In Part One of this article on ways to improve your accounting business presence online, we provided in-depth information on the following topics:
- Challenges Accounting Businesses Face Online
- Opportunities For The Accounting Profession In The Digital Economy
- Improve Your Web Pages
- How To Improve Your Content
In this section, we discuss more ways to grow your accounting business online. Topics covered include:
- Improve Traffic
- How To Generate New Leads & Enquiries
- WordPress Plugins For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Increasing User Engagement And Traffic Generation
To learn more about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
Improving Web Traffic With WordPress
Web traffic is a vital part of your online business growth. In this section, you will learn WordPress plugins that can help to improve search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more traffic.
Optimizing Your Site For Search Engines (SEO)
There are so many ways WordPress can help to improve SEO:
- URLs – Set the permalinks to use the title of the post.
- Post Tags – Specify the keywords that you want search engines to index your articles for.
- Categories – Create SEO-friendly categories for archiving and organizing your content.
- Excerpts – Set the description for your posts that will show to search engine users.
- Images – add search-optimized titles to your images for improved search engine results.
- Internal Linking – WordPress has a built-in feature that lets you easily link internal content
- Post Notification – Set up your WordPress site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories the moment a new post is published on your website.
Improving SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation With Plugins
As well as the built-in features of WordPress, there are many plugins that will improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more traffic to your website.
For example, here are some plugins you can use to improve your site’s search engine optimization:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (for search engines)
- WP Tree – WordPress site map plugin
(A plugin like Yoast SEO can improve your website’s SEO)
Other ways to improve SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, commenting, and social features. Here are a few useful plugins that can help (many of the plugins listed below are also free):
- BuddyPress – Run an online social network on WordPress, with member profiles, user groups, activity streams, messaging, and more.
- bbPress – Set up your own community forum on your WordPress website.
- E-Newsletter – Send professional email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without requiring third-party subscriptions.
- Disqus – Power discussions and helps to increase engagement on your website or blog.
- Monarch – Add powerful social sharing features to your website.
(You can add social features to your website easily using free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
Tips For Generating Leads & Enquiries
Let’s discuss now ways to improve sales and generate leads and enquiries online.
Adding A Newsletter
Providing an email newsletter is a great way to build a list of subscribers. It] provides many benefits, like:
- Drives targeted traffic to your website
- Keeps readers from forgetting about you
- Keeps readers updated
- Provides a highly targeted marketing channel
- It’s a way to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Increases user engagement
- Provides additional ways for your content to be shared with others
An effective way to attract newsletter subscribers is to provide them with valuable information and offer them additional items of value for free in exchange for their details. This can be an exclusive report, tips for handling finances, access to financial calculators, discount coupons, membership access to videos, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for prospective customers to get in touch with you. Users can raise problems, ask questions to specific departments, request quotes, give suggestions and more.
A contact form provides many benefits and advantages including:
- Reduces spam
- Set up automated responses
- Gives you control over what gets sent to you
- You can keep your email address private
- Contact forms can be added to any page or post
- Looks professional
- Convenience for users
A very popular contact form plugin for WordPress is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin is easy to install and configure and allows you to create multiple contact forms into any post or page, customize the forms and the email contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, spam filtering and so on.
Something else to consider is to segment your contact form so prospective customers can choose which department they want to contact. This ensures that contact form requests reach the right person.
Map Integration
Adding maps helps your visitors and clients find you.
A map is a useful tool for several reasons:
- A map helps to increase local SEO
- Visitors can find you easily
- Show location of events
(Maps help your visitors and customers find you)
Some of the more popular Google Maps plugins include:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
WordPress Plugins & Themes For Improving Search Engine Optimization, Better User Engagement And Generating More Visitors To Your Accounting Services Website
Accounting – WordPress Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your website that will immediately make available a range of practical tools for users. Here are some of these plugins:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin provides a free collection of 400+ calculators that you can display on your website and embed into your posts, pages, or sidebars using shortcodes. Internationalization is supported.
Note: Most of the calculators aren’t focused on accounting, but there are quite a few for:
- Interest rate
- Loans
- CD
- 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 a number of different stock quotes per portfolio. You can display as many portfolios as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker Plugin)
This free plugin lets you add a custom stock ticker to any sidebar, post or page with shortcodes.
The plugin includes loads of customizable features. You can choose to use built-in themes or customize it yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also add custom stocks to individual categories.
Appearance customizations include height, width, scrolling speed, background color, opacity, number of stocks displayed simultaneously, text color, font family, font size, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin)
This free plugin lets users calculate indicative repayments. This is a great tool for calculating automotive loans, real estate loans, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator Plugin – Loan Calculators)
Finance Calculator also contains an application form that sends a notification message to a specified email address.
