There are over 60 free logos available to any CPA website hosted by CPA Site Solutions. These have recently been changed. In technical terms, they have been vectorized. They can now be used for print without costly recreation costs. Here are newer additions to the logo gallery along with how the graphics have been updated.

Logo #1

No Loss of Quality. Images used on a CPA website are different from those used in print. When you try to use a logo from a website for print you get a lot of fuzziness. That fuzziness is very obvious to anyone, even those not used to looking for the finer details.

There are services available that can recreate a graphic from the web to be used with print. This can be a potentially costly solution that can be avoided.

No Longer Costly. When a logo is vectorized it can change to any size without that same fuzzy quality. That means you can use it for the web or print without having to recreate anything.

Business Cards, Flyers, and More. You can now brand your business for free. You can now use over 60 free logos for your CPA firm’s business cards, flyers, and more.

Logo #19

Find a Free Logo. Take a look at the over 60 free logos available to any website hosted by CPA Site solutions. Once you have found one, send the request via email at support@cpasitesolutions.com or call 800-896-4500 with the logo number.

CPA Site Solutions then incorporates your CPA firm name within the new logo. The new logo is sized appropriately for your particular CPA website design. The graphic is then placed on your CPA website.

Newer Logos. The amount of free logos available are increasing all of the time. Much like the amount of ready-to-go website designs.

Logo Site Viewer

Have your own experience with logos for your CPA website that you want to share? Send a comment below. Remember, when you comment you get a link back to your website which can help your search engine ranking.

When you have a website hosted by CPA Site Solutions you have access to over 250 website designs. There are so many designs to look at and, most of the time, you need to show it to other firm members before deciding. Now, when you have just the design number, you can easily jump to any design with the click of a button.

Over 250 Ready To Go Website Designs

Flexibility. A nice bit of flexibility to any hosted CPA Site Solutions website is that you can change a website design at anytime without your content changing. This means that all that hard work you did creating custom content for your welcome page, stays with you.

Website Design Choices. When you look at any website design in the viewer there is a number below the design. When you find a design, write down that number for easy reference later.

You can then head to the bottom of the design listing page and there is a small area you can put the website design number. Click on the “Go” button and a new window comes up taking you directly to that design.

The Number For This Design is 353329

Saving Time. You can now save time when sitting down with another person to decide upon your CPA website design. Instead of panning through the designs until you find the one you were looking at, you can go directly there.

Multiple Website Designs. Look at multiple designs side by side to make it easier to decide. After you have put in the design choice and press go, take that window and re-size it. Put in the next design and re-size the new window that comes up as well until you have each side by side to compare.

Email Designs. You can email your website design choices by copy and pasting the URL of the specific design page in an email message. You can then make a list of your best choices to other people to vote on the best choice.

Having the right design for your CPA website is a fun process and just became that much easier with the “Jump to Style” button. New designs are coming out all of the time. Contact CPA Site Solutions via email at support@cpasitesolutions.com or calling 800-896-4500 with your website design choice. You can also consider customizing your website which can produce some great results as well.

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There are many new designs that have been added to the list of website designs available to any website hosted by CPA Site Solutions. As previous posts have noted, there are many options for customizing a CPA website. Here is another great example of using a firm’s own web designer’s design integrated into the CPA Site Solutions system.

The Website. The Watts Group has a design based on a few great ideas kept simple and reinforced throughout the website. CPA Site Solutions custom designers worked to integrate the design so that it would work well within the system.

Seeing the Light. A light bulb, with drop shadow, is used to indicate where a user is on the website. This indicator reinforces their business name in a fun and useful way.

Services and Packages. Another great element is the use of expanded text on their Services + Packages page. This expansion method not only looks good but keeps the elements on the page contained within a certain height.

Watts Group Contact Form

Logo Header and Overall Theme. The logo is simple which also reinforces the overall theme. The pages are kept contained so you don’t have to scroll down long pages of content to see everything.

Through the simple theme the graphics used are able to come through even more effectively. A prime example is their contact form made up of a background image of hanging lights.

