In Part One of this step-by-step guide on ways to build your accounting web presence, we provided in-depth tips and suggestions on the following topics:
- Online Challenges For Accountants
- Online Opportunities For Professional Accountants
- How To Improve Your Web Pages
- Ways To Improve The Content On Your Website
In this section, we continue looking at more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Ways To Improve Traffic
- Generating More Leads & Enquiries With WordPress-Based Tools
- How To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Web Traffic Using WordPress Plugins & Themes
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, see these articles:
Your Accounting Website – How To Improve SEO, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With WordPress Plugins
Your web traffic is vital to your online business growth. In this section we explore ways to help you improve your web traffic.
Optimize Your Website For SEO
There are lots of ways that WordPress helps optimize your accounting website for search engines:
- URLs – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the URL of your pages.
- Tags – WordPress lets you select the keywords that you want search engines to index your posts for.
- Post Categories – Create SEO-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Post Excerpts – WordPress lets you compose descriptions for your posts that search engines will show.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for improved search engine results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that allows you to easily create internal links
- Pinging – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories immediately upon publishing new content on your site.
How To Improve Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Improve User Engagement And Generate More Web Traffic Using WordPress Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, the WordPress community makes available also a number of plugins that improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more visitors to your site.
Here are some plugins you can use to improve your SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin (for visitors)
(A plugin like Yoast SEO (previously known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) can improve your SEO)
Other things you can do to improve your accounting site’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more web traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social features. Here are a few more powerful WordPress plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below are also free):
- BuddyPress – Set up a social community on your site.
- bbPress – bbPress allows you to set up and run your own community forum on your website.
- E-Newsletter – Use E-Newsletter to send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard.
- Disqus – Disqus lets you power discussions and increases user engagement on your site.
- Social Media Feather – This plugin lets you add social sharing features to your website.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing buttons to their website with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
How To Generate Leads & Enquiries
Let’s discuss now ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries for your business.
Providing An Email Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a list of subscribers. Adding a newsletter provides a number of benefits, like:
- Drives targeted traffic
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to provide special services or products to a select audience
- Provides regular opportunities for interaction
- Provides additional opportunities for subscribers to share your content
One of the best ways to get visitors to become subscribers is to provide high value information and offer users free gifts in exchange for their details. This can be a guide, tips for handling tax, access to financial calculators, coupons, access to courses, contests, etc.
Adding A Contact Form
Contact forms provide an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch with you. Contact forms also allow readers to report issues, contact specific departments, ask for a quote, and more.
Contact forms provide several benefits and advantages, like:
- Reduces spam
- Set up automated responses
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- They can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenient for site visitors
A popular contact form plugin for WordPress is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
This free contact form plugin is easy to install and set up and lets you add and manage multiple contact forms, customize the form and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submitting, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something else to consider is adding sections to your contact form so prospective customers can choose which topic they want to discuss. This helps you get the comment to the right person.
Provide A Map
Maps help your visitors and clients find you.
Integrating maps (e.g. Google Maps), with your site also provides users with a number of benefits, such as:
- Maps help to improve local SEO
- Allows clients to better plan their meeting and appointments
- Shows location of events
(A map helps your visitors and customers find you)
Here are some popular plugins that let you embed, customize and display maps on your site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Increasing User Engagement And Driving More Visitors To Your Website
WordPress Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting site to immediately add a range of functional tools for users. Here are just some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators Plugin)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators. You can embed these into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. The plugin supports internationalization
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- 401k
- Loans
- Leases
- Equity
- And lots more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you add a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many widgets as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin For WordPress)
This free plugin lets you add custom stock tickers to any post, page or sidebar with shortcodes.
Custom Stock ticker offers loads of customizable ticker. You can choose to use built-in themes or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your website. You can also add custom stocks to specific categories.
Customize the appearance by changing height, width, scrolling speed, background color, opacity, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, font size, font family, text color, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator WordPress Plugin)
This free calculator lets your users calculate indicative repayments online. This is a great financial tool for calculating vehicle loans, real estate loans, or other large loans.
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculator)
The plugin also contains an application form that sends a notification message to the email address you specify.
It will display payment protection, calculate 12 to 60 months loans and create a form that can be placed in any page or post.
