Although the digital revolution has made it possible to connect with clients like never before, most businesses aren’t using the internet to their full advantage. It’s easy to roll out a cookie-cutter website, but that doesn’t mean your page will attract or engage your target audience.

Making your website stand out isn’t as difficult as you may think. Here we will explore eleven common sense tips for accounting website design.

1. Be Entertaining

Most of your readers are coming to you because they don’t understand accounting concepts and can’t do it alone. A boring block of text filled with accounting jargon will not hold their interest. Consider using fun illustrations to help explain the more complex aspects of accounting, or making comparisons to humorous real-world situations. This will demonstrate your expertise in an entertaining way.

2. Test Everything

Test suites and web analytics are a must for ensuring that your marketing efforts are effective. Be aware that strategies that are successful on your main site may not work for mobile sites, so everything must be tested.

3. Be Flexible

Sometimes you’ve got to be willing to throw your original web design concept out the window and try something new. If an aspect of your website isn’t working, you may find that moving things around, removing certain features, or adding new ones could make a big difference in generating web traffic and in user engagement.

4. Customer Service is a Core Value

If you’re not providing good customer service there’s nothing your website can do to pick up the slack. Follow up on web inquires with 24 business hours. Check for messages every day in case a desperate client is trying to reach you over your website. And get your shipping out on time. Don’t leave your clients waiting for tax documents and organizers. It’s bad enough to keep clients waiting if you haven’t gotten around to their account yet, but it’s far worse to have done the work and then not bothered to ship it. I know you’re busy, especially around tax time, and putting off shipping is a seductively simple way of shaving a few minutes off the clock, but don’t do it. Remember… a job isn’t done until it’s shipped!

5. Keep Visitors Engaged

Encourage visitors to participate by using surveys, asking questions, ore even hosting a Q&A session with one of your senior accountants. And don’t be too disappointed if you receive few comments on your blog itself. By posting a shorthand version of your blog on Twitter and using embeddable comments, you can take social media comments and embed them directly into your website.

6. Understand Your Audience

The key to turning your page’s visitors into paying clients is taking the time to get to know your audience, make sure that they have a good experience, and provide them with the information that they need. Web analytics, test suites, and user engagement will all provide clues about your audience.

7. Quality Content

Is your page’s content useful and helpful? Blog posts and articles should be more than the means for keyword stuffing. If it’s not relevant and informative, it shouldn’t be on your page.

8. Maintain Workflow

Don’t let anything on your site detract from a user’s ability to keep browsing. A video clip, for example, should not freeze up the rest of your page as it loads or plays, and any hyperlinks should open in a new tab so that workflow is never interrupted.

9. Prioritize

Don’t let small hiccups get in the way of actually delivering your products and services. Services like Github can help you prioritize which bugs and website to-dos by importance so that you don’t get distracted from taking care of your clients.

10. Be Consistent

Although small changes are good, there’s no need to constantly re-invent your accounting website design to attract consumers. Being true to yourself and your main message will supply a more loyal following.

11. Be Yourself

It’s OK to glean ideas from competitor sites, but don’t become a clone. Making your CPA website about your firm’s unique personality will yield more success.

by Brian O’Connell

The Internet has undoubtedly quickened the pace at which we communicate, and changed the volume of messages we get on any given day. But how can we cut through all the noise? At the end of the day, marketing still has the same foundation, even if the delivery methods have changed: human relationships.

The competition for clients in the accountant’s world can be cut-throat. This makes an effective marketing strategy all the more important. To reach potential clients, and to communicate the quality of services you’re able to provide, your business needs a comprehensive outreach strategy.

The following suggestions for marketing projects balance out creative (dare we say “fun”?) strategies that utilize online communication, yet still forge meaningful relationships with clients and potential clients.

Give free (or low-cost) workshops, podcasts, or webinars.
It’s tax season, which means clients are likely to reach out to you for advice before they file. Now is the time to flaunt your expertise and earn your client’s loyalty! You can give in-person workshops with frequently asked tax questions, or you can digitize your presentation to make it more accessible. A podcast is a downloadable file that can be voice-only (think of an NPR broadcast), or a full video. A webinar is a live, interactive online forum that usually involves a slideshow that the presenter narrates for an audience. Slideshare is one free resource you may use for this marketing project.

