Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today are facing significant and difficult challenges brought about by the digital economy.

Challenges Certified Public Accountants Face Online

Now, more than ever, accountants must work harder to remain competitive, source new clients, and keep their current business. Not only do they have to maintain a strong presence in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop a strong digital presence. This includes having a dynamic website and learning how to better market your business online.

In addition to spending money advertising offline on local newspapers, ads in industry publications and magazines, radio and tv spots, etc., businesses in the accounting industry are now finding that increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget will need to be assigned towards the development and maintenance of a website that brings new prospective clients, engages users, outranks the competition in search engines and helps to give their business a wider marketing reach online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, load fast, and your website layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of the website will change in time and sections may need to be frequently updated. This requires the implementation of a sound web and content management strategy.

Another difficult challenge that accounting businesses face with their websites (and most other businesses for that matter), is that you have an average of 30 seconds to give users the information they need or they will go elsewhere to find what they need.

“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 The Accounting Profession In The Web Economy

As well as facing significant challenges, there are also plenty of online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting industry that can evolve to meet online demands and think strategically in terms of improving their online business marketing skills.

In this article, you will learn about opportunities to increase web traffic and improve your accounting and financial business presence online.

As well as providing general website improvement tips, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform to power your accounting website.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform, go here:

• Why A Poorly Built Website Can Lose You Money And What To Do About It
• Learn How To Grow Your Business Using WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Accounting Or Financial Services Website

In this section we’ll start with the basics and show you ways to improve your website and get better results. We show you what pages an accounting website needs, what type of content you need, suggestions for improving your site’s layout and navigation structure, etc.

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

Improve Your Web Pages

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

Description Of Services

You need a page that lists your services and products.

This page will include services such as:

• Business accounting – business planning, formation, general accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, bookkeeping, forecasting, budgeting, financing, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, 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, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about what these services do and why they should choose you.

Who We Are

This page should give a description of your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, community activities, etc.

Remember to also list any awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote the company and position it above the competition.

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

Meet Our Team

If you are searching for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction on your site, then help your prospects get to know you, your team and your business better.

You want people to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your team. This page should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors will not tend to be very well-versed in accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons so your site visitors can follow your staff 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 highlight each employee’s expertise, how their skills add value to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a page that introduces your team members to prospective new clients. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to create and add an easy-to-manage simple team directory to your WordPress site using a free WordPress plugin, see this step-by-step tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site: Plugin Tutorial

Work For Us

List any career opportunities within your organization. This page should include training provided, benefits, professional development, etc. You can also include information such as the job outlook and career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Include also 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.

Case Studies

Case studies and testimonials are a great way to show potential clients the benefits of doing business with your organization. Adding a page with testimonials from past clients and case studies also helps your accounting or financial services website to establish social proof.

(Add a page to your site with case studies and testimonials from previous clients. Screenshot image source: pcg-services.com)

We have written extensively about using testimonials, case studies and client reviews to grow your business online. For more info, see this article: All You Need To Know To Achieve Better Results Online With Knockout Customer Testimonials

Contact Us

A clean contact page is essential.

It should include the following information about your organization:

• Company Name
• Location
• Telephone number
• Facsimile number
• Contact email address
• Map
• Website URL
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media URLs
• Chat (optional)

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

Consider also including links to an FAQ page, frequently-visited pages, special offers, support page, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Blog

A blog is a very powerful business marketing tool. Most 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 like announcements, updates, useful information, discussions on current topics, videos, infographics, etc.

If you already have an established 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 or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can act as both your website and business blog.

Very few people know that an expertly configured WordPress site can become an automated traffic-generation system that will begin to deliver targeted visitors to your web site, simply by publishing regular content to your site.

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

For more info, see this article: Website Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Create A Traffic-Getting Machine With WordPress

Legal Information Pages

As a professional business, ensuring that you have a website that complies will all legal requirements online is vital, not just for building trust and credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that no local, regional or federal laws or regulations are being broken wherever you provide services to.

Adding the following legal pages to your accounting website will help keep you out of legal hot water 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
• Health/Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a detailed article on adding legal pages to your website. For more details, go here: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips For Improving The Content On Your Site

In today’s ultra competitive digital economy, the sooner you begin to engage in the practice of content marketing, the quicker you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

By committing to providing great content with advice and tips, you will get your readers to share your content online with others and come back for more information. Using content is the most effective way to educate site visitors and prospects about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting business can include:

• How balance sheets work
• Profit & loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Protecting revenues
• Tips on 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 informative articles that will help your your prospective clients gain a better understanding of accounting services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, office accounting software, reducing business debt, understanding accounting conventions, etc.

Remember to use relevant keywords in your content that readers 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 teach exactly how to drive more traffic to your website or blog, save money creating useful content for your visitors and grow your business online using content marketing strategies. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Ways Of Improving User Experience

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

RSS Feeds – Content Syndication

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed provides many benefits for your site.

If you provide valuable information, other businesses may want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

Some of the benefits of syndicating your content to other websites using RSS feeds, include:

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• Doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared online
• Feeds allow for subscribing
• It provides a way for links to point back to your site
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• There are various ways readers can receive your content (e.g. users can view the content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also 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.

You can find RSS feeds with loads of useful content by searching online for finance-related government departments and respected industry bodies.

For example, here are a few feeds containing useful information that 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

(Using RSS feeds can help to improve your website’s UX.)

Adding Downloadable Forms & Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase user engagement, add value to your audience and provide something unique. They can provide users with useful instructions and resources to get necessary tasks performed. They are also great business planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Business
• Negative Gearing Checklist
• Non-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Individual Tax Checklist
• Capital Gains Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Online Tools

Providing unique online tools and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) is a great way to increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are useful tools to add to accounting websites. Others can include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In part two of this detailed article, we look at a several WordPress-based tools you can use in your site that can improve seo, increase user engagement and drive more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section one of this article on ways to grow your accounting business web presence.

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

• How To Grow Your Accounting Or Financial Services Web Presence With WordPress – Part Two

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