Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The web economy has not only revolutionised businesses around the world, it has also created increasingly difficult challenges and opportunities for certified public accountants.

Online Challenges For Accountants

Today, more than ever, accountancy firms must work harder and find smarter ways to remain competitive, source new clients, and retain current business. Not only do you have to maintain a strong presence in the communities and industries your business serves, you must also develop and maintain an active web presence. This includes having an effective website and learning how to better promote your business online.

As well as investing money marketing offline, businesses in the accounting industry are also finding that they need to assign a more significant share of their marketing budget towards the development and maintenance of a website that can bring in clients, engage visitors, outperform the competition in search engines and help them gain a wider degree of exposure online.

This means that your site not only has to look great, your pages have to be fast-loading, and be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website will change in time and sections will need to be updated often. This requires implementing well-developed web and content management strategy.

One other difficult challenge that CPAs face online (and other businesses for that matter), is that your site has an average of 30 seconds to help visitors find what they need or they will find what they are looking for 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 The Accounting Profession In The Web Economy

As well as facing many challenges, there are also many online opportunities available to businesses in the accounting industry that can evolve to meet the challenges of the online economy and who can think strategically when it comes to improving their online marketing skills.

In this comprehensive guide, you will discover a number of ways to attract and engage new visitors and improve your business presence online.

As well as providing 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 or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), go here:

• Discover How A Poorly Designed Web Site Can Cost You Business And What To Do About It
• Mastering WordPress – A Small Business Owner’s Guide

Practical Tips For Improving Your Accounting Website

This section looks at how to improve your accounting website and get better results online. We will look at what pages a financial services website needs, what content works best, ways of improving your navigation structure, etc.

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

Your Web Pages

All websites require a number of essential web pages. Let’s review the pages your  need and how to set up your accounting website for best results.

Services Description Page

It’s essential to include a page that explains your services and any products that you offer.

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

• Business accounting – planning, company formation, accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, budgeting, forecasting, financing, strategic planning, consulting, etc.
• Taxation – preparation, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, 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

List all of the services you provide. Educate your visitors about what these services do and direct them to your contact or appointment booking page.

About Us

The ‘About Us’ page needs to describe your business and what it stands for, its unique approach, community projects, etc.

It’s important to also include any awards, certifications, accreditations, recognitions, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote the company and set it above other competitors.

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

Meet The Team

If you are looking for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products online and increase user interaction with your site, then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Your business needs to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff members. It should include a photo and a brief biography. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in accounting terms your descriptions should tell who they are and what their specialties are. It should also explain what those specialties mean. It should also include social buttons so your prospective clients can follow some of your staff members on their social pages.

In this page, don’t be afraid to show the human side of your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to highlight your person’s qualifications, why they are an asset to your team, and more importantly, how they can help add value to your clients’ business.

(Make sure to add an employee page. Screenshot image source: deepsky.com)

We have written a detailed tutorial about how to create and add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory in your website using free WordPress plugins here: How To Easily Add A Simple Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site Without Editing Code

Job Opportunities Page

This is a listing of career opportunities available within your firm. This page should include training provided, benefits, advancement opportunities, etc. You can include stories of graduates who have risen within your company and information about new career opportunities in the accounting and financial services industry.

Maintain a positions available section in your page. If there are no positions currently available, consider inviting people to return periodically to this page, subscribe to your announcements list, follow you on social media, etc.

Case Studies And Testimonials

Case studies and reviews from clients are a great way to show prospective clients what it’s like to do business with your company. Adding a page with case studies and testimonials from previous clients also helps to establish social proof online.

(Add a page with case studies and testimonials from previous clients. Image sourced from: pcg-services.com)

We have written a detailed article on using testimonials, case studies and reviews here: Learn How To Improve Your Visitor-To-Sales Conversions With Profit-Boosting Testimonials

Contact Us Page

Having a contact page is essential.

It should provide visitors with some or all of the following information:

• Name Of Your Organization
• Your address
• Phone
• Facsimile
• Email
• Google Map and directions
• Web address
• Contact form
• Contact name
• Links to social media pages
• Chat

If your business operates out of different areas you want to make this clear when displaying the address and contact info.

Consider also including links to an FAQ page, frequently-visited pages, special offers, support page, newsletter opt-in form, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Or Financial Services Blog Section

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Most blogging platforms typically include a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business by publishing timely content like company events, updates, educational articles and tutorials, informative posts, videos, webinars, etc.

If you already have an accounting website, then consider adding a WordPress-powered blog to promote your organization.

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

You may not have been told about this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can turn your web presence into an automated traffic system that can instantly begin to deliver targeted traffic to your business, simply by publishing regular content to your site.

(WordPress can automate your traffic generation)

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

Legal Pages

Having a compliant website is very important, not just for building trust and credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that no laws and regulations are being broken wherever you provide services to.

Depending on the products and services you provide, adding some or all of the following legal pages to your accounting or financial services 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 Page
• 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 comprehensive article on adding legal pages to your website. Go here to learn more about this: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your Site

Tips On How To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s highly competitive online economy, the sooner you begin engaging in the practice of content marketing, the quicker you will begin to see results and differentiate yourself from competing businesses.

Providing great content with advice and tips will get your visitors sharing your web pages with others online and coming back for more. Content marketing is the most effective way to inform and educate site visitors and prospective clients about your business.

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

• How balance sheets work
• Profit and loss statements
• Directors’ duties and legal responsibilities
• How to present accounts for fundraising activities
• Business cashflow planning
• Business insurance
• Protecting revenues
• Tips on structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Things to look for when … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of informative articles that will help your prospective clients gain a better understanding of your services, such as forensic accounting, small business accounting, business budgeting, reducing business debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to include keywords in your articles that your readers will be searching for.

We recommend subscribing to our Content Marketing Email Training Series. You will receive regular training emails with actionable information that will show exactly how to drive more traffic to your web site, save money creating high-quality content that will add value to your site 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!

Improving User Experience

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

Syndicate Content With RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds provide many benefits for your accounting business.

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 updates are in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• Can be shared
• Users can subscribe to your feed
• A feed provides links back to your content
• Feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides multiple ways for your readers to receive your content (e.g. users can read the content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• RSS is built into WordPress

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

To find useful RSS feeds for your website, search online for finance and tax-related government departments or respected industry bodies.

Here are a few feeds you could add to your accounting website:

• 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 feeds can help to improve your site’s UX.)

Adding Checklists

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a fantastic way to increase user engagement, add value to your readers and set yourself apart from the competition. Forms and checklists can give them useful step-by-step instructions and resources to complete necessary tasks. Forms and checklists can also be great planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Company
• Rental Property Worksheet
• Non-Profit Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Requirements
• Partnership Tax Checklist
• Capital Gains Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Adding Other Tools

Providing unique tools and applications for businesses on your website can help increase visitor engagement and significantly add value to your target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are popular tools for accounting websites. Other tools would include time cards, and retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we take a look at a several WordPress-based tools you can use in your accounting website that improve your seo, increase user engagement and drive more traffic to your business.

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This is the end of part 1.

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• Tips For Accountants – How To Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Increase Web Traffic To Your Website Generation Using WordPress Plugins & Themes

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