Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today are facing a growing number of challenges thanks to the web economy.

Online Challenges For Accountants

Accountants today must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do you have to become actively involved in the communities and industries your business serves, you must also develop an active presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better market your services online.

As well as investing dollars in offline marketing, businesses in the accounting industry are also finding that they need to invest a greater part of their marketing budget towards the development and maintenance of a website that can attract new prospects, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and increase their marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look professional, your pages have to be fast-loading, and be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, your site’s needs may change over time and sections will need to be frequently updated. This requires implementing sound web and content management strategy.

One other challenge that accounting businesses face with their websites (as do most businesses for that matter), is that they have only around 30 seconds or less to give visitors the information they need 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

Opportunities For Accounting Professionals

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 evolve to meet digital demands and can think progressively in terms of improving their online marketing skills.

In this detailed guide, you will learn new opportunities to attract new potential clients and establish online credibility for your business.

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

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

• Learn How A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Lose You Business And What To Do About It
• The Business Owner’s Guide To Understanding WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Website

This section explains how to improve your accounting website and get better results. We will look at what pages you need, what type of content you need, your layout and navigation, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, check out the article we have written here: A Basic Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Your Web Pages

Professional business websites need several basic pages. Let’s go over these.

Description Of Products And Services

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

Your page should include all the products and services you offer, such as:

• Business – business planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, bookkeeping, budgeting, financing, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, 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. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about what your services do and why they should book an appointment.

About Us Page

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, supported community activities, etc.

It should also list any awards, recognitions, accreditations, certifications, publications, associations, etc., that you can use to promote the company and set it above other competitors.

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

Meet Your Staff

If you are looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to interact more with your site, then something you can do, is help your prospective clients get to know your business better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees or team members. It should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors are probably not that 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. This page should also include social buttons so your site visitors can follow selected team members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your employee’s qualifications, how they add value to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your staff members to prospective new clients. Image source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple team members directory to your website using free WP plugins, refer to this tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory To Your Site

Work For Us

This is a listing of career opportunities within your firm. It would include type of training provided, employee benefits, professional development, etc. You can include information about career opportunities in the accounting and financial services 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 your social pages, etc.

Case Studies And Testimonials

Testimonials from past clients and case studies are a great way to show potential clients what type of financial solutions you are capable of implementing to help them solve problems. Adding a web page with client reviews and case studies also provides social proof online.

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

We have written a detailed article on using case studies, testimonials and reviews get better results online. Go here to learn more about this: Convert More Visitors Into Qualified Leads Using Sales Boosting Client Testimonials

Contact Us

Having a contact page is crucial.

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

• Business Name
• Your address
• Telephone
• Facsimile number
• Email address
• Map
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Social media web addresses
• Chat/Skype

If your business operates in several areas you want to make this clear when displaying your address and contact information.

You should also include links to the most commonly asked questions, useful pages, special offers, support area, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add A Blog Section

A blog is a very powerful marketing tool for your business. Blogs typically include a content management system that allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content like company news, company updates, useful articles, discussions on current topics, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

If you already have an accounting website, 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 with new content or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can serve both as your business website and your blog.

Something not many businesses know about, is that WordPress can turn into an automated traffic machine that will help begin to attract targeted visitors to your website, simply by publishing new content to your website on a regular basis.

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

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

Legal Information Pages

It’s crucially important for professional firms to have a website that complies will all legal requirements online, not just for establishing credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that no laws or regulations are being breached in whichever location you provide services to.

Depending on what products and services you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your accounting site will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Facebook), and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• Terms And Conditions 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
• etc.

We have written a comprehensive article on adding legal pages to your site. Go here to learn more: What You Need To Know About Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips For Improving The Content On Your Website

In today’s highly competitive global economy, the willingness to deliver valuable content to visitors at no cost has become one of the key business differentiators.

By committing to providing great content with information and tips, you will get your readers to share your web pages with others and come back for more information. Content marketing is the most effective way to educate site visitors and prospective clients about your business.

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

• How balance sheets work
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• How to structure a self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing insurance, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

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

Remember to use keywords and terms in your articles that your readers would search for online.

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

Improve Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Syndicating Content With RSS Feeds

Using RSS feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and user experience in many ways.

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

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:

• All of your content updates are in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feeds can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• It provides links to your content
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are various ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. read 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 adding syndicated content to your website from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

You can find RSS feeds with useful content by visiting sites of relevant government departments and industry bodies.

Here are some feeds you may want to 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

(Use RSS feeds to provide your visitors with a better UX.)

Adding Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a fantastic way to help increase user engagement and add value to your readers. They can provide useful step-by-step instructions and resources to perform necessary tasks. They are great planning tools.

You can provide a range of forms and checklists covering subjects such as:

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Checklist
• Non-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Online Tools

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

In part two of this detailed guide, we take a look at a several online tools you can add to your accounting or financial services website using WordPress plugins and themes that can help improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and drive 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 business presence online.

To view Part Two, click here:

• Tips For CPAs – How To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With Plugins & Themes

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