Custom designs can be of all types and be easily integrated within the CPA Site Solutions system. Many designs, like the one from the Watts group, concentrate on a few elements. This serves to keep the overall theme, via specific graphics that work well together, and message, via few but concise text, clear and unmistakable.

Your Own Custom Design. Are you interested in a custom design? Contact CPA Site Solutions via phone 800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com and a custom designer can help solidify your website needs.

Have a comment? Fill out the form below or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

There are over 250 website designs available to any accounting website hosted by CPA Site Solutions. As previous posts, such as using a brochure or blending a previous design, have indicated a customization can be a great way to start your CPA website. Clayton, Paulk & Associates used their own website designer with some great results.

Moving Image

No Gray Area. Clayton, Paulk & Associates slogan is, “No Gray Area.” They came up with a design that uses this idea within the black and white colors used throughout.

Moving Image. Another great feature they incorporated is the use of an image that scrolls down the page. What is nice is there is a link that brings you right back to the top of the page at the top of this scrolling image. This means that no matter where you are at you can get to the top of the page.

Simple Yet Effective. This type of website is both simple and effective. There is a strong element of personalization both within the slogan, the choice of colors, and the moving image while still leaving the content to speak for itself.

Working With Your Own Designer. If you have a web designer that you already are working with it is easy enough to incorporate that design element into the CPA Site Solutions system. It is very cost effective as well.

There are times when you may be looking through the over 250 website designs from CPA Site Solutions and trying to decide which one to choose. In order to stand out from the rest why not try blending a couple of website designs together as a low cost solution? That is exactly what Bernstein Rosen & Company CPAs PC requested with their firm’s website.

Two Dudes. There used to be a commercial where two guys were walking, one eating chocolate and one eating peanut butter. When they collided they were at first frustrated but then amazed at the taste. Sometimes combining two great elements can make an even better one.

Website Design 233

Design 233. The first website design is number 233. Bernstein worked with our custom designer who took the elements of the people with the puzzle going to Success and changed the color to blend with the other website design.

Website Design 305

Design 305. Website design 305 became the overall structure of the customization. The final website design incorporates some movement that provides an element of fun.

When looking at what to do with your current CPA website you might consider a custom design. If you can’t decide between a couple of great design elements, try combining them.

Bernstein Rosen & Company CPAs PC

Alternatively you can check out some of the past posts on custom website designs such as a personalized look, blending previous,  or old and new. If you have questions you can call 800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

One of the easiest ways to customize your accounting firm’s website with CPA Site Solutions is by taking an existing design style and tweaking it. This is cost effective and, because your using a design that is proven to work, there is a lot less time in getting it up and running.

Website Design 256 from CPA Site Solutions

As in previous posts it all starts with the existing web site design. This time it is style 256 which incorporates a great feature by having a set of pictures that change over a number of seconds.

Dufek & Co. took website design 256 and made it their own by having the website colors match those on their business card and logo. When the colors are identified with the existing logo this sort of recognition can add a nice welcoming effect.

Dufek & Co.

The custom designer then incorporated images that Dufek & Co. wanted to use within the header area. Rather than customizing with just one image on the top, as most designs have, there are multiple images changing about every 8 seconds.

Since these images take up the top corner area they provide an overall interest to the eye without being dominating or distracting to the user. The overall effect between the colors and images is one of personalization from the first few moments a visitor comes to their website.

The last touch that Dufek & Co. requested was the addition of video onto their homepage. Positioned well and with the right controls video can be a great addition.

The designers positioned the video to the right, making it a size that fit with other elements on the page. The video is nice but short so the user doesn’t loose interest and when a user clicks on the video they can stop it from playing if they want. Just as with music you should always make sure the user has a choice if media is playing or not.

Not to disappoint with the personalized look of their web site, Dufek & Co. made sure to have unique content within their Welcome, About Us pages and more. This unique content makes sure they stand out not only to the user but also to search engines as well.

Thinking about having a custom design for your own accounting firm’s website? Call 800-896-4500 and talk to a designer about the options available, you may be surprised at the low cost involved for changing an existing web site design.

JC Cooley and Company's Old Website Design

Using a previous website design with your current accounting firm can be a great blend of old and new. A previous post showcased a particular design that did just this. This post is another example that works well if you are considering having this type of custom website design.

