Fresh and unique content on your accounting website is great for your potential clients and search engines. Getting people to your blog though is an ongoing project. One way to make that project a little easier is to work with other people. Start right now by requesting to write a guest blog post on CPA Site Solutions. Send an email to support@cpasitesolutions.com with the subject line of “Blog Post.”

Guest Blogging. When you write a post for another website you increase traffic to your own. Your guest post introduces a new set of readers to your accounting website.

Finding A Blog. Once you know that you want to write a post for another website, the next key is finding a blog. You want to find one that has a similar audience.

Similar means that it is in the same realm or subject. The intent is less about targeted traffic of potential clients and more about overall traffic.

This Blog. Consider writing a blog post for the CPA Site Solutions blog. The blog is read by over 4,000 CPAs and other tax professionals each month. Why would you want to write to be viewed by potential competitors?

Would you present your ideas at a conference of like minded individuals? Of course. It is the same with writing a guest post. There is a benefit to learning and collaborating together. In an ideal sense that is what they Internet is about, making connections and relationships. Send an email to support@cpasitesolutions.com with your request to write a guest post.

Branching Out. Once you have branched out as a guest blogger, invite others to write on your own blog. This not only lends a different voice but again builds an ongoing online collaboration. When your post is good then a lot of people send it around to read.

Think of the root system of a tree. It is stronger and able to gather more resources to survive the more it branches out. Writing a post on another website becomes another small branch of your accounting firm’s root system.

Social Media. Once you write as a guest blogger or have someone write on your own blog, be sure to use your social media channels. Do a short Tweet or post on Facebook about the post. This leverages the millage you get from it.

How has your blog been useful on your own accounting website? Send a comment below.

Any accounting website hosted by CPA Site Solutions can add a blog to their firm’s website. A blog written with key information on a regular basis can serve as fresh and unique content for your website.

Make Sure Your Firm Can Be Found

A previous post highlights the search engine benefits from that fresh content. Once you have a blog you can then submit it to certain blog directories as another way to get more readers and possibly clients.

Blog Directories. Blog directories are where people can go to find interesting blogs to read. Think of it like a directory of specialized online magazine articles.

Blog directories are usually displayed by subject categories. Interested in reading about accounting? Look under the Business section and then the sub category of Accounting and there is a listing of blogs specifically written with tips and news. You want your CPA firm’s blog listed here.

Looking For Answers. People on the web are continually looking for answers to questions. These are often found on forums but another source are in tips and news spread by blogs. The key is to become a trusted source of answers to accounting and tax questions.

Advertising. Blog directories are a great way to advertise your blog and therefore your CPA firm. This becomes another way to stream traffic to your site and possibly convert a reader into a client.

Get Listed. You want to get listed in multiple directories that are worth your effort. Search Engine Journal has a list of 20 essential blog directories to consider getting listed on.

Some of the Blog Directories are easier than others to get listed on and you want to make sure that you follow their guidelines. The most common guideline is to have a current blog that has some past content.

Update Blog Regularly. Most important is to commit to updating your blog on a regular basis. You need your readers trust that when they check your blog you have new content. Otherwise they just stop looking and it is hard to gain back readers.

Having a blog is another step in making sure your CPA website is a destination for people searching for answers. One way to do this is through your blog and having that blog listed in popular Blog Directories.

Have a comment? Fill out the form below.

If you take a look at our blog in the top right area we have a place to vote on what we should write about.

We thought this would be a fun way to find out what you would like us to write about. What kinds of information would you like to see more of? If you take a moment you can vote.

Any suggestions you have are always looked at here at CPA Site Solutions. We want all of the websites we create for accountants to be the best. That said there are always constant improvements we are working on.

Taking a moment now to vote is one way you can alter what we write about with this blog. It only takes a moment and yet will help us keep you better informed in the future.

In part 1 of this series we talked about the initial creation of a blog. Once you have created a blog and  some ideas start flowing, the next question is how can you efficiently manage the process?

There are many different ways to organize your blog’s flow. Whatever process you use the key to keep a readers trust is by having consistently good information. Even if you were to have a few posts with so-so content, that can be somewhat forgiven, but you will always want to be consistent.

If a reader has come to rely on your blog and to checking it on a regular basis then you want to always have something written for them to look at. If you ever fail to write a blog post it won’t be long before they start looking elsewhere with their mind hungry for information. So rule number one is, above all else, be consistent.

The next step is to come up with a system that allows you to write without pain. One of the best ways to do this is by staying organized. If you have done the brainstorming exercise then you should have a good list of ideas to work from.

Having this list of ideas makes it easier to just sit down and write when you have some free moments. You might consider coming up with a blog calendar that lays out when those ideas will ideally be published. This gives you a guide to work from and allows your blog flow to remain consistent.

