Although the default browser on any PC is Internet Explorer, there are other options that are actually more flexible and offer a lot more functionality. The king of the pack of alternative browsers is hands-down Firefox.

Firefox Add-ons

The power behind Firefox is not only within the security, speed, and ease of use but also the number of add-ons that increase the functionality. Here is a breakdown of some recommended add-ons that make working with a browser actually enjoyable.

Download it. If you don’t already have it you can download Firefox. Once you have taken Firefox for a spin try adding on the following for not only some added fun but a lot more functionality.

Bookmarking back-up and synchronizing. Xmarks is an add-on that, once installed keeps your bookmarks on any computer by syncing up between lets say what you have at home with what you have at work. This can save you a lot of time and provides a great way to keep up with all areas of your life.

Blocking online ads. There are some who say if you download any Firefox add-on it should be Adblock Plus. Adblock Plus works to stop online ads from appearing so you can focus on just the content of any website.

Use Firefox with Twitter

Keeping up with Twitter. You can use Echofon to keep up with Twitter. You can see instant updates and have one-click access to the Twitter window.

Increase your search potential. Using the search in your toolbar is handy enough but you can extend that throuh  Add to Search Bar. It allows you to add any website to the search toolbar.

Use multiple Gmail accounts. You can be logged in and use multiple Gmail accounts through Gmail Manager. If you have multiple email accounts through the Workteam Collaboration Suite it works well with those as well.

Screen shots. FireShot not only allows you to capture screen shots but also manipulate the image as well with arrows and text. This can be especially helpful if your helping a client navigate to an area or give instructions on how to fill out an online form. It can also be fun for playing with images on another firm members birthday.

The list of add-ons. Here is a list of all the add-on’s in full in case you want to explore. It is worth taking a look as there are many categories and great features offered that can make your browser a tool worth using again.

When set-up and used in the right way your accounting firm’s website can be a tool to generate more clients and stand out from the competition. CPA Site Solutions now offers, for a one-time fee, local Search Engine Optimization for your accounting firm. Here is a breakdown of exactly what that means and how it can be used to bring your firm’s website to the next level.

What is SEO? SEO (Search Engine Optimization) consists of a series of steps to make your accounting firm’s website stand out with the Search Engines. Although some may target the Search Engine results at a national level, the majority of clients usually come from the local area.

Get Listed

Get listed with major search engines and local directories. Your accounting firm’s website is immediately listed with all major local search engines and directories, including Google Local (Google Maps), Yahoo Local, Bing Local, Yellowpages.com and over 90 other partner sites. This saves you time in not only knowing which local directories are best to use but also the process of getting listed and validated.

Changes to your website. The new service targets the local area specifically in a number of different ways. There are changes made with your accounting firm’s website and you are coached on what exactly to change.

Google Analytics set-up. Google Analytics is a powerful tool to use with your accounting website as it gives you specific information regarding where users are going and what they are doing while on your site. You can use the data to find out what information is popular for users, how to make that easier to find and presentable. This gives you a high level way to find new ways to bring more potential clients to your firm’s web site.

Google Analytics Interface

Instruction and coaching. Years of expertise is at your fingertips in terms of instruction and coaching.  Everything from how to change your accounting firm’s website to how to read and understand generated reports from Google Analyics is presented to you via one on one contact.

The coaching gives you a chance to ask questions until you understand what is being presented. Once you understand you can then use that to make sure your website stays ahead despite the ongoing changes to everything on the Internet.

This service is at a one time cost and so available at every service level. If your interested give one of our account managers a call at 800-896-4500 to answer any questions. Alternatively you can fill out the sign up form.

If your interested in having a Pay-Per-Click Campaign set up for you try the Platinum level of service for any accounting website hosted by CPA Site Solutions.

An interesting feature to any accounting website hosted by CPA Site Solutions is the ability to have Seminars. Quizzes are often a helpful way to make sure participants understand the information given. Here is a quick breakdown of a free quiz maker that you can use for the next Seminar your accounting firm runs.

Using a quiz not only helps reinforce what participants have learned, but also gives you an indication on what areas they might have missed. You can then adjust your Seminar to strengthen this weak area or take some extra time to review the information.

ProProfs Quiz School is a free service with multiple uses. It is all online, so the participants can do the quiz anywhere and at anytime.

Many question types to choose. You can have multiple choice, multiple response, true/false, short answer, and more. This easily allows you to gear the question and answer to a particular topic.

Instant feedback. Your participants get instant feedback on how they did with every question. You can then go over the questions that a majority missed and reinforce difficult parts of a topic.

Options for online quiz.

You also get complete stats on quiz results. You can use this to see trends even down to individual questions.

Restrict access. By giving your participants the password, you ensure that they are the only ones that are using the online quiz. You can also choose to show or hide results and quiz stats, comments and more.

A nice feature is to have the answers show after the participant answers the question. Although the participant may get an answer wrong, they also get the correct information while you still get the data of which ones were difficult.

Use directly on your website. You can embed any quiz directly on your accounting firm’s website. You can add images and any other media or change the style to blend with your current design.