Whether you are sharing your skills and knowledge in-person or over the Internet, be sure to include an evaluation component. Really listen to your clients, and adjust your educational outreach services to best fit their needs.

Create a Digital Press Kit.
A generation ago, businesses created packets of documents, kept in brown envelopes, with letters of introduction to the community, or press releases announcing the launch of a new business venture. Today, you can upload all of these documents, and more, onto your web site, and have interested people from all over the world download them instantly.

Consider adding these links on your professional web site. You might create separate pages for different types of users–a page for potential clients, current clients, news media, and so on.

Take advantage of social media.
If you incorporate a social media component of your marketing plan, this will encourage anyone from the public to find and interact with your business online.

LinkedIn is a professional social network, and probably the best place for a CPA or small accountant firm to start. Upload your professional credentials to this page, and link to your LinkedIn profile from your company’s web site. This lets potential clients feel empowered, since they can easily review all of your professional experience before they decide to work with you.

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are other popular social media sites which may or may not make sense for you to utilize in your accounting firm.

Here are some ways an accountant or CPA might use Facebook or Twitter in marketing:

• Ask other users what their biggest financial questions are.
• Post live updates from events, talks or other events
• Gather customer service feedback
• Post positive testimonials from clients
• Offer helpful tax and financial advice

How can you tell if your new marketing methods are working? There are lots of fun, and measurable, ways to find out. For example, use them to promote an in-person event like an open house, pot luck, barbecue, or cocktail party. You can measure your results by your turnout.

Take this online marketing concept to heart. Ideally you want all your digital interactions to eventually translate to in-person relationships with clients.

by Kenny Marshall

Kenny is a marketing consultant and blogger who specializes in marketing for accountants. To learn more visit his website at www.marketing-for-accountants.com.

Brian and Kenny talk a lot about SEO. SEO (short for “search engine optimization”) is what drives traffic to your accounting site through search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing. The better you rank on the search results the more visits you’ll receive and, subsequently, the more new clients you’ll get.

There are many different ways to improve the SEO of your website, and although the proper formula for keywords, meta tags and other information changes almost daily, one element has survived virtually unchanged for years.

Videos.

Integrating videos on your website helps not only inform your visitors of what products and services you provide, but it is also used as a form of entertainment. Furthermore, by using videos to promote your accounting website you actually place your site in two different search features, not just one: Web and Video.

If you visit a search engine such as Google or Yahoo and look under the different search features, there is a “Web” option, where the engine looks through different websites in order to match keywords to the desired search. “Video” is another option, where the engine matches the keywords of a website’s video, and people often search on video distribution sites like YouTube.

YouTube is a video sharing platform that allows people from all across the globe share videos on almost anything, right in the same place. Posting your video to YouTube helps you build a following through the video site. The users who follow your video may end up reaching the accounting website thanks to the video’s help, increasing your sales. Videos on outside sites, such as YouTube, creates backlinks sending additional traffic to the site. Backlinking also helps with SEO, so the more links and videos you have sending traffic back to the original site, the higher up the search results your site climbs.

When you place a video onto your accounting website you can effectively triple you search exposure. The more ways your accounting site is available online, the more potential clients you’ll bring into the site.

Of course, there are more benefits of placing a video onto your accounting website than just being featured on more search options; you can utilize social media to a greater affect. People are much more likely to share or like an amusing video on Facebook or Twitter than they will be a simple blog article.

One of the most important aspects to remember regarding videos and promoting your accounting site through video is to post new videos. Simply having a one and done video is not going to help you out all that much. You might have an initial push towards the site once it goes up, and the video does help drum up some traffic with the added search features, but in order to maintain the momentum of utilizing videos, you really need to post a new video occasionally. This doesn’t mean every week, but try to keep a reasonably steady stream of information going. This also builds your online following on YouTube and other social media sites.

When someone finds one of your videos informative, they are likely to return. When they return they’re going to watch more videos and possibly even share the content with others who need accounting advice.

by Allison Cusson

Allison is our favorite YouTube star. We feature this video on our Welcome page but she has made many marketing and promotional videos for us.

Content marketing is the sharing of useful content to attract the attention of potential clients through white papers, newsletters, presentations, webinars and articles. It is a marketing strategy of producing and disseminating valuable content to attract and acquire a specific target audience and get them engaged.