Here is a web archive of JC Cooley and Company’s previous website. They liked the navigation, background texture (you can’t see it in the archive unfortunately) and colors.

After getting the background in place a custom designer worked to retain the overall look. That is how they came up with JC Cooley and Company’s new website design.

Cooley, CPA Firm's Custom Website Design

The custom designer updated the tabbed navigation with paperclips. When a user goes to a new page the paperclip in the navigation shows which page they are on.

The custom designer retained the overall color scheme of the old website. He then updated the website so that it can more easily be viewed with different sized monitors.

If your website design is older the process of blending together the old and new website designs serves as an update. There is a certain look and feel to this type of newer web site design that can give your accounting firm’s website a freshening up while still retaining some of the original flavor.

Does your accounting firm have an older style they want to blend with a current web site design? Call a custom designer at 800-896-4500 and talk through what you are thinking.

Have your own story about using an older website design? Write a comment to share with other readers.

Although there are over 230 ready-to-go websites available to any accounting firm’s website hosted by CPA Site Solutions there is always an option to create a custom design. Past posts have interesting custom designs showcasing the use of designing from a brochure, to creating a minimalist theme, and using local images.

There are accountants who like their previous website design and want to use that as a custom design with their new website. Although there may be some limitations a previous design can blend with current site styles for a look that melds both together. This is part one of a two part series showing websites that have blended designs.

The benefit of this type of melding is that the initial structure from our ready-to-go website designs can make it a less expensive than that of a custom design from scratch. Yet there is still the flavor and overall branding from the previous web site design.

Custom Design for Hart, Chandler, and Associates

Consider Hart, Chandler, and Associates who worked with custom designers at CPA Site Solutions to produce an interesting meld of website style 233 and their old website. The great part of this process is that even though the structure of style 233 is used the website is very much their own.

Welcome page. The welcome page blocks out different sections providing information and pictures without feeling cramped. There are several local images that flip from one to the next providing an interestingly familiar effect to those that know that landscape.

Hart, Chandler, and Associates Header

Header and logo. To leverage the consistent feel from the welcome page this custom has the accounting firm’s logo take over the whole header area. Their particular logo works well with this setup as it has a tall main image to anchor on one end while the name of their firm is longer allowing it to take up most of the remaining space.

If you are considering what sort of design to use and are torn from going away from a previous design then melding the two together can be a great solution. Regardless, there are many ways to create a custom design for your accounting firm’s web site.

If you want to talk ideas over call 800-896-4500 and a designer can answer any questions you might have. Don’t have time at the moment but still have questions? Email support@cpasitesolutions.com with a list and get a response within a business hours.

Have your own experience using a custom design? Write a comment and share that experience with other readers.

One of the biggest perks of being a Gold or Platinum subscriber to CPA Site Solutions is the availability of Splash Pages for your accounting firm’s website. You may have heard them referred to as a “Splash” page, a “Graphic Introduction” page, or a “Landing” page.

The purpose of these pages is to offer the visitor a quick glimpse of what your accounting firm’s website offers, while simultaneously drawing them in with something attention-grabbing. In other words, it caters to the attention spans and behaviors of typical web surfers.

Style #260 - an example of a CPASiteSolutions Splash page with Flash animation

One way in which web-designers have typically accomplished this is through the use of Flash animation. Flash animation is very popular for designers and their clients alike. Designers like it because it makes their clients happy. It is a very easy method of creating impressive, “Ooh-factor” animations.

Clients love it because they feel it lends professionalism and pizzazz to their website.  However, since the explosion of Flash content onto the internet, savvy web-developers have been moving away from the Flash animation Splash page, and using some creative alternatives.  Here’s why:

1. Flash can be slow-loading.  One of the primary missions of any good web developer is accessibility.  This means keeping file sizes low enough so that someone with a slow connection can load your pages in a reasonable period of time. If your Splash page doesn’t meet this criteria, it’s not really accomplishing its stated purpose; to give the visitor a quick preview and draw them in.  If they have to wait around forever for the page to load, they are more like to click the “back” button.
2. Flash animation isn’t search-engine friendly.  A flash intro can be a great way to direct human visitors into your accounting firm’s website, but it does nothing to guide search engines.  Like a human visitor, search-engine spiders (programs that index your content for web searches) see your Splash page first. However, unlike human visitors, they don’t see anything that’s inside the Flash animation. It’s a big blind spot for them. If you are placing your five or six most important links on the Splash page, it’s important from an SEO standpoint that spiders are being directed straight to those pages.
3. 

