Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today face increasing challenges.

Online Challenges For The Accounting Profession

Accountants today must work harder than ever to remain competitive. Not only do they have to participate in the communities and industries their business serves, they must also develop a strong presence online. This includes having a dynamic website and learning better ways to promote your business online.

In addition to investing dollars in offline marketing activities, you will probably find (if you haven’t already) that in order to compete with other accounting businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be assigned to developing and managing a website that can drive clients, engage users, outrank the competition in search engines and social media, and help to increase your presence online.

This means that your website not only has to look professional, your web pages have to be fast-loading, and your site layout has to be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of the website will change over time and sections may need to be frequently updated. This requires having a well-developed website and content management strategy.

One other problem that accounting businesses face with their websites (as other businesses do for that matter), is that you have an average of thirty seconds or less to give visitors what they are searching 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 CPAs In The Web Economy

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

This detailed guide will help you uncover opportunities to attract new visitors and create significant improvements in your business presence online.

As well as providing practical tips and information on cost-effective ways to improve your accounting business online, we also focus on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress CMS platform to power your accounting website or blog.

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

• Discover Why A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Lose You Money And What To Do About It
• How To Grow Your Business Using A WordPress Site

Practical Tips For Improving Your Accounting Or Financial Services Site

We’ll start first by reviewing the basic information you need. In this section, we’ll look at ways to improve your website and get better results. We will look at what web pages you need, what content works best for accounting websites, ways to improve your layout and navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your website, go here: A Cost-Saving Guide To Web Site Planning For Non-Technical Business Owners

Improving Your Web Pages

Professional business websites require several essential pages. Let’s take a look at the pages your  need and how to set up your accounting or financial services website for best results.

Products And Services Page

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

This page will include services such as:

• Business – business planning, formation, accounting, payroll, preparing financial statements, book keeping, budgeting, financing, forecasting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, 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, transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

List all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about the benefits of using your services and why they should book an appointment with you.

About Us Page

This page should give a description of your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropical programs, etc.

Remember to also list any awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that can be used to promote your company and set it above the competition.

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

Team

If you are searching for simple ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help your visitors get to know you, your team and your business better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff. This page should include a photo and a mini biography. Since most visitors will not tend to be familiar with accounting terms it should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. This page should also include social buttons that will allow your site visitors to follow individual team members on their social networks.

On this page, make sure to highlight your employee’s expertise, why they are an invaluable asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add a page that introduces your staff or team members to prospective new clients. Screenshot source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to easily add an updatable directory of employees to your website without editing code, go here: Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site

We’re Hiring

List any career opportunities within the company. It can include training offered, employee benefits, professional development, etc. You can include 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, subscribe to your updates list, follow your social pages, etc.

Testimonials

Case studies and reviews from clients are a great way to show prospective clients the benefits of doing business with your firm. Adding a web page with testimonials from past clients and case studies also helps your accounting business to provide social proof online.

(Add a page to your site with client reviews and case studies. Screenshot image source: pcg-services.com)

To learn more about using case studies, testimonials and user reviews go here: Learn How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Prospects With Standout Client Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a functional contact page is essential.

It should include some or all of the following:

• Name
• Location of premises
• Telephone
• Facsimile number
• Email
• Map
• Web address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Social media URLs
• Live chat feature (optional)

If your business operates in different locations you will want to make that clear when displaying the address and contact info.

Consider also including links to an FAQ page, main pages, special offers, helpdesk, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog Section

A blog can be a very powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business by publishing timely content such as company events, company updates, educational articles, informative posts, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

If you already have an accounting or financial services site, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to promote your services.

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing website is hard to manage or not giving you the results you want, then WordPress can serve as both your website and your blog.

Something few people know about, is that WordPress can turn your web presence into an automated traffic system that will help begin to attract targeted traffic to your web site, simply by publishing new content to your website on a regular basis.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can generate traffic automatically to your website)

For more details: Website Traffic Blueprint – How To Turn Your WordPress Website Into An Automated Traffic Machine

Legal Information Pages

Having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is important, not just for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not breaching any local, regional or federal laws and regulations wherever you provide services to.

Depending on the services and products you provide, adding some or all of the legal pages below to your site will help keep you out of trouble with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential sources of threats and legal 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.

If you want to learn more about adding legal pages to your website, see this article: How To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips For Improving Your Web Content

In today’s ultra competitive global economy, the sooner you begin to publish great content on your site, the sooner you will begin to differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

By committing to providing great content with advice and tips, you will get your readers to share your web pages with others and come back for more information. Content marketing is a great way to inform and educate site visitors and prospects about your business and about doing business with your firm.

For example, topics for an accounting business can cover:

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Risk protection
• Tips on structuring your self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing insurance, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your readers understand accounting services, such as forensic accounting, business accounting, business budgeting, reducing debt, understanding accounting conventions, etc.

Remember to use relevant keywords and terminology in your articles that readers will be searching for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with easy-to-digest information and practical tips that will show you how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your visitors and grow your business online using content. It’s not only a great course with loads of useful information, it’s also 100% FREE!

Improve Visitor Experience

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

Syndicating Content With RSS Feeds

RSS feeds provide lots of benefits for your site.

If you provide content that adds value to others, other businesses will want to syndicate your content to their visitors.

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

• All of your content updates are in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Feeds can be shared online
• Feeds allow users to subscribe
• It provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• Your feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregators
• There are several ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. read the content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• It’s built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits to adding syndicated content to your website from other websites, such as the fact that you don’t have to write, manage or update the content.

To find useful RSS feeds for your website, visit sites of finance-related government departments and key industry bodies.

Below we have listed a few feeds containing useful information that you may want to consider adding 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 accounting site’s UX.)

Provide Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to increase visitor engagement and add value to your audience. Forms and checklists can provide useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete a task. Forms and checklists can also be great business planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Non-Profit Activity Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Partnership Tax Checklist
• Self Managed Super Fund Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Other Tools

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

In the next section of this detailed guide, we will look at a several WordPress plugins you can use in your site that improve search engine optimization, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part 1 of this step-by-step guide on ways to improve your accounting business web presence.

To view Part 2, click this link:

• Online Business Tips For Certified Public Accountants – WordPress Plugins That Can Improve Search Engine Optimization, Improve User Engagement And Increase Traffic To Your Website Generation

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