Don't waste your money on a CPA website design.

The best way to get a CPA website design is to get one for free.

But how do you get anything for free these days?

I’m not sure about other products, but to get a free web design, go with Ready-To-Go designs from a service like CPA Site Solutions.

Other services charge up to $2,000 just for the design – and using a local designer could cost you up to $7,000.

Ready-To-Go designs with CPA Site Solutions cost you nothing. They’re included with the price of your service.

Save money, save time – and get the same high quality.

A Lot of Work – and Expense

Tons of Decisions. Have you ever had your house renovated? You know how there are tons of decisions to make about every little thing? “What knobs would you like on these drawers?” “Large tiles or small tiles?” “Which shade of off-white?”

Designing a website is a lot like that.

More Than Having a Good Eye. You might have a strong idea about what you like – but do you know how to get what you like? Design is more than just rubber stamping. You need to be able to communicate your likes and dislikes to your designer and guide her along the way.

You’re Locked In. If you pay a web designer or buy a design from a web development company, the design is static. Once it’s done, each and every adjustment costs money. And sometimes, you can’t just tweak the design. You have to pay for a whole new one, a $2,000 cost.

Ready-To-Go Designs Are an Impressive Value

A Ready-To-Go design is just as professional as a custom-built style.

For the same level of professionalism, you get the site for free, you get it fast, and you get the benefit of our frequent updates.

1. Free. At CPA Site Solutions, your monthly fee includes the price of your design – making the design essentially free.

2. Instant. Ready-To-Go designs are named to reflect how ready they are to go! After you pick one you like, you see it up on the Web in 1 business day. Compare that to the weeks or months it takes a web designer to build you a site from the ground up.

3. Constant Improvements. Our team of designers are constantly updating our site styles. Last year alone, we created 107 new designs. That means that when your site starts to feel out of date – or you’re just ready for a change – you get an upgrade to a current look.

To switch designs, just give us a call and let us know which style you like. It costs nothing to switch designs.

Why You Don’t Need to Worry About Uniqueness

You want your design to be unique so it doesn’t look just like Jim CPA or Bob CPA’s site.

But here’s a secret: your design only needs to be unique in your region.

Don’t worry if your site looks like an accountant’s on the other side of the country or 300 miles south. Your competition is the CPAs within 50 miles of you.

If you want to know whether another accountant in your region has the same design, just ask us. We have that information in our database.

Leverage Your Skill Set

The best way to grow your business is to build on your skills. Your education and experience are in accounting – not web design.

Leave the design to the folks who’ve been doing it for years. Save your efforts for the work that brings in revenue: accounting services.

How Do You Get a Ready-To-Go Design?

When you sign up with CPA Site Solutions, you pick a Ready-To-Go design and see it in action within 1 business day. Try us for free for 60 days.

Already have a website with us? Feel free to pick a new design. It costs nothing to switch. Just give us a call at 1-800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

And don’t forget about our referral program. When you successfully refer a colleague to CPA Site Solutions, we give you $100.

Have you paid for web designs in the past? Share your story below.

The easier it is to do business with you, the more business you have.

It sounds simple – and it is, with CPA websites from CPA Site Solutions.

When you have a website with our service, you get Online Appointment Scheduling. This feature means prospective and current clients book appointments right on your website. They don’t need to pick up a phone, call you during business hours, or hammer out a time with your receptionist.

This improvement might seem minor – but clients love it.

It makes it easy to do business with you – which means more client work, and higher profits.

Booking Appointments the Easy Way

Online Appointment Scheduling allows people to view your calendar and request an appointment by filling out a simple form.

Here’s how it works:

1. Your clients see when you’re available right from your website.

Your calendar shows your busy times and times you're free.

2. They pick a time that’s most convenient for them and request an appointment online.

Clients explain why they want to meet in the "Comments" section.

3. Your calendar is updated, immediately reserving that time on your calendar.

4. You receive an email about the appointment request.

5. An appointment reminder is emailed to your client.

6. An appointment reminder is emailed and/or SMS texted to you 30 minutes before the meeting.

Giving Clients What They Want

A certain number of clients avoid the phone. If they have to call you to make a time to meet, they put it off – resulting in less work for you.

They are much more likely to set up an appointment if they can do it right on your website, without having to dial you up.

Even if they don’t mind the phone, all your clients love the convenience of booking an appointment whenever they have the time. If they’re up at 2:00 a.m., worrying about their taxes, they go right to your site to set up a meeting.

Let your clients control their appointment scheduling experience. It increases their comfort and satisfaction.

Give clients what they want, so they give you more business.

Included with Your Website

Online Appointment Scheduling is part of your Workteam Collaboration Suite. You don’t need to do anything to activate it or get it going.