The ultimate aim? To lure new clients to your practice.

Content marketing is effective as it boosts your reputation as an expert, establishes brand value and generates leads.

Here are some of the ways to make content marketing work for your accounting firm.

Try Video
Videos are gaining interest to more marketers of accounting firms in 2013. Many firms plan to create video blogs for their customers regarding their services and other updates. Some are already eyeing on incorporating video into their websites and are exploring options and costing. Video topics abound. You can examine tax reform, healthcare changes and a lot more.

Share Valuable Information and Your Expertise
Good content marketing provides real value without a requirement to buy. Like an appetizer it makes the prospect hungry for more so when he has a real accounting need you will be a logical choice. For example, an accounting firm’s content can provide generic information on some impact of the new changes of the tax law. Since most businesses are still uncertain about the new laws, many welcome expert analysis and if you provide that, you can charge them for a fee if you find them wanting for more.

Pick the formats that you are comfortable with and start sharing your expertise and relevant information, but don’t get stuck in a rut.

Interested subscibers will contact you for more details.

Exploit Social Media Opportunities
It is reported that adoption of social media in accounting marketing increases from 74 percent in 2012 to 87 percent in 2013. LinkedIn now tops the list and leaves Twitter behind.

Many firms are excited by social media as the CPA business is considered to be tweet-resistant, making social media something of an open niche. Accounting businesses are now trying to increase their understanding of how social media, video channels and websites can boost their visibility and engender new relationships.

Know Your Clients’ Preferences
While videos and social media are in hype for 2013, do not your core: Customer service, client needs, and satisfaction.

The best way to track this is to use conduct surveys. Ask. Nothing is more important than knowing what your clients want and what gives them satisfaction. Make sure your business prioritizes on client needs and satisfaction.

by Brian O’Connell

When you think of “accounting websites” the word “creativity” probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind to mind, but no matter what type of business you’re in (accounting or CPA included) creativity is going to be at the baseline of your marketing strategy.

People are drawn to things that are interesting, innovative and intriguing. Boring gets shown the door and your potential accounting client is now lost to a competitor that better understands how to relate to their customers.

Keep it Fresh- Following tax law changes and financial trends is your job, but illustrating service benefits to prospects is the key to attracting new business.

A great way to do this is by blogging. Write (or buy) short articles for your site that illustrates these benefits in innovative ways. Some examples might be answering a few of the most frequently asked questions, or giving a rundown list of the top things that a potential customer should look for when they’re trying to hire a CPA or browsing through accounting websites.

Remember, customers are coming to you because they need assistance and sometimes they may not really know what they’re actually looking for. Make them understand why they need you by clearly explaining what they have to gain by hiring you.

Keeping your web content fresh on a week to week basis will also keep your Google stats up, which is imperative.

Also, make sure that whether you’re writing your content, or having someone else write for you, SEO is integrated to keep your ranks up on search engines. You want to make sure that your firm is the one popping up on the first page at all times when people search for accounting websites in your town.

Social Media- Love it or hate it, social media is one of the major components of marketing these days. If you haven’t added your firm to Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest or a combination of all of these top tier sites, you’re falling behind the times.

Remember we talked about being interesting and intriguing? Well, social media is a phenomenal method to get a buzz going about your company and services. Actually engaging your potential customer base will get people talking.

Ask questions. Tell jokes. Give some low level free advice. Make people laugh and give them information that they want and they’ll be putty in your hands.

Using Pinterest is another great way to market your business without having to say much. Pictures and small quotes work wonders to captivate the eye and get people to click on your pin, thus linking right back to your website where they can learn more about you and your services.

Love What you Do and Do What you Love- It sounds rhetorical, but the fact of the matter is that if there is no passion behind your business or your end goal of building (other than the financial gain), marketing will be a daunting task.

Know your weaknesses and your strengths and utilize them accordingly. If you’re not so great with relating to people or finding witty ways to engage, but your strength is in numbers and facts then hire someone that can put that passion into building your sales and your customer base.

by Brian O’Connell

Inbound marketing is about letting go of the old school “hard sell” and letting qualified customers come to you. Like all marketing it helps raise awareness about your website and business, making it invaluable for small businesses with a limited advertising budget. But it’s also unique in that it’s success is measured across a longer term, and it tends to attract much higher quality leads.

