Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only revolutionized businesses globally, it has also created increasingly difficult challenges and great opportunities for accountants.

Challenges CPAs Face Online

Now, more than ever, accounting firms must work harder and find smarter ways to stand out from the competition, find new clients, and keep their current clientele. Not only do they have to be fully involved in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop a strong presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better promote your services online.

As well as spending money advertising offline on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television spots, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are also finding that increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget will need to be delegated to develop and manage a website that can bring in clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help increase their reach online.

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

Another problem that accounting businesses face online (as all other professions do for that matter), is that you have only around 30 seconds or less to give visitors what they are searching for or they will go elsewhere to get their needs met.

“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 Certified Public Accountants In The Online Economy

As well as facing a number of significant challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting sector that can adapt to meet online demands and who can think strategically when it comes to marketing their services better online.

In this detailed guide, you will learn ways to drive more traffic and build more online credibility for your business.

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

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

• Learn Why A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Cost You Prospective Customers
• How To Grow Your Business With A WordPress Blog

Useful Tips For Improving Your Accounting Or Financial Services Website

We’ll start first by reviewing the basics. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your accounting website and get better results online. We will look at what web pages you need, what type of content works best for accounting websites, layout and navigation, etc.

If you need additional information about website planning, visit this page: A Basic Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Your Web Pages

All business websites require a number of essential pages. Let’s go over these.

Products And Services Description Page

It’s essential to have a page that explains your services and products.

This page should include all the services you offer, such as:

• Business accounting – business planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, forecasting, financing, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, 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, 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 the benefits of using your services and why they should choose you.

About Us

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

Remember to mention any business awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that could be used to promote your company and set it above your competitors.

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

Our Team

If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online, then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospective clients to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Potential clients need to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff. This page should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in accounting terms your bio descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons so your visitors can follow individual team members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your people with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline your employee’s expertise and qualifications, how their skills and knowledge add value to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add an employee page. Image source: deepsky.com)

If you need help how to create and add a simple and easily updatable list directory of staff or team members in your site without coding skills, see this tutorial: How To Add A Simple Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

Recruitment

List any career opportunities available within the company. It could include training offered, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, etc. You should also include case studies of recruits who have worked their way up in your firm and information such as the job outlook and upcoming career opportunities in the accounting industry.

Also include 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 announcements list, follow you on social media, etc.

Testimonials And Case Studies

Customer reviews and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients the benefits of doing business with your firm. By adding a page with client reviews and case studies, you are also helping to provide social proof online.

(Add a web page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies. Image source: pcg-services.com)

If you want to learn more about using testimonials, case studies and user reviews, see this article: Learn How To Improve Your Conversions Using Compelling Client Testimonials

Contact Us

A functional contact page is essential.

It should include:

• Name Of Your Organization
• Your address
• Telephone number
• Fax number
• Email
• Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Links to social media profiles
• Chat feature (optional feature)

If your business services several areas you should make this clear when showing the address and contact information.

You can also include links to an FAQ page, main pages, special offers, support area, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Many blogging platforms typically include a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to promote your business using timely content such as industry announcements, product updates, useful articles and tutorials, opinions on current topics, promotional videos, media presentations, 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 accounting or financial services site is very hard to keep updated with new content or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can be used both as your website and your blog.

Not many businesses know this, but WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic-generation system that will help begin driving new targeted traffic to your site, simply by adding new content on a regular basis to your website.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can generate web traffic automatically to your site)

For more details, go here: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Discover How To Create An Automated Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Pages

As a professional business, ensuring that you have a compliant website is essential, not just for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaching local, regional or federal laws or regulations wherever your business services clients.

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

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

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your site. Go here to learn more: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Website

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s ultra competitive online economy, the sooner you begin to publish great content on your site, the faster you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

By committing to providing great content with useful information and tips, you will get your readers to share your content and come back for more. Content marketing is a great way to educate your visitors and prospective clients about your business.

For example, for an accounting business, topics can cover:

• How balance sheets work
• Understanding profit and loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s 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 readers understand accounting services, such as forensic accounting, tax accounting, tax planning for small business, reducing business debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use the same keywords in your content that your readers would search for.

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 site, save money creating useful content that will add value to 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!

Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

Improving your user experience (known 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.

Use RSS Feeds

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

If you provide useful content, other sites will 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
• Your feeds can be shared
• Allows users to subscribe
• It provides a way for links to point back to your site
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• There are various ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. subscribers can read the content on their mobile device using different applications)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits to adding syndicated content to 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 for your website by visiting sites of relevant government departments or respected industry bodies.

For example, here are some exaples of feeds you may want to consider adding to your 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

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

Checklists & Forms

Checklists and forms are a fantastic way to help increase user engagement, add value to your readers and provide something unique. Checklists and forms can provide users with useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete tasks. Checklists and forms can also be great planning tools.

Forms and checklists can cover topics such as:

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Checklist
• Not-For-Profit Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Company Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Unique Tools

Providing useful tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) can help increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to potential clients. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are useful tools for accounting websites. Other applications can include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section of this guide, we will look at a several online tools you can use in your accounting or financial services site using WordPress plugins that can improve your search engine optimization, increase user engagement and generate more web traffic 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.

Click here to access Part 2:

• Grow Your Accounting Website – WordPress Plugins And Themes For Improving SEO, Increasing User Engagement And Traffic Generation

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