Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The digital economy has not only transformed the way business is done around the world, it has also created difficult challenges and great opportunities for businesses offering accounting and financial services.

Online Challenges For Certified Public Accountants

Now, more than ever, CPAs must work harder to remain competitive, find 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 promote your business online.

As well as investing dollars in offline marketing activities such as advertising on newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and television, etc., you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to compete with other web-marketing savvy accounting businesses, you will need to allocate a larger share of your marketing budget to develop and manage a website that will drive prospects, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help you create wider marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your 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 may change in time and sections will need to be updated frequently. This requires the implementation of a well-developed website and content management strategy.

One other challenge that accountancy firms face online (as other businesses do for that matter), is that your site has only about thirty seconds to give visitors the information 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 Digital Economy

As well as facing a number of challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting sector that can evolve to meet the challenges of the online economy and who can think strategically about improving their online business marketing skills.

This guide will help you uncover ways to attract more business and improve your accounting and financial business presence online.

As well as providing practical tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your accounting website, we also emphasize the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System to power your accounting or financial services business website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System, go here:

• How A Poorly Built Website Can Lose You Business
• WordPress For Small Business – The Beginner’s Guide To Growing Your Successful Small Business Using WordPress

Useful Tips For Improving Your Website

Let’s start by covering the basic information you need. In this section, we’ll look at how to improve your website and get better results. We show you what web pages you need, what type of content works best for accounting and financial services sites, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need any help with website planning, visit this page: The Web Site Planning Process - A Comprehensive Guide For Business Owners

Your Website Pages

Professional business websites require a number of basic web pages. Let’s review the pages your  need and how to set up your accounting or financial services website for best results.

Services Page

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

This page should include services such as:

• Business accounting – planning, incorporation of companies, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, bookkeeping, financing, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, 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, not just the ones you specialize in. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using your services and why they should book an appointment with you.

About Us

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical donations, etc.

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

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

Core Team

If you are looking for cost-effective ways to grow your business online, then make it easier for your prospective clients to get to know you, your team 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 people. This page should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. This page should even include social buttons so your site visitors can follow individual staff members on their social pages.

In this page, make sure to outline each team member’s qualifications, how their skills add value or contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a staff description page. Screenshot image sourced from: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to add an updatable simple staff directory to your WordPress site using free plugins, refer to this step-by-step tutorial: Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

Work For Us

This is a listing of career opportunities within the firm. It can include training, benefits, professional development, etc. It should include stories of graduates who have worked their way up in your organization and information about new 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 your social pages, etc.

Testimonials

Testimonials from previous clients and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients the benefits of doing business with your organization. By adding a page with reviews from clients and case studies, you will also help to provide social proof.

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

If you want to learn more using testimonials and user reviews to improve your business results online, go here: How To Achieve Better Results Online With Engaging Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a functional contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should include the following information:

• Business Name
• Address
• Telephone number
• Fax
• Contact email address
• Google Map and directions
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Request for more information – who to contact
• Links to social media profiles
• Live chat feature (optional feature)

If your business services multiple areas you will want to make that clear when showing the address and contact info.

You could also include links to an FAQ page, main pages, special offers, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs are built around a content management system that is simple to use and allows you to promote your business by publishing content such as industry events, product releases, educational articles and tutorials, informative posts, promotional videos, media presentations, etc.

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

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

Very few people know that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic-generation machine that can help begin attracting an ongoing stream of web traffic to your business, simply by adding content to your website on a consistent basis.

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

If you would like to learn more here: WordPress Web Traffic Blueprint – How To Automatically Increase Your Website Traffic For Your Business

Legal Info Pages

It’s crucially important to have a compliant website, not just for establishing trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no laws and regulations are being breached wherever you provide services to.

Depending on what products and services you provide, adding some or all of the following legal pages to your site will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential sources of threats and legal 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
• etc.

We have written a comprehensive article about adding legal pages to your site. For more details: Adding Legal Pages To Your Website

Tips For Improving The Content On Your Website

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

By committing to providing great content with useful advice and tips, you will get your visitors to share your web pages and come back for more. Using content is a great way to educate site visitors and prospects about your business and about using your products and services.

For example, topics for an accounting business could include:

• How balance sheets work
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• How to present accounts for fundraising activities
• Cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Risk protection
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your readers understand your services, such as forensic accounting, small business accounting, business auditing, reducing business debt, understanding accounting concepts, etc.

Remember to use keywords and terms in your articles that your prospective clients will be searching for.

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 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 100% FREE!

Improving User Experience

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

Content Syndication – 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 sites 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
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• It provides links to your content
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• There are various ways readers can receive your content (e.g. users can view 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 websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

To find useful RSS feeds just visit sites of finance and tax-related government departments and industry bodies.

Below we have listed some exaples of RSS feeds you may want to consider adding to your accounting 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

(Add RSS feeds to improve your accounting site’s user experience.)

Checklists And 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 give them useful instructions and resources to perform tasks. They are great business planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Partnership Tax Checklist
• Trust 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 add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are popular tools for accounting websites. Others would include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section of this detailed guide, we discuss a number of online tools you can use in your accounting or financial services website using WordPress plugins that improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more visitors to your business.

***

This is the end of part one of this step-by-step guide on ways to build your accounting business web presence.

Click on this link to continue:

• Online Business Tips For Accountants – How To Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins And Themes

Would You Like To Get Notified When New Tutorials Are Published? Then Subscribe To WPCompendium.org!

***

***

***