Other companies provide this service as a standalone – but they charge you. Web-appointments charges $9.90/month for online booking;  Ebookaplace charges $22.33/month for its standard service and $111.69/month for its advanced service.

To get started with Online Appointment Scheduling, just let your clients know they can book appointments with you without the phone.

And don’t be surprised when you see an increase in business.

Have you been using Online Appointment Scheduling? What’s the response? Let us know with a comment.

It’s hard to run an accounting firm. You’re responsible for numerous procedures and processes that have to be done just right. Each new staff who comes onboard needs to be trained in those procedures – or the firm starts to suffer.

Accounting websites with CPA Site Solutions can help.

Training is traditionally done through one-on-ones with current staff or through printed manuals. One-on-ones take too much time – time you can’t afford during tax season.

And printed manuals use tons of paper and are cumbersome to revise.

There is a better way. It comes in the form of a wiki.

By decreasing the need for one-on-one trainings and doing away with that office dinosaur, the printed manual, a wiki dramatically increases firm efficiency.

And when you’re more efficient, you focus your efforts on your core business – and increase your bottom line.

What Is a Wiki?

A wiki is composed of pages of online content tied together for a single purpose. It includes documents, pictures, graphs, and other media.

Think of the wiki as an internal company website, or intranet. It can be elaborate, with pictures, colors, and an eye-catching layout…

…or it can be a no-frills document. Either way, it’s a fantastic resource for your staff and a better way to document and share company knowledge.

They’re Easy to Make and Use – Honest!

Here’s how to get started with a wiki:

1. Make sure you have the Workteam Collaboration Suite.

2. Take a look at the help section on creating a wiki.

3. Organize your training into chunks. This makes it easier not only when writing it, but also when new staff are using it for training.

4. Write or empower certain key staff to do updates for you, then review this on a regular basis.

And They Deliver

Your wiki improves your efficiency in a host of ways:

1. Consistent Training. Using a wiki means new staff learn procedures correctly, time and again. You don’t have to worry that different trainers will lead to different results. You save time on redoing the training – and you get the assurance that the training’s done right.

2. Always Current. As your firm adapts to the changing needs of your clients and the marketplace, so does your online training document. It’s so easy to update that it stays fresh and relevant.

3. Long-Term Solution. Create the wiki once, and then just update it. You don’t have to recreate the training every time you get a new staff person.

4. Online Access for Everyone. The wiki lives in the “cloud” – which means anyone with permission accesses it from anywhere.

5. Automatic Backups. A wiki is backed up automatically every minute or so. If you need them, earlier versions of your wiki are available, too. There’s no need to hit “save.” Just focus on writing and the rest is taken care of.

Once you have all of these training documents in place, it’s that much easier to take on new staff and get them up to speed. Even when you are thick into client work and need to hire, you have a tool to leverage new trainings – all without digging into time for client work.

Get Started Right Away

The wiki is included with your website already. You don’t need to sign up for anything else or purchase any extra software. All of what you need is already included with your website at CPA Site Solutions.

If you have any questions about creating and using a wiki, call us at 800-896-4500 or email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

Online Booking Saves Time

As a service provider, you have to protect your billable hours. Spending time on administrative tasks cuts deeply into that billable work.

Luckily, your CPA website handles one of these admin duties: booking appointments.

Let your website do the work of booking appointments. Your clients will love it: studies show that 67% of customers across all businesses prefer to book online.

That’s good news for you – because the more your clients book online, the more you focus on your core business.

More Interruptions Mean Less Productivity

You’re in the middle of a tax return when the phone rings. The call isn’t life or death; a client just wants to make an appointment. You chat with him, maybe answer a couple accounting questions – and before you know it, you’ve been on the phone for 15 minutes.

Once you hang up, it’s hard to get back on track. You check email, read a few blog posts, make another cup of coffee. Another 15 minutes float by before you get back to the grindstone.

If your hourly rate is $125, then those 30 minutes equal $62.50. Twice-a-day interruptions add up to a whopping $30,000 a year in lost revenue.

And during tax season, it’s not just about the money. For those hectic weeks, you simply can’t afford the time.

Let Your Website Do It

Your website with CPA Site Solutions includes an online booking solution called Online Appointment Scheduling. Here’s what it does for you:

1. Clients see when you’re available right from your website.

2. They pick a time that’s most convenient for them and request an appointment.

3. You receive an email about the appointment request.

4. Your calendar is updated, immediately reserving that time on your online calendar.

5. An appointment reminder is emailed to your client.

6. An appointment reminder is emailed and/or SMS texted to you 30 minutes before the meeting.

Stay focused on your core business and let the Online Appointment Scheduling do the nonbillable work.