Another way to organize is to figure out what sort of messages you want to convey. You might gear your postings to changes that are happening in your firm. You could keep some postings light hearted with pictures of a recent trip you took.

Whatever you post in your accountant blog it is of benefit to your site overall. The more you blog the more fresh content you have for your accounting website. When you mention what you are doing in your firm, some tips and tricks for your clients, that also can help for search engines.

Managing your blog is an ongoing process. If you organize what you want to say, keep the posts relatively short, and consistent you will be amazed at easy it can be to maintain. The key is to start now, start small, maybe one post a week, and go from there. Good luck and happy blogging.

If you are a regular reader of our blog or newsletter you know that we have added the capability of adding a blog to your own website. Although you may have read blogs doing one of your own can bring up a lot of questions. The aim of this two part series is to give a quick introduction into creating and managing your own blog with the first part being on creation.

There are many benefits to starting a blog but one of the primary questions that can come up is what to write about. In general any information that pertains to who you are or what you do is fair game.

Really you can write about just about anything but what you really want to do is write something that will motivate your readers and get them coming back to read more. The more they read of your blog, the more you become a true voice and resource. Beyond this it can be fun to teach or share what you know or what you are doing.

Think of how many times you want to share what you have just read about with others. It is fun to share news or information. If you keep the blog interesting it becomes information or news that people will want to share.

Keeping people informed will help them stay connected to you especially in the “off season”. The more you’re in peoples minds the more they are apt to recommend you when asked by others.

So what motivates you in your daily business? This may be something you could write about. What new things are you doing this coming fall? What kinds of changes might you be making to your business? What about other people in your organization? Many might not only have ideas but also be willing to write about them.

If your having a hard time coming up with some ideas here is a quick exercise that can yield some unexpected results:

1. Take a piece of paper, pencil and timer.

2. Set yourself down and give yourself just five minutes, ignore the clock and let the timer tell you when to stop.

3. The key to this is to not think but just write, unedited content, without stopping for the whole five minutes.

Sounds easy enough right? Well it is and it isn’t, it depends on how much is on your mind at the time. If you start to think about something during this time instead of writing just take a deep breath and keep writing.

What your looking for is to come up with as many ideas you or those you know would find interesting to read about. Don’t worry if the ideas don’t connect to your business, you can figure that out later, in this part all your doing is writing.

When your done take all of those ideas and figure out how many of them you could really write about. Remember that many blogs are meant to be informative but relatively short.

Most of the time readers are looking for interesting or useful information. Blogs are typically written in an informal writing style so you don’t have to worry as much about being a great writer. As long as the ideas or information are useful to your readers your fine.

Even so you may want to consider creating some short guidelines for yourself, and other writers if you have any, to follow. Having a guide that lays out what font to use and such is for consistency rather than having to do with any official rule with how you blog.

If your still looking for inspiration you might try looking at the following resources:

Top 50 Accounting Blogs

95 Accounting Firm Practice Blogs

Accountants Round Up

You can now include an easy to update blog on your CPASiteSolutions website. The next time you log into your SiteManager you’ll see the new blog page in your “Add Page” menu.

A blog allows you to speak directly, openly and honestly with your clients. When prospective clients and staff members can relate to you through your blog posts, they’ll get to know you and trust you before ever meeting you in person.

The personal relationship you establish through your blog gives you a competitive advantage over other firms in your area. By differentiating yourself through your blog, you’ll stand out from the competition and earn the trust of potential clients. You’ll establish a personal relationship with your readers in advance of their visit to your office.

What’s more, a dynamic and frequently updated blog will help improve your site’s rank in Google and other search engines.  Search engines like Google love unique and frequently updated content on websites. By consistently adding new content to your site through your blog, you can improve your site’s relevance and authority rank.

This means that your site can appear toward the top of the search engines when business owners search for an accountant in your area. As a result, your website gets more visitors who are looking for accounting services. And getting more visitors means means you’ll get more calls, appointments, and clients from your website.

Adding the blog to your site

It’s easy to get started blogging on your site.  You’ll find the blog under the Add Page menu in your Site Manager. Just add that page and arrange it in your SiteMap as you have any other new page on your site.  If you don’t see the blog as an option in your Add Page menu, just give us a call at 800-896-4500 and we’ll migrate your site to our newest hosting system and make the blog available to you.

Once you’ve added the blog, you can post to it anytime by logging into the SiteManager and clicking on the blog page in your Site Map. Then you can simply click “Add Blog Post” to start writing.

Every new post will automatically appear on your blog page, and bump the previous post into the list of Previous Posts that appears to the right side of your blog.

For an in-depth walkthrough of adding, using and managing your blog, check out our Blog Help.