The key to successful inbound marketing is producing high quality content for your website. You want to be viewed as an expert so potential customers feel they will be able to trust you with their accounting needs.

In order to create content your audience will appreciate, you need to take the time to determine who you will be marketing toward. Think about what type of accounting your firm specializes in and the specific groups that could benefit from your work. Speak directly to these groups in language they will understand. You may know all the tricks and terminology associated with personal accounting, but your audience does not. After all, if your customers were experts on money management, they would not need you. Break things down and use layman’s terms to create a presentation that gives plenty of information without talking down to the reader.

Creating a Dialogue with Your Customer

Inbound marketing relies on your audience getting involved with the content you make. Encourage your readers to ask questions in the comments or share your writing with others that may find it helpful. Link your website to your social media profile and post a status when you add new content. The more opportunities you give people to talk about your website and business, the easier it will be to get new readers on board.

Consider how to make your topic relevant to your readers. The holidays or tax season might get people thinking about how they need to organize their finances. Provide tips that will help them get started and let your readers know you can provide the assistance they need. Never make a post simply for the sake of filling up space. Find the balance between providing new information on a regular schedule and becoming overbearing. This will encourage your readers to check in often.

Responding to Feedback

The main purpose of social media pages or blog sections on your website is to get users to respond. In order for this to be successful, readers have to know you are listening. If someone asks a question or makes a point of responding to your blog, take the time to answer them. This will increase your comment count in a way that is genuine, encouraging others to get involved in the conversation. Active webpages generate attention from customers and search engines, increasing the success of your inbound marketing.

Though it may be tempting to hire a “commenting” staff, this is best avoided. Planting fake comments on your webpage may increase your search engine hits temporarily, but it will ultimately ruin your inbound marketing campaign. Posting fake comments and reviews is considered highly unethical, and is illegal in many areas. Customers need to be able to trust their accountant with a great deal of private information, and will not do so if their webpage and advertising strategies are deceitful. Focus on creating content high quality content your readers need and customer participation will increase naturally.

by Brian O’Connell

Google Places should be the final word when clients are searching for your accounting practice. While it certainly has it’s fair share of foibles, Google Places is still an invaluable asset for your firm’s online marketing plans.

Here’s the catch. It’s up to you to make sure you’re getting all you can out of the system, and one of your most important responsibilities is to make sure you have authoritative and consistent “citations”.

Google Places searches for your CPA business on sites such as CitySearch, Yelp, the Yellow Pages and the Better Business Bureau. Every instance of your business being mentioned on any of those sites is a listing known as a “citation”. Google uses all of these listings to verify that your business is indeed real, where you are located, and the type of business that you offer.

Your Google rankings and, ultimately, the ease with which potential clients can find you online, is based in large part on the number of times Google finds your citations online. The way to raise your ranking in Google using citations is to make sure that every listing your company has is worded in the exact same way.

Consistency is key. The Google algorithm is very literal. It only reads the exact words it sees, and cannot interpret any information or make any assumptions. Every time Google reads about a business it files away the information. If it reads about the business again by seeing the exact same words, it files away this listing as the second occurrence of the same business. If it sees a listing that uses different wording it files the listing as an entirely new business on its list. It’s critical, therefore, that all your citations consistently offer exactly the same business name, category, and contact information.

Make a master list of your business information, including the official name by which you will advertise and be known online, the exact wording of your address (Street vs. Blvd, etc.) and how many different phone numbers you will include. Refer to this list every time you include your business anywhere that will be posted online.

Go online to Google Places to check out your business listing. Make sure the listing is exactly the same as your master listing. Go to every other place your business may appear and check their listings. If there is any information that is different from your master listing (assuming it’s still accurate, like an additional phone number) add that information to your listing on Google Places. If you find inaccurate or obsolete citations take the time to correct them. Google will now be able to read all the citations about your business and recognize them as all referring to one place. This should immediately cause a rise in your rankings, and an increase in quality traffic to your website.