   Extreme example of overuse of Flash (warning - may freeze up your browser!)

   Does it serve a purpose? Just because you can do something doesn’t necessarily mean you should. Flash animation has its place, but frequently, it serves as more of a distraction than an asset. When deciding on whether or not to use a Flash intro page, ask yourself if it contributes anything meaningful to your site. If it doesn’t, and it’s the first thing a visitor sees, what does that tell them about the relevance of your accounting firm’s website to them?

It’s a fine line to walk. Visitors looking for a CPA don’t really want to be entertained or distracted by something overly flashy, but they also don’t want to have to read a lot of content if they aren’t positive it’s relevant to them. At CPA Site Solutions, we’re well aware of the dilemma, and have been busy creating Flash-alternative Splash pages to address exactly these concerns. These new CPA Website Designs feature eye-catching graphics, dynamic content, and pure html layouts that will draw in visitors and search engines alike.

Style 280 features creative javascript rollover effects, descriptive content, and attractive imagery.	Style 299 features a load of descriptive content, functionality, and inviting imagery
Style 301 features a clean, attractive layout, and large, inviting navigation links.	Style 307 features multiple navigation options, a contemporary layout, and eye-catching imagery

If you are interested in any of these new CPA Website Designs, or if you just have questions about the merits of Flash versus its alternatives, give a call at 1.800.896.4500, or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Every page on your accounting firm’s website hosted by CPA Site Solutions includes a footer with your contact information. It is possible to make that footer much more than just a few lines of address information.

The footers are traditionally an easy way to provide contact information to users who might have arrived on an internal page of your site from a search engine. How you present that information can be key to how a potential client views your accounting firm.

You can leverage this small but important bit of real estate that shows on every page of your firm’s website. Here is a quick look at what the footer usually holds and the ways to change that.

Update All Footers

Edit to one can edit all. You can edit every footer on your site by simply making the change to one footer, and applying those changes to all the other footers.

If our default centered, single column of your contact information doesn’t appeal to you, there are endless other options for taking advantage of the footer field.

Lay out your contact information horizontally:

Lay it out horizontally on two lines. This is especially helpful if you have extra information:

Spread your information across two columns. You can take advantage of the editor’s table feature and spread the information using two columns. This is especially useful if you have two offices:

Include your accounting firm’s logo. If your logo will fit, consider including it in your footer. If it’s slim enough you can fit it in next to your contact information by using a table:

2911 Bond Street, Ste. 105 Everett, WA 98201 Phone: (425)252-6909 info@BauerEvans.com

If your logo is wider, center it above  your contact information:

2911 Bond Street, Ste. 105 Everett, WA 98201

Phone: (425)252-6909 info@BauerEvans.com

Include certificates and membership images. Have a Quickbooks certificate or a member of an important local organization? Including these images help’s to sell your firm.

Check out some of our sample sites to see how our other clients are using the footer:

Talley, Mauldin & Peet, P.C. use their footer as a secondary navigation bar, and to display their QuickBooks ProAdvisor badge:

stm-cpa.com Footer Example

If you have memberships to Accounting, business or other organizations and want to show your membership emblems, than the footer is an excellent place to do so. Check out Steven H. Mangan’s website for an example:

Steven H. Mangan's Footer

There are endless possibilities available for the footer section of every page of your site, much more than just the few examples above.  Just like the rest of your site, the footer’s content is entirely up to you.

To get started adjusting the content of your site and your footer, just log in to your Firm Portal, and start editing your site. To learn more, check out our SiteManager video walkthrough, and help page.

Have a comment about how to use the footer area effectively? Send along a comment to share your experiences.