You can use online quizzes so you and your Seminar participants have another way to interact regarding any topic. The interaction provides instant feedback that can be helpful for both you and your participants. Best of all it is free!

Survey Monkey is easy to use.

In a previous post we talked about using polls to elicit answers from your existing and potential clients. Although using a poll can be fun, if you are interested in an even more effective method of getting answers to questions take a look at Survey Monkey.

They provide a free account that offers a number of features that may work for you. If not then they do have a professional version for a small fee. Here is a breakdown of some of the highlights of using the free account.

Up to ten questions. The free account gives you up to 10 questions. Although this could be seen as a limitation, most people are happy when the survey is short and to the point.

Can be used from any browser. Survey Monkey is online so can be used from any browser to create and analyze the data. This makes using it easy, allowing for starting survey questions and finishing them when you have a free moment.

Copy and paste link on website. Once you are done creating your questions you can then copy and paste the code onto any page of your accounting website. The user is then directed to Survey Monkey where they complete the survey.

Email the survey. You can also email the link to your clients or contact list via CPA Site Solutions Email Marketing System. All you do is choose email from the output options from Survey Monkey and then copy and paste the code into a message attached to an existing campaign.

Automatically generated survey reports. You can login to your account and look at results at any time. Although the free version doesn’t give you access to a pie chart it does show you at a glance how many people responded and their responses.

Results are clearly presented

Tips for effective and relevant questions. Survey Monkey even has a great page on how to write survey questions. You can also look at their design tips for even more information.

Use with seminars. If you have a seminar you might find it helpful to have people fill out a quick survey to let you know what they thought of the class, what was good and what could be improved upon.

Does your firm already use survey’s? Send a comment and share with other readers.

Having a blog on your accounting firm’s website is a great way to add fresh content. What you add not only keeps current clients updated, it is also of interest to potential clients and is beneficial in terms of search engines which love fresh and unique content.

Adding a commenting system is a great way to interact with your website users. There is a great free application that lets you quickly and easily add comments. Here is a breakdown of how it works.

Add a free comments box to your website. The site is aptly named html comment box. All you have to do is copy the code and paste it in the blog page (specifics below).

Where to place the code

Where to paste the code. When you are in your blog post at the bottom of the editing window are three different views; Design, Source, and Preview. Click on the Source tab and paste the code after the last </p> or any other code that you might see.

If you are still unsure about how to do this then you can call 800-896-4500 and we can direct you to the exact location.

Comments Box in Use.

Do this for every post. Remember you have to do this on every post that you want a comment box to appear. You can keep the code in a txt file or just bookmark the html comment box website to your favorites.

Have your own story around using comments with the blog? Send a comment and share with other readers.

There are times when finding answers from your clients or potential clients perspective can help propel your business forward. This can be especially true after a busy season but can be helpful at anytime of the year.

Free Polling Service

Polls can be a fun and efficient way to get answers as it focuses on usually just one or two questions. Since it doesn’t take that much time most people are more likely to participate and the information may not be something you could get otherwise.

Although there may be any number of ways to add a poll to your website, ProProfs Polls is a free service that is easy to use. It also integrates into any website which means the client doesn’t have to go elsewhere to complete the task. Here is a quick look at the highlights and potentials behind the service.

Create an account. The account is free and lets you keep track of the reporting data from the polls you create. Once you have an account you can also create quizzes, flashcards, and more.

Come up with a good question. The data that you get from your poll depends not only on what question you ask but also how you ask it. Take some time to think about what you want to know and then how to make it work as a question.

For example, let’s say you want to know about what CPA’s want in a website. You might ask, “What do you look for in a website for your CPA Firm?” or something similar. There are any number of ways to word the question as long as it is clear what your asking.

Poll Results

Come up with relevant answers. You can come up with your answers based on different categories or, in the case of the question above, what sort of services or features are offered. You want the number of choices to make sense but not so it overwhelms the user.

For the question, “What do you look for in a website for your CPA Firm?” the answers could include many different features and services. The benefit of the poll is that you are able to focus the response down to particular choices.

Select poll colors to match your website. You can add the poll directly into any website with CPA Site Solutions by emailing the code to support@cpasitesolutions.com. Before you do you can even choose the right color to match your accounting firm’s website.

Share directly on MySpace, Twitter, Blogs. You can even share directly with any number of social sites with all the major and minor listed. This is a quick and easy way to make sure that anyone who you know has access to the poll and the opportunity to not only participate but pass onto others as well.

Take a look at the results. After the poll has been out in the wild for awhile and has some results you can take a look at your data including:

• Read feedback and comments
• View poll ratings
• Discuss polls
• Record and analyze each individual vote
• View your poll results in easy to understand graphs

Polls can be not only fun but informative. The data that you get may be unexpected but remember it isn’t exactly scientific either.

The people who do this do their best to eliminate potential ineffective results such as multiple votes from the same user. Still the results should be taken with a grain of salt as you recognize that not everyone who may participate might be serious about their answer.

Have your own comments regarding polls? Share with other readers.