For more details, go here}:
WP-Invoice
(WP-Invoice WP Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
This plugin lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand plugin functionality with both free and premium add-ons, like business location, electronic signature, PDF creation, quoting, single-page checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into your WP user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and several others.
The plugin lets you add custom payments and charges, create pre-defined line items and discounts, view invoice status and progression, filter and find invoices, show invoice receipts and invoice history, create email notification templates, display reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, most valuable clients and top grossing line items), and more.
For more details, go here}:
All In One Business Management Application
(All In One Business Management Application WP Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticket management system, CRM and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application – Client Invoicing)
The plugin supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools such as document management, to do app, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage and communicate with customers, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Invoicing)
It integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Themes For Accounting
To get the most benefit out of growing your business online with WordPress, we recommend choosing a theme specifically suited for accounting businesses. Here is a list of some of the best accounting themes available. These themes allow you to own a professional-looking accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
This premium theme for WordPress is an inexpensive turn-key theme built for accountants and accounting firms. It’s responsive, has a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, a custom menu feature, a content composer (which improves on the standard WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resizing for images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be customized by installing premium add-ons.
Go here to learn more this WordPress theme:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
This theme has a variety of built-in styles and layouts that helps give your accounting site a professional look and feel.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial section, and more. It’s lightweight, search engine friendly, fast loading, and fully responsive. Accountancy provides the flexibility you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and one year of support is included with the cost of purchase.
For more details about this theme, go here:
Accounting
(Accounting Theme For WordPress)
Accounting Theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your site any way you want. It also has unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different types of headers, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, custom slider, three different blog types, and is mobile-friendly. Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
More info:
Kathryn
(Kathryn)
Kathryn is a child theme for the Genesis Framework designed specifically for accounting businesses. It provides multiple layouts, slider, multiple sidebars, a variety of color options, is easy to use, search optimized, and is fully responsive (mobile-friendly). Although this theme could easily suit any profession you like, it builds a great looking accounting theme. It includes a license for the Soliloquy slider plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
Go here for more info:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This theme was built with the idea of professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was designed specifically to help give your accounting site a professional look without looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s fully responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your services, contact form section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials, and a blog.
Go here to learn more this WordPress theme:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate – WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a corporate theme specifically designed for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. It also includes a custom post type adding employee profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean-looking and fast-loading theme.
More info:
Divi
(Divi WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is one of the most flexible themes in Elegant Themes‘ collection. Divi lets you create any style of professional website you want using the page builder or pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
Divi’s page builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing you to understand and easily redesign the structure of their page without editing any code.
(Divi Theme – Page Builder)
Divi comes with 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. These include bar counter, blurb, contact form, divider, image, number counter, portfolio, pricing table, tabs, text, fullwidth code, fullwidth map, fullwidth post title, and more.. Divi is fully responsive and fully customizable. Prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 beautifully-designed themes.
Go here for more details:
The Corporation
(The Corporation WP Theme)
This one from Elegant Themes was specifically developed to make corporate sites look great.
This theme has a page-based home page design with a prominent slider. It also has a blog design and features that toggle on and off. It has 6 color schemes. It also comes with multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Themes start at $69 per year and includes full access to all themes.
For more information, go here:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
The Adviser Theme was designed specifically to help businesses in the financial industry to build trust through clean web design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services like investment advice or tax help. Adviser includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications, lease calculator, widgets and multiple shortcodes, and a drag-and-drop visual composer..
Go here for more information:
Tax Help
(Tax Help WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was specifically built for financial companies, tax and financial advisors, and those providing tax services. The theme is designed to showcase your services professionally to help grow your professional reputation. It comes with different blog styles, uses the drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
More info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
Finance Business WordPress Theme was built for firms that provide financial services including tax help, consulting, finance, corporate, insurance, accounting, loans, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around one hundred shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page options, color management features, animations, and a lot more.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, go here:
Avada
(Avada Finance WordPress Theme)
Avada is a fully responsive and versatile multipurpose theme that lets you easily build, configure, and run any kind of website you want without touching code, including a website for an accounting or finance-related organization.
To learn more about the Avada theme for WordPress, go here: Avada
Hopefully, this comprehensive guide has helped you learn ways to improve SEO, increase user engagement and generate more visitors to your accounting website with plugins.
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