Grow Your Accounting Business Online With WordPress

The digital age has not only revolutionised businesses around the world, it has also created new challenges and opportunities for accounting and financial services businesses.

Online Challenges For Accounting Businesses

Now, more than ever, accountants must find smarter ways to remain competitive, source new clients, and retain current business. Not only do you have to become actively involved in the communities and industries you serve, you must also develop and maintain an active digital presence. This includes having an effective web presence and learning better ways to grow your business services online.

As well as spending dollars marketing offline, you will probably find that in order to compete with other accounting businesses, increasingly larger amounts of their marketing budget need to be allocated to develop and maintain a website that drives prospective clients, engages users, outperforms the competition in search engines and helps you gain wider exposure online.

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

Another challenge that CPAs (and other professions) face with their websites, is that your site has only around 30 seconds to give visitors what they are searching for or they will go elsewhere to find what they need.

“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 Online Economy

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

This detailed guide will help you uncover new ways to attract new visitors and establish online credibility for your business.

As well as providing practical tips and information on ways to improve your accounting business online, we also recommend that you consider using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS) to power your accounting business website or blog.

For more information about the benefits and advantages of using the WordPress Content Management System (CMS), see these articles:

• How A Poorly Built Website Can Cost You Business And What To Do About It
• A Beginner’s Guide To Growing A Business With WordPress

Practical Tips For Improving Your Accounting Or Financial Services Site

This section will show you ways to improve your accounting website and get better results. We show you what pages a financial services website needs, what type of content works best, your navigation structure, etc.

If you need assistance or help planning your website, see this detailed step-by-step guide we have written: The Website Planning Process Explained - A Money-Saving Blueprint For Non-Technical Business Owners

Basic Web Pages

All business websites require a number of essential pages. Let’s review these.

Products And Services Page

It’s essential to include a page that lists your services and products.

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

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

Make sure to 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 needs to describe your business and what your business stands for, its unique approach, philanthropy, etc.

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

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

Meet Our Team

If you are looking for quicker and simpler ideas to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

You want your business to be relatable. A great way to do that is to have a page that introduces your employees. It should include a photo and a brief bio. Since most visitors are probably not well-versed in accounting terms your bio descriptions 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 so your site visitors can follow individual staff members on their social networks.

On this page, make sure to outline your person’s expertise and qualifications, how they add value or contribute to the success of your team, and more importantly, how they will help add value to your clients’ business.

(Add an employee page. Image sourced from: deepsky.com)

To learn more about how to create and add an easy-to-update simple team members directory to your web site with no coding skills required, refer to this tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory

We’re Hiring

This is a listing of career opportunities within your organization. It should include type of training provided, employee benefits, advancement opportunities, etc. You should also include case studies of graduates who have worked their way up in your firm and information about career opportunities in the accounting 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 you on social media, etc.

Case Studies

Testimonials from previous clients and case studies are a great way to show potential clients what type of solutions you are capable of implementing to help them solve problems. By adding a page with reviews from clients and case studies, you will also help to establish social proof online.

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

We have written extensively on using case studies, testimonials and client reviews to grow your business online. For more details: Learn How To Turn More Visitors Into Qualified Leads With Engaging Client Testimonials

Contact Page

Having a clean contact page is crucial.

Your contact page should include the following:

• Business Name
• Location of premises
• Telephone
• Fax
• Contact email address
• Map
• Web URL
• Contact form
• Request for information – who to contact
• Links to social media profiles
• Online chat feature (optional feature)

If your business operates in multiple areas you should make this clear when displaying your address and contact information.

You could also include links to an FAQ section, useful pages, special offers, support page, newsletter, blog, etc.

Add A Blog

A blog can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. Many blogging platforms typically include a content management system that allows you to easily promote your business using timely content such as news, updates, educational articles, discussions on current topics, how-to videos, webinars, etc.

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

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

Something few businesses know about, is that WordPress can become an automated traffic system that can help begin driving a stream of new targeted traffic to your web site, simply by publishing regular content to your site.

(An expertly configured WordPress site can automate your traffic generation)

You can learn more about this here: Web Site Traffic Blueprint – Learn How To Create A Traffic-Getting Machine With WordPress

Legal Pages

As a professional accountant, having a website that complies will all legal requirements online is extremely important, not just for building credibility with visitors, but also to ensure that no local, regional or federal laws or regulations are being breached wherever you service clients.

Adding some or all of the following legal pages to your accounting website will help keep you out of legal hot water with most regulatory authorities, third-party service providers (e.g. Google), and other potential sources of legal threats and inconveniences:

• Contact Page
• Privacy Policy
• 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
• and others

We have written a comprehensive article on adding legal pages to your website here: Why You Need To Add Legal Pages To Your Site

Ways To Improve The Content On Your Website

In today’s globally competitive economy, content marketing has become one of the key success factors for businesses selling similar products or providing similar services.

Providing great content with useful information and tips will get your visitors to share your web pages with others online and come back for more. Content marketing is a great way to inform and teach your visitors and prospects about your business.

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

• Explanations of balance sheets
• Profit & loss statements
• Duties and legal responsibilities of company directors
• Presenting accounts for non-profit activities
• Cashflow planning advice
• Maximizing business insurance cover
• Risk prevention
• Tips on structuring a self-managed retirement fund
• Do’s and don’ts of … (e.g. purchasing vs leasing, setting up payroll systems, etc.)

You can also create a series of educational articles that will help your readers gain a better understanding of your services, such as finance accounting, small business accounting, business auditing, reducing business debt, understanding accounting conventions, etc.

Remember to include keywords and terms in your articles that your readers would search for.

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, save money creating useful content for 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 completely FREE!

Ways Of Improving User 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 visitor engagement and user experience.

Add RSS Feeds

RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feeds can help to improve visitor engagement and user experience in many ways.

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

Some of the benefits of having other businesses syndicate your content, 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 feed
• A feed provides a way for links to point back to your content
• RSS feeds can be submitted to RSS directories and aggregator services
• RSS provides a number of ways for readers to receive your content (e.g. users can read your content on their mobile device using different applications)
• RSS is built into WordPress

There are also benefits to providing 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 RSS feeds with loads of useful content for your website, search online for relevant government departments or well-known industry bodies.

Below we have listed a few RSS feeds containing useful information that you may want to consider adding to your 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

(Use RSS feeds to improve your accounting website’s user experience.)

Checklists & Forms

Checklists and forms are a fantastic way to help increase user engagement and add value to your audience. They can provide step-by-step instructions and resources to complete necessary tasks. Checklists and forms can also be great business planning tools.

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

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

Provide Online Tools

Providing unique tools, gadgets and applications for businesses (or links to these tools) is a great way to 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 can include time cards, or retirement and interest calculators.

In the next section of this guide, we look at a several online tools you can add to your website using WordPress plugins that can improve your search engine optimization, improve user engagement and generate more traffic to your business.

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

To keep reading, click this link:

• Online Business Tips For Certified Public Accountants – Improve SEO, Increase User Engagement And Drive More Visitors To Your Website Using Plugins And Themes

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