In Part One of this guide on ways to build your accounting business web presence, we covered the following areas:
- Online Challenges For Accountants
- Opportunities For Accountants In The Web Economy
- Basic Pages
- Tips For Improving The Content On Your Site
In this section, we explore more ways to grow your accounting services business online. Areas covered below include:
- Tips For Improving Web Traffic
- Ways To Generate Leads & Enquiries Using WordPress
- WordPress Plugins For Improving SEO, Creating Better User Engagement And Traffic Generation
For more information about WordPress plugins and themes, go here:
- Adding New Functionality To Your Website With WP Plugins
- WP For Business – An Overview Of WordPress Themes
Your Accounting Website – Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Generate More Visitors With WordPress Plugins
Your web traffic is vital to your business growth. This section will help you improve your web traffic using WordPress.
Optimize Your Site For Search Engines
There are loads of ways WordPress can help to improve your accounting website’s SEO:
- SEO-Friendly – WordPress lets you set the permalinks to use the title of the posts as the web address of your pages.
- Tags – WordPress lets you specify the keywords that you want search engines to index your article pages for.
- Post Categories – Add search engine-friendly categories for your posts and products.
- Post Excerpts – Create the description for your posts that will appear in search results.
- Images – title images used in your content with keywords for better search results.
- Internal Content Linking – WordPress provides a built-in feature that allows you to easily create internal links for better indexing of your web content
- Post Notification – Configure your site to automatically notify (ping) other search directories immediately upon publishing a new post on your site.
Improving Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation Using Plugins
In addition to the built-in features of WordPress, there are many plugins that will improve your accounting website’s SEO, increase engagement and drive more web traffic to your business.
For example, you can use the plugins below to improve your website’s SEO:
- Yoast SEO – WordPress SEO plugin
- Google XML Sitemaps – WordPress XML sitemap plugin (lists all of your pages for search engines)
- Page-List – WordPress site map plugin
(Use a plugin like Yoast SEO to improve your website’s search engine optimization)
Other ways to improve your accounting website’s SEO, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your website are to add a forum, newsletters, comments, and social sharing. Here are a few useful plugins that can help:
- BuddyPress – Use the BuddyPress plugin to run your own social networking community on WordPress.
- bbPress – Use bbPress to run your own community forum on WordPress.
- E-Newsletter – Send email newsletters, track results and manage subscribers from your WP dashboard, without a third party subscription.
- Disqus – Power discussions and helps to increase user engagement on your website or blog.
- Social Media Feather – Add social buttons and features that allow visitors to share your content online to your posts and pages.
(WordPress users can easily add social sharing to their website using WordPress plugins)
Ways To Generate More Leads & Enquiries
In this section we will show you ways to improve your sales and generate leads and enquiries.
Providing A Newsletter
Providing a newsletter is a great way to build a list of subscribers. Adding an email newsletter provides a number of benefits and advantages including:
- Sends targeted traffic to your site
- Keeps your business at the forefront of your reader’s minds
- Provides updates
- Provides a targeted marketing channel
- Allows you to offer special products or services to a select audience
- Increases user interaction
- Provides an additional way for your content to be shared online with new potential customers
A proven way to get visitors to subscribe to your newsletter is to provide high value content and give users a free gift in exchange for their details. This could be an exclusive guide, tips for handling finances, access to financial calculators, coupons, access to videos, contests, etc.
Contact Forms
A contact form provides an easy and simple way for readers to get in touch. Contact forms also let users report issues, contact specific departments, ask for a quote, and more.
A contact form provides several benefits, like:
- Reducing spam
- Automated response
- Giving you control over what gets sent to you
- Allows you to keep your email address private
- Can be added to any page or post
- Improves the professional look of your website
- More convenient for users
A popular WordPress contact form plugin is Contact Form 7.
Contact Form 7
(Contact Form 7 Plugin For WordPress)
This free contact form plugin allows you to insert and manage multiple contact forms, customize the forms and the mail contents, add fields, and more.
Supports international languages, Ajax-powered submissions, CAPTCHA, Akismet spam filtering and so on.
Another feature you may want to consider is adding sections to your contact form so users can select which aspect of your business they are contacting you about. This ensures that visitors’ requests reach the right person.
Provide A Map
Adding a map helps your visitors and customers find you.
Integrating maps (e.g. Google Maps), with your website also provides visitors with many benefits, such as:
- They increase local SEO
- Helps visitors find your office easily
- Displays 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 WordPress site:
- Google Maps
- Advanced Google Maps Plugin for WordPress
- WP Google Maps
- Comprehensive Google Map Plugin
Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic Generation Using WordPress Plugins
Accounting And Financial Services – WordPress Plugins
WordPress lets you add a number of plugins to your accounting website that will immediately add a range of practical tools for your site visitors. Here are some of the plugins you can choose from:
Calculator Pro Calculators
(Calculator Pro Calculators WordPress Plugin)
This is a free collection of over 400 calculators. You can embed these into your pages, posts, or sidebars using shortcodes. Internationalization is supported.
Most of the calculators aren’t focused specifically on accounting, but there are a few you can use for:
- 401k
- Payments
- Tax
- Equity
- And more
For more details, go here}:
Show Stock Quotes
(Show Stock Quotes Plugin)
This plugin installs a widget that displays up to 20 different stock quotes per portfolio. You can show as many portfolios as you want.
(Show Stock Quotes – Stock Portfolio)
For more details, go here}:
Custom Stock Ticker
(Custom Stock Ticker)
With this plugin you can add a custom stock ticker to any sidebar, post or page with shortcodes.
The plugin provides several customizable ticker. Choose from built-in skins or customize these yourself. It’s easy to customize it so it matches your site. You can also create custom stocks for individual categories.
