Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

Accounting professionals today face growing challenges.

Online Challenges For CPAs

CPAs today must work harder than ever to remain in business. Not only do you have to actively participate in the communities and industries you serve, you must also maintain an active presence online. This includes having a website and learning how to better promote your business online.

In addition to spending dollars in offline marketing, you will probably find that in order to compete with other accounting businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their budget will need to be allocated towards developing and managing a website that brings new clients, engages users, outperforms the competition in search engines and helps to increase your marketing exposure online.

This means that your website not only has to look great, load fast, and be easy to navigate, but even more importantly, the needs of your website will change over time and sections may need to be updated frequently. This requires the implementation of a well-planned web and content management strategy.

Another challenge that accounting organizations face (as other businesses do for that matter), is that your site has only around 30 seconds to give visitors what they are looking for or they will go 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

Online Opportunities For CPAs

As well as facing many new challenges, there are also loads of online opportunities available to businesses in the accounting industry that are willing to evolve to meet the challenges of the online economy and think strategically about marketing themselves better online.

In this comprehensive guide, you will discover a number of ways to drive more traffic and establish online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on ways to improve your web presence, we also place special emphasis on the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) to power your accounting website or blog.

To learn more about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress platform, see these articles:

• Learn Why A Poorly Constructed Web Site Can Cost You Customers And What To Do About It
• The Small Business Owner’s Guide To WordPress

Practical Tips To Improve Your Website

This section covers ways to improve your website and get better results online. We show you what web pages you need, what type of content works best for accounting websites, layout and navigation, etc.

If you need help with website planning, visit this page: The Web Site Planning Process - A Useful Primer For Business Owners

Essential Website Pages

Professional websites require some essential pages. Let’s discuss these.

Services Page

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

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

• Business – business planning, formation, general accounting, payroll, financial statement compilation, book keeping, financing, forecasting, budgeting, strategic planning, consulting services, etc.
• Taxation – preparing, planning, reviewing, auditing, advice, problem resolution
• Investment strategies
• Corporate accounting
• 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, asset transfers, etc.
• Lending and leasing

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 with you.

About Us Page

This page needs to describe your business and explain to visitors what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

Remember to include any awards, certifications, recognitions, accreditations, associations, publications, etc., that you can use to promote your company and position it above your competitors.

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

Your Team

If you are searching for simple ideas to sell more products online, then help your prospective clients get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

You want prospective clients to relate to your business. One great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your staff. It should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors are probably not familiar with accounting terms your bio 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 visitors can follow selected staff members on their social networks.

On this page, don’t be afraid to humanize your team members with personal stories, hobbies, etc., but make sure to outline each staff member’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 an employee description page. Screenshot source: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to easily add an updatable list directory of employees or team members in WordPress using free plugins, refer to this tutorial: How To Create A Simple Staff Directory In Your WordPress Site Without Editing Code

We’re Hiring

List any career opportunities within the firm. It can include training, benefits, advancement opportunities, social aspects of working with your organization, etc. It should include stories of trainees who have worked their way up in your firm and information about upcoming career opportunities in the accounting 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, join your updates list, follow your social pages, etc.

Case Studies And Testimonials

Testimonials from previous clients and case studies are a great way to show prospective clients businesses minimise tax, increase profitability, or grow strategically. By adding a page with testimonials from previous clients and case studies, you are also helping to will also be providing social proof online.

(Add a page with case studies and reviews from clients. Screenshot image sourced from: pcg-services.com)

We have written extensively on using testimonials and client reviews to improve your business results online. Go here to learn more: How To Create Better Results Online With Effective User Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a contact page is essential.

It should include some or all of the following information:

• Name
• Location
• Telephone
• Fax
• Email address
• Google Map
• Website address
• Contact form
• Request for more information – contact details
• Links to social media networks
• Interactive chat feature

If your business operates out of multiple locations you want to make that clear when showing the address and contact info.