As a long-term solution, spend some time each week searching the web for listings about your business and correct any that have anything besides your master listing. This may take a long time, considering all the different aggregate sites and directories that exist, but the more times your business appears online in the correct form, the stronger your Google ranking will grow.

by Brian O’Connell

So you think your accounting firms marketing plan is in need of improvement? You are not alone. Lots of accounting firms neglect their marketing plans. Some have no plan at all, and I have a lot of people ask me for advice in finding a marketing plan that suits them best.

Whether you are revitalizing an existing plan or building one for the first time you may choose to hire some professional help. This can be tricky if you don’t know what you’re looking for. Unfortunately there’s no one size fits all firm I can refer you to. But there are some basic guidelines that will make your search easier.

What Should You Look For in a Marketing Program
First, steer clear of companies that offer financing. For the most part these guys clean up on the back end, and you’ll be paying the bill long after you stopped getting any benefit for your outlay.

Stay away from companies who have undefined fees or ones that gain most of their returns from other products they push. Be sure to ask specifically about costs and fees that might not be caught at first blush and make sure you get any assurances and promises in writing.

Now… think about this question: What is it that you should look for? What is it you want to achieve?

OK… now we’re ready to start looking for a rainmaker for your firm. Here are a few things to look for.

1. Completeness
2. An exact blueprint of the plan
3. Unlimited support
4. Budget
5. Focus
6. Longevity

A marketing program must be totally intact in every area. The plan should never be limited to things like social media, sponsor websites and emails. The perfect plan should always include programs for all areas of your firm.

A plan should be able to supply you with a proven blueprint for success. A great plan should not leave anything for you to create after implementation. Plans should always include the material necessary, what processes will be used, any forms needed, formulated letters for prospective clients etc.

A program should be willing to offer unlimited support to whatever area in your firm needs the most help or even bring in persons who have had success in this area and can walk you through every step.

Marketing plans should be implemented on a budget.

CPA market plans should be geographically focused. Most  firms work mainly with local accountants.

You do not want to become a statistic, a lot of accounting practices have short lives. You want to build a company that will be around for decades. This usually means cultivating long term relationships with businesses and affluent clientele rather than running a tax prep mill. It also means respecting your authority and reputation. Marketing programs that offer shady techniques and “one weird trick” ads have nothing to offer a reputable accounting firm.

What should you stay away from when beginning a marketing plan?

This is another good question. What should you avoid?

1. Unrealistic Guarantees
2. High Budgets
3. Undefined/Hidden Costs
4. Financing

Many CPA practices draw prospects in with an unrealistic set of guarantees. Don’t let some self-declared marketing “guru” lead you down this particular garden path! This might work fine for a fly by night retail operation, but growing an accounting firm means cultivating long term relationships. Making promises you can’t keep is not a good way to do that.

As we talked about earlier, marketing plans should not be expensive. High marketing costs hurt your bottom line. Many cookie cutter marketing programs will concentrate on attracting large numbers of discount-hunting low-end tax preparation clients. Low end clientele combined with high implementation costs could leave you working long hours and seeing almost no money.

by Brian O’Connell

In order to turn accounting prospects into clients, you first have to close the deal that will get them to agree to do business with you. This can be a tough task, as you really have to sell yourself, and your business, to the prospective client you are hoping to work with. Many accountants come up short on this skill. They use a standard pitch, sometimes even an elevator pitch, and this costs them sales. You need to learn to tailor your close to the specific prospect you are working with.

There are five main ways to do this.

Assuming the Close
For one closing attempt, you can make an assumption that the client is going to go for the deal by asking a question that confirms their commitment when they answer. This is called an assumptive close. You might perhaps ask the client how exactly they are planning on using your company’s accounting skills. Are they going to want compilations, reviews, or full audits? If they answer, they’re in. This is my favorite close, but it takes some practice to pull it off without seeming manipulative. This is a great close if you’re having trouble getting a read on whether or not the client is really interested. It doesn’t offer the prospect a chance to say “no”, so it almost never hurts a negotiation. Be ready though… some prospects will kill your close with more questions.

Direct Statement Closes
Then there’s the direct statement. This is similar to the assumptive close and is often confused for one, but a direct statement close is more explicit. You simply say, “let’s move things forward,” instead of asking if you should. Use this close when you are quite sure that the client has given all the signals of wanting to say “yes.” This is much safer than an assumed close, but it allows for a “no” so while it might be used instead by novice salespeople, once you get good you’ll want to restrict this close to prospects that have already indicated that they are already pretty solid about signing you.