It will show 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 Plugin For WordPress)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
WP-Invoice lets you integrate billing into WordPress. You can send out itemized invoices, set up recurring billing and expand plugin functionality with both free and premium add-ons that let you manage business, accept electronic signatures from clients, create PDF versions of your invoices, create quotes, create checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with payment processors like PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
WP-Invoice lets you add custom payments and charges, add pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly view invoice status and progression, easily filter and find invoices, see invoice receipts and invoice history, create notification email templates, display reports (collected vs uncollected invoices, ten 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 – WordPress Plugin)
This is a complete business management system that includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and support ticketing management system, client relationship management and lots more.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – Client Invoicing)
All In One Business Management Application supports multiple languages, is fully customizable and provides additional tools such as document management, notice board, and more.
For more details, go here}:
iBilling – Accounting And Billing Software
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin)
This is a scalable business software that lets you manage and communicate with clients, track your company’s cash flow and net worth, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software – Client Invoice)
iBilling Accounting and Billing Software integrates with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
WordPress Financial Themes
To benefit the most from using WordPress to grow your business online, we recommend choosing a theme specifically for accounting businesses. Here is a list of some of the best accountancy themes available. With the themes listed below you can own a professional accounting website within minutes and save hundreds to thousands of dollars on the cost of website design.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro WP Theme)
Accounting Pro is a turn-key theme built for accountants and accountancy firms. It’s a responsive theme with a drag-and-drop page-builder, has several page templates, a custom menu feature, a content composer (gives you an improved WordPress editor), a sidebar manager, auto-resizing for images, and a whole lot more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded with premium add-ons.
Go here for more information:
Accountancy
(Accountancy – WordPress Theme)
Accountancy offers a variety of styles and layouts to make your accounting site look and feel professional.
This mobile-friendly theme includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, it’s lightweight, search optimized, and loads fast. Accountancy provides the features you need without bloating your theme. Your purchase price includes free updates and 1 year of support.
Go here for more information about this WordPress theme:
Accounting
(Accounting WordPress Theme)
This premium theme includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your website any way you want. It also provides unlimited sidebars with custom widgets, four different header types, a custom admin panel, different color schemes, a custom slider, 3 blog types, and is mobile-friendly. It is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
To learn more about this WordPress theme, visit this website:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
This one is a premium child theme for the Genesis Framework that’s developed specifically for accountants. It has a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, widgetized home page, various color options, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine optimized, and is 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 plugin and must be purchased separately from the Genesis Framework.
More information:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme was designed to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. It features authoritative colors and layout elements designed specifically to help give your accounting business website 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 section with consultation requests (downloadable as CSV), testimonials, and a blog.
More information:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate – WordPress Theme)
WP Advocate is a free corporate theme specifically designed for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate also includes a custom post type for employee profiles. It will also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. WP Advocate is a clean and fast-loading theme.
More information:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. Divi lets you create a professional site using the page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can modify your layout to your heart’s content.
The builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and easily edit the structure of their page without editing code.
(Divi WP Theme – Page Builder)
It has 40 content modules that you can drag and drop anywhere you want. This includes multiple layouts, a slider, you can place pricing tables, testimonials, call-to-action, and lots more. Divi is fully responsive and completely customizable. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 sleek business themes.
Visit this site to learn more this WordPress theme:
The Corporation
(The Corporation – WordPress Theme)
This premium WordPress theme was created specifically to make corporate sites look great.
This theme has a page-based home page design with a prominent slider, blog design, six different color schemes, multiple page templates which include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Prices start at $69 per year and includes access to all beautifully-designed themes.
Go here for more info:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
Adviser was built to help finance industry professionals build trust through clean design. It’s perfect for businesses that provide services like investments or tax help. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a lease calculator. It includes multiple shortcodes and widgets, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
For more information, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help – WordPress Theme)
This one was specifically designed for financial companies, tax and finance advisors, and businesses offering tax services. Tax Help is designed to showcase your services professionally to help establish your business reputation. It has a range of blog styles, uses a drag-and-drop visual composer, includes a shortcode builder, the Revolution Slider, and additional custom shortcodes.
More info:
Finance Business
(Finance Business)
Finance Business was developed for firms that provide financial services such as consulting, tax help, insurance, finance, corporate, accounting, loans, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that includes charts and financial content, a custom drag-and-drop composer, two premium sliders, page settings, color management, animations, and a whole lot more.
For more details, 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, improve user engagement and increase web traffic generation with plugins & themes.
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