Customize the appearance by changing size, text, colours, etc.
For more details, go here}:
Finance Calculator
(Finance Calculator Plugin For WordPress)
This free plugin lets users calculate indicative repayments online. This is a great financial tool for vehicle loans, property, or any other large loan.
(Finance Calculator – WordPress Plugin – Loan Calculator)
This plugin 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 – WordPress Plugin)
WP-Invoice lets you send itemized invoices to clients.
WP-Invoice integrates 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, checkout forms, and more.
The plugin ties into WP’s user management database to keep track of clients and their information, and integrates with PayPal, Authorize.net, Stripe, and others.
WP-Invoice features include adding custom payments and charges, creating pre-defined line items and discounts, quickly viewing invoice status and progression, easily filtering and finding invoices, showing invoice receipts and invoice history, creating email notification templates, displaying 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 Plugin)
This complete business management system includes accounting management, invoicing, order management, helpdesk with knowledgebase and ticket system, CRM and many additional features.
(All In One Business Management Application Plugin For WordPress – Client Invoice)
The plugin supports different 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 Plugin)
iBilling is a scalable business software that lets you manage and communicate with customers, tracks your company’s cash flow and net worth, send single-click payment reminders and payment confirmations, and lots more.
(iBilling – Accounting and Billing Software Plugin – Invoicing)
It lets you get paid faster by integrating with several payment gateways.
For more details, go here}:
Accounting And Financial Services Themes For WordPress
To get the best features and professional look for your website, it’s best to choose a theme specifically suited for accounting. Here is a look at some of the best accounting themes available. These themes allow you to have a professional accounting website within minutes.
Accounting Pro
(Accounting Pro Theme For WordPress)
This is a turn-key theme 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, performs auto resizing for images, and lots more.
Accounting Pro can be expanded with premium add-ons.
More info:
Accountancy
(Accountancy WordPress Theme)
Accountancy offers a variety of styles and layouts to help make your accounting site look and feel professional.
It includes a custom slider, a featured testimonial, and more. It’s lightweight, search engine friendly, loads fast, and fully responsive. Accountancy provides what you need without bloating your theme with features you don’t need. Free updates and 1 year of support is included in the price.
Go here for more details:
Accounting
(Accounting WP Theme)
This one includes a drag-and-drop builder so you can design your site any way you want. The theme also provides unlimited sidebars and custom widgets, four different header types, a custom administration panel, four color schemes, custom slider, 3 blog types, and is responsive (mobile-friendly). Accountancy is a clean-looking, modern and fast loading theme.
More information:
Kathryn
(Kathryn Theme For WordPress)
Kathryn is a child theme for the Genesis Framework designed specifically for accounting services. It has a slider, multiple layouts, multiple sidebars, author boxes for single or multiple bloggers, a variety of color options, is easy to use, inexpensive, search engine friendly, and is mobile-friendly. Although it can easily fit 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.
To learn more about this theme, visit this site:
Accounting WordPress Theme
(Accounting WordPress Theme – Theme For WordPress)
Accounting WordPress Theme was created to enhance professionalism within the accounting industry. Every color, layout element, icon, menu item, page structure, call-to-action, etc., was designed specifically to help make your accounting business website look professional without looking dull. It’s a turn-key installation but you can still modify it if you want. It’s responsive (mobile-friendly) and includes pages for your accounting services, contact details section with consultation requests (downloadable as a CSV file), testimonials section, and a blog.
Go here to learn more about this theme:
WP Advocate
(WP Advocate WordPress Theme)
This is a corporate theme designed specifically for professionals such as accountants and attorneys. You can use the theme’s bundled images or upload your own. WP Advocate includes a custom post type adding employee profiles and can also integrate with BeSpoke profile templates. It’s clean-looking and loads fast.
More information:
Divi
(Divi – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress is the most flexible theme in Elegant Themes‘ entire collection. Divi lets you create a professional website using the page builder or beautiful and unique pre-made layouts. You can change your layout to your heart’s content.
Divi’s page builder transforms web elements into visual building blocks, allowing anyone to understand and redesign the structure of their web pages without touching any code.
(Divi – WordPress Theme – Flexible 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. It is mobile-friendly and completely customizable. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to over 80 professional themes.
More information:
The Corporation
(The Corporation Theme For WordPress)
This premium WordPress theme from Elegant Themes was built specifically to create good-looking corporate sites.
The Corporation has a sleek and professional page-based home page design with a prominent slider, blog design, six different different color schemes, multiple page templates that include contact pages, blog feeds, sitemaps, search page, gallery page, and more. Elegant Theme prices start at $69 per year and includes full access to 80+ professional themes.
Go here for more details:
Adviser
(Adviser – WordPress Theme)
This premium theme was specifically designed to help finance professionals build trust through clean design. It’s ideal for those that provide services such as investment advice or tax advice. The theme includes a recruitment page with hiring announcements and where to send applications. It also includes a built-in lease calculator. It includes widgets and multiple shortcodes, and includes the drag-and-drop visual composer.
For more information, go here:
Tax Help
(Tax Help)
This premium WordPress theme was specifically developed for financial organizations, tax and financial advisors, and those providing tax services. This theme is designed to show your services professionally and help grow your professional 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.
For more information, go here:
Finance Business
(Finance Business Theme)
This premium theme for WordPress was developed for organizations that provide any type of financial service such as consulting, tax help, insurance, corporate, finance, accounting, loans, and more. Finance Business includes a custom CMSMasters Visual Content Composer plugin, around 100 shortcodes that let you add charts and financial content, custom drag-and-drop composer, 2 premium sliders, page settings, color management, animated elements, 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 your accounting website with WordPress themes and plugins.
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