Reverse Closes
The reverse close asks a question that doesn’t need a response; not answering really means they should be saying “yes” to your deal. In accounting, you may ask the client if there is a reason why he or she wouldn’t you to compile a monthly profit/loss statement for them. Reserve this close for nitpickers and nay-sayers, and be ready for an objection!

Time-Sensitive Closes
Repeat the amount of time that the client stated they wanted to have the work done by. Say to them that they said they’d like to have all of their financial details sorted by the first of the year, so you should start coming up with a plan together to make that happen. Accountants use this close a lot, as they have to deal with procrastinators pretty regularly and it works best if there is a real time crunch.

Direct Question Closes
The direct-question is the basic close that set the bar for all the others. It means, “just ask”. Repeat everything the two of you talked about, and then ask them if things should move forward. There shouldn’t be any reason why not if everything was already discussed. his is the safest close there is because it never comes across as manipulative or presumptuous. Try not to use it, though, unless none of the other closes seem appropriate because it does give the prospect a chance to say no, and this can put you right back at square one.

The type of closing attempt to choose will be based on what the customer says and does. Monitor their speech and what they’re saying; do they seem hesitant, or have they mentioned a time-frame? Perhaps they seem perfectly ready and willing to use your firm. Whatever the case may be, use the appropriate close at the time and it should lead you to the business deal you are trying to make.

by Brian O’Connell

Let’s be honest with ourselves for a moment. Lot’s of us are neglecting the marketing end of our practices.

This is understandable. You went to school for years to be an accountant, not a salesperson. You’re good at your job. That should be enough.

But it’s not.

In today’s economy, sales and marketing is the driving force behind small business success. If you are neglecting your firm’s marketing your firm is not growing as fast as it should be.

So… How do you get back into the game? What exactly is going to lead people to your accounting firm and not the one just down the street?

There is a lot of competition out there and marketing is the key to “kicking” your accounting firm back into the race.

Here are a few ideas on how to get back into the marketing game:

• Use social media to your advantage. Set up a personal profile on Linkedln. Share your experience and explain why you’re the best. Get your friends to recommend you. Set up a Facebook page for your accounting firm and let all of your contacts know about it. It may help to run some kind of special social-media promotion.
• Every successful business has their own website. Spend a little money and set up a top-of-the-line web site. There are many professionals that will do it for you and it won’t cost a fortune. After you have your website, link it in your Facebook and Linkedin pages and share it with people.
• Advertise with flyers, business cards and even small posters. You can usually hire small firms to send out the flyers or put them on vehicles in parking lots. Put the small posters in places that are seen by your target customers and hand those business cards out to everyone. One person may not use your service but with your card in their purse or billfold, they may hand it to someone who needs a CPA. Word of mouth is pivotal to growing an accounting practice!
• Putting simple ads in newspapers and periodicals does bring business. Use that source. Most advertisements in newspapers are rather inexpensive. The key to writing a succesful print add is to include your web address and a good tagline with a strong call to action.
• Ask your friends and family! Referrals work; set up a coffee meeting with the people you know have connections to others who may need your accounting services. When they see your generosity in buying that round of coffee, they will want to help you get some clients.

Sales and marketing are the tools to win in the business world today. It is understandable that you’re not a salesperson, but you need to throw that negative thought behind you and jump into the marketing ocean with both feet. If speaking and communicating with others is real difficult for you it may be wise to take some speaking courses.

Many CPA’s seem to think “marketing” is a dirty word. I’ve had to spend a lot of time convincing clients to up-sell and side-sell services.

Marketing is the key to growing your firm, but there’s more to it than that. Marketing is part of your job.

If your clients are paying more taxes than they should, or if they are making less money than they could, that’s YOUR fault. Clients can’t be expected to know what extra services you offer and how they could benefit them by osmosis. It’s your job to tell them about it. It’s your job to explain the benefit and convince them to take advantage if it.

That’s all honest marketing is!

Stop treating your marketing as the firm’s red-headed step-child. Get out there and start saving more people money and you, your firm, and your employees will prosper with them!

by Brian O’Connell