Consider also including links to the most commonly asked questions, useful pages, special offers, support area, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add An Accounting Blog

A blog can be a powerful business marketing tool. Blogs are built around a content management system that is easy to use and allows you to promote your business by publishing timely content such as industry events, company updates, useful information, opinions and discussions, promotional videos, webinars, etc.

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

If you don’t have a website yet, or your existing site is hard to keep updated with new content or not giving you the results you want, then WordPress can serve both as your website and business blog.

Not many people know this, but an expertly configured WordPress site can turn into an automated traffic-generation machine that can instantly begin to deliver new visitors to your business, simply by publishing content to your website on a consistent basis.

(WordPress can generate web traffic automatically to your site)

Go here to learn more: Website Traffic Blueprint – How To Grow Your Web Traffic For Your Business

Legal Pages

It’s vital to have a website that complies will all legal requirements online, not just for building trust with prospective clients, but also to ensure that you are not contravening any laws and regulations wherever you provide services to.

Depending on the services and products you provide, adding the following legal pages to your accounting website will help you stay out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers, and other potential legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Statement
• Terms And Conditions
• Website Disclaimer
• Affiliate Agreement
• Anti-Spam Policy
• Compensation Disclosure
• DMCA Notice
• Earnings Disclaimer
• External Linking Policy
• Health/Financial Disclaimers
• Refund Policy
• Video/Audio Terms
• etc.

If you want to learn more about adding legal pages to your site, see this article: The Importance Of Adding Legal Pages To Your Website

Ways To Improve The Content On Your Site

In today’s globally competitive economy, the sooner you begin engaging in the practice of content marketing, the quicker you will begin to differentiate yourself from your competitors.

You want to provide great content with useful information and tips that will get your visitors sharing your web pages and coming back for more. Publishing content is the most effective way to educate your visitors and prospects about your business.

For example, topics for an accounting or financial services business can cover:

• How balance sheets work
• Overlooked tax deductions
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Business cashflow planning tips
• Business insurance
• Protecting revenues
• Structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Dos and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing insurance, claiming business expenses, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your your readers gain a better understanding of your accounting services, such as software accounting, tax accounting, tax planning for small business, reducing debt, financial concepts made simple, etc.

Remember to use the same keywords and terms in your articles that prospective clients will be searching for online.

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

Tips For Improving Visitor Experience

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

Use RSS Feeds

An RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed provides many benefits for your site.

If you provide valuable information, other sites will want to syndicate your content.

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, include:

• All of your content updates are kept in one place
• your content distribution doesn’t rely on email
• RSS feeds can be shared online
• RSS feeds allow for subscribing
• An RSS feed provides a way for external links to point back to your site
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories
• There are multiple ways your readers can receive your content (e.g. read your content on their mobile device using feed readers)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also a number of benefits 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.

You can find many useful RSS feeds for your website by visiting sites of relevant government departments and respected industry bodies.

Below we have listed some feeds you could add to your accounting 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

(Use RSS feeds to improve your accounting site’s UX.)

Checklists & Forms

Adding checklists and forms to your site is a great way to help increase visitor engagement, add value to your visitors and set yourself apart from the competition. Checklists and forms can provide users with useful step-by-step instructions and resources to get necessary tasks completed. They can also be great business planning tools.

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

• How To Set Up A Business
• Rental Property Checklist
• Fundraising Governance Checklist
• Disclosure Checklists
• Sole Trader Tax Checklist
• Capital Gains Tax Checklist
• Income Tax Variation Forms

Online Tools

Providing unique 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 target audience. Calculators, such as loan and tax calculators, are great tools to add to accounting websites. Other tools could include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section, we look at a number of WordPress-based tools you can use in your website that can improve your search engine optimization, increase user engagement and generate more visitors to your business.

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This is the end of section 1 of this guide on ways to grow your accounting web presence.

Click here to continue reading:

• A Practical Step-By-Step Guide On How To Build And Grow An Accounting Web Presence – Part 2

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