new 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 the page, join your announcements list, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies

Testimonials from past clients and case studies are a great way to show potential clients what kind of solutions you will implement to help them solve problems. By adding a page with client reviews and case studies, you are also helping to are also providing social proof online.

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

We have written a comprehensive article about using client case studies and user reviews to improve your business results online. Go here to learn more: Discover How To Convert More Visitors Into Prospects With Profit-Boosting Customer Testimonials

Contact Page

A functional contact page is essential.

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

• Name
• Your address
• Telephone
• Facsimile
• Contact email
• Map
• Website address
• Contact form
• Request for information – contact details
• Social media links
• Live Chat/Skype

If your business operates in different locations you will want to make this clear when displaying your address and contact info.

Consider also including a few links for the most commonly asked questions, frequently-visited pages, special offers, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Blog Section

A blog is a very powerful business marketing tool. Many blogging platforms typically include a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to easily promote your business by publishing timely content such as announcements, product releases, useful articles, opinions on current topics, how-to videos, media presentations, etc.

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

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

Very few people know that WordPress can turn into an automated traffic system that can help begin delivering a stream of new visitors to your business, simply by adding regular content to your web site.

(WordPress can drive new visitors automatically to your site)

For more details, go here: WordPress Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Attract More Traffic For Your Business With WordPress

Legal Information

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is crucial, not just for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaching any local, regional and federal laws or regulations in whatever location you do business in.

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 Policy
• Terms Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• 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 WordPress Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Website

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

Providing great content with useful information and tips will get your visitors sharing your web pages and coming back for more information. Publishing content is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business.

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

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Understanding profit & loss statements
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• How to present accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Risk protection
• How to structure your 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 your readers gain a better understanding of accounting services, such as software accounting, tax accounting, tips on using small business accounting software, reducing debt, understanding accounting conventions, etc.

Remember to use keywords and terms in your content that readers will be searching 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 that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your website, save money creating useful content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Ways To Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Syndicate Content Using RSS Feeds

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed provides plenty of benefits for your website.

If you provide useful information, other sites will want to syndicate your content.

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
• Your feeds can be shared online
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• It provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• There are a number of ways your 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 a number of benefits when it comes to providing great information on your site from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

To find RSS feeds with loads of useful content just search online for tax-related government departments or well-known industry bodies.

For example, here are examples of useful RSS feeds you could consider adding 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

(Use RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds to provide your visitors with a better user experience.)

Checklists & Forms

Checklists and forms are a fantastic way to increase user engagement and add value to your readers. They can give them useful step-by-step instructions and resources to get necessary tasks performed. They are also great business planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Business
• Negative Gearing Checklist
• Non-Profit Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Trust Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Adding Unique Tools

Providing unique tools 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 some of the most popular tools for accounting websites. Other applications would include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part 2, we will look at a several online tools you can add to your accounting website using WordPress plugins and themes that can help to improve seo, improve user engagement and generate more web traffic to your business.

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This is the end of section 1 of this comprehensive guide on ways to improve your accounting web presence.

Click on this link to access the rest of this article:

• How To Grow Your Accounting Online Presence – Part Two

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