Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only revolutionised businesses around the world, it has also created growing challenges and great opportunities for businesses in the accounting sector.

Challenges Accountants Face Online

Now, more than ever, accounting firms must find smarter ways to stand out from the crowd, obtain new clients, and retain current business. Not only do they have to maintain an active presence in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also maintain a strong digital presence. This includes having a website and learning smarter ways to promote your business services online.

As well as spending money marketing offline, you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to compete with other web-marketing savvy accounting businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be directed towards developing and managing a website that attracts prospective clients, engages visitors, outranks the competition in search engines and social media, and helps you gain a wider degree of reach online.

This means that your website not only has to look great, your web pages have to load fast, and your site layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, your site’s needs may change over time and some areas may need to be frequently updated. This requires having a well-planned website and content management strategy in place.

Another challenge that accounting businesses face with their websites (as do most other professions for that matter), is that your site has only about 30 seconds to give users the information they are looking for or they will look 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 Accountants In The Online Economy

As well as facing a number of challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available for businesses in the accounting sector that are willing to evolve to meet digital challenges and can think progressively when it comes to marketing their business better online.

In this comprehensive guide, you will learn ways and opportunities to attract more visitors and establish online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on cost-effective 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.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform, see the articles below:

• Learn Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Cost You Potential Customers
• WordPress For Small Business – A Beginner’s Guide To Growing A Business With WordPress

How To Improve Your Website

Let’s start by reviewing some basics. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what pages you need, what type of content you need, suggestions for improving your site’s layout and navigation, etc.

If you need website planning assistance, see this guide: A Practical Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Essential Web Pages

All business websites require some basic pages. Let’s discuss the pages your  need and how to structure your accounting website for best results.

Services And Products

It’s essential to have a page that describes your services and products.

This page will include all the services and products you offer, such as:

• Business – planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, budgeting, financing, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting, 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 a business, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

Make sure to list all of the services you provide, not just the ones you specialize in. Provide your visitors with information that will educate them about the benefits of using these services and why they should book an appointment.

About Us Page

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what it stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical donations, etc.

This page should mention any awards, accreditations, recognitions, certifications, publications, associations, etc., that could be used to promote the company and set it above your competitors.

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

Staff

Are you searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online and get visitors to engage more on your site? Then make it easier for your prospective clients to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

You want potential clients to relate to your business. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your people. This page should include a photo and a mini bio. Since most visitors are probably not familiar with accounting terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. You may also want to explain what those specialties mean. It should even include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow individual team 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 outline each staff member’s expertise and qualifications, how they add value to your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add a staff page. Image source: deepsky.com)

If you need help how to easily add an easy-to-manage list directory of employees in your WordPress site using free plugins, refer to this step-by-step tutorial: How To Easily Add A Simple Staff List To Your WordPress Site Without Editing Code

Recruitment

List any career opportunities within the firm. It could include training provided, employee benefits, opportunities for advancement, social activities promoted or encouraged by your organization, etc. You can also include case studies of graduates who have worked their way up in your firm and information about new 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 the page, join your newsletter, follow your social pages, etc.

Testimonials

Case studies and reviews from clients are a great way to show potential clients the benefits of doing business with your organization. By adding a page with case studies and reviews from clients, you will also help to provide social proof online.

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

We have written extensively about using client case studies and reviews to improve your business results online. For more details, go here: How To Create Better Results Online Using Captivating Testimonials

Contact Page

A contact page is absolutely necessary.

It should include some or all of the following information about your business:

• Name
• Location
• Phone number
• Fax number
• Contact email address
• Map
• Web address
• Contact form
• Name of person to contact
• Links to social media networks
• Live chat

If your business services several areas you should make that clear when showing the address and contact info.

You could also include links to an FAQ section, useful pages, special offers, support area, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog

A blog can be a very powerful marketing tool. Many blogging platforms typically comprise of a content management system that allows you to promote your business using timely content like company events, company updates, educational articles, opinions on current topics, how-to videos, media presentations, etc.

If you already have an established website, then consider adding a WordPress-driven blog to promote your services.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing accounting site is hard to add new content to or not delivering you the results you want, then WordPress can act both as your website and blog.

Very few businesses know that WordPress can turn into an automated traffic system that will help begin delivering an ongoing stream of web traffic to your website, simply by adding regular content to your web site.

(WordPress can generate traffic automatically to your site)

For more info, see this article: Website Traffic Blueprint – How To Create A Traffic Generation Machine

Legal Info Pages

It’s very important for accounting and financial services organizations to ensure they have a website that complies will all legal requirements online, not just for building trust and credibility with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaking local, regional and federal laws and regulations wherever your business services clients.

Adding the legal pages below to your site will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Us
• Privacy Policy
• Terms Of Use
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Health Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

We have written a detailed article about adding legal pages to your site here: Adding Legal Pages To Your Website

Ways To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s fiercely competitive online economy, being generous with content that educates and informs readers has become one of the key differentiators for businesses.

By committing to providing great content with advice and tips, you will get your visitors to share your web pages and come back for more. This is the most effective way to inform and teach your visitors and prospective clients about your business and about doing business with your company.

For example, topics for an accounting or financial services business could include the following:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Profit & loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning
• Business insurance
• Risk protection
• How to structure your self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your prospective clients understand accounting services, such as software accounting, tax accounting, office accounting software, reducing debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use the same keywords and terms in your content that your readers would search for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive a comprehensive series of training emails with actionable information that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site visitors and grow your business online using content marketing. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also completely FREE!

Improving Visitor Engagement And User Experience

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

Content Syndication – RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your visitor engagement and UX in a number of different ways.

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

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

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• Content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Your feed can be shared and picked up by other sites online
• Users can subscribe to your RSS feed
• An RSS feed provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are a number of ways readers can receive your content (e.g. read the content on their mobile device using a feed reader)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits when it comes to providing information on your website from other sites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

To find RSS feeds with loads of useful content just visit sites of relevant government departments or key industry bodies.

Below we have listed examples of useful RSS feeds you could add 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

(RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve your site’s UX.)

Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement, add value to your audience and set yourself apart from the competition. Forms and checklists can provide step-by-step instructions and resources to perform a necessary task. Forms and checklists are also great planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Checklist
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Other Tools

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

In part two, we look at a number of WordPress-based tools you can use in your accounting or financial services website that can improve seo, improve user engagement and generate more web traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part one of this guide on ways to improve your accounting business presence online.

Click on this link to continue reading:

• How To Grow Your Accounting Online Presence Successfully – Part Two

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