Capture New Clients. When a potential client visits your website, make it easy for them to convert to a client. Let them book an appointment right there on your site – and see that new client in your office as soon as your schedule allows.

Increase Efficiency. By “outsourcing” the bookings to your website, you increase the efficiency of your firm. And when you increase efficiency, you free up time for the paying work – leading to higher profits.

Online Booking Boosts Your Bottom Line

Online booking is becoming increasingly common. If your clients don’t already, they will soon be requesting an online booking option.

You have the option of getting this service as a standalone – but you have to pay. Web-appointments charges $9.90/month for online booking;  Ebookaplace charges $22.33/month for its standard service and $111.69/month for its advanced service.

Online Appointment Scheduling with CPA Site Solutions is included in your service at no extra cost.

Let your website be your admin. Take advantage of Online Appointment Scheduling – and protect those billable hours.

Having a Google local listing is essential to establishing, and advertising, your CPA firm. There are easy ways to claim your Google local listings (click here for more info). After you have your listing, what’s next? Here are some easy steps to help boost your local listing.

Look at Your Top Competitors. Do a few searches with Google maps under “accounting” or “accountant” and your city and state or zip code. Try different variations and see which firms consistently have strong listings. These are your top competitors and their listings contain helpful information for your firm.

Target Locally for Best Results

Reviews Are Key. Chances are that the competition has a lot of reviews of their firm. That is because reviews are a very helpful way to show stronger within a search. You want to try and get your clients to provide online reviews for you. Before you start that process there is some relevant information to glean from your competitors’ reviews.

Relevant Information. Click on the links for these reviews and then click on “More about this place.” When you do, you get a list of websites that have linked or talked about the firm. This is information to filter through to find areas that may work for your firm.

A number of the websites listed are probably something any firm could be a part of. An example would be having a free listing on accountant-finder.com. (Note: if you have a website with CPA Site Solutions, you are automatically listed with accountant-finder.) You could also get listed with a local town business directory that has a website.

Research the Links. The next task is to research the links to see which ones are something any firm could be listed with. Make a list and then follow-up with each to get your own CPA website listed as well.

Getting listed in local directories is a great way to increase exposure for your firm. It also gives your CPA website slightly more strength with search engines.

Don’t miss out on tips for marketing your accounting website! Subscribe by filling out the newsletter form on the right for weekly updates direct to your in-box. Your email is only used for updates and not sold or traded elsewhere.

The logo for your firm is what shows in the header of every page of your CPA website. Having such a prominent space, you want something eye-catching – but you probably don’t want to have to spend a lot of money. An added bonus would be being able to use that same logo on your business cards and letterhead.

You are in luck because all of the free CPA website logos are not only purposed for the website, but also with business cards, letterhead, and more. There are now 100 logos to choose from.

Logos for Accounting Firms

Quick and Easy Solution. Once you have a website hosted by CPA Site Solutions, you also have access to quick and easy logo solutions. Look through the logo designs, pick one, and then email support@cpasitesolutions.com or call 800-896-4500 for placement on your CPA website.

Save Money. Hiring a designer to create a custom logo is expensive and time-consuming. Instead, have a logo integrated into your CPA website for free. You get eye-catching graphics without having to spend the money.

More Logos. Just as with our CPA website designs, we constantly design new logos. If you don’t like any current choices, check back in a month to see our new designs.

Feedback. Do you ever see a logo and wish it were available with CPA Site Solutions? Feel free to email us links to inspiring designs and logos (support@cpasitesolutions.com). These won’t be duplicated, because of copyright concerns, but they do serve as inspiration for future choices.

A logos is an important display on your CPA website and shows on every page. Now there are even more choices to make that impact easy and eye-catching – without the expense.

Have a comment about the 100 logos available? Respond in the form below.

Having a blog on your CPA website helps bring in potential clients by providing relevant tax updates and other news. Although you may get readers who are searching for these answers, it is also essential to promote your blog posts via social platforms. The most popular social platforms are Facebook and Twitter and now you have the ability to post directly to them from your blog.

Update Social Networks Directly from Your Blog

How It Works. Check out our tutorial on how to use the auto-posting feature. There are buttons for Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin. You do need to grant access and be logged into each network before posting an update.

Status Suggestions. The status update for your blog post is a way to grab readers’ interest so they want to read more. Instead of, “here is a blog post with some helpful tax information,” give specific details, such as, “5 Tips on Keeping Receipt Information for Your Taxes.”

Additional Resources. Consider tips from the following blog posts:

3 Ways to Manage Blogs on CPA Websites

Solid Content Gives you the Write Stuff

Social Media Management via Twitter

Help Section on Using Your Blog

More Blog Exposure. Get more exposure for your accounting website by doing a guest blog post on another blog. When you write compelling content for another blog, you get interest in your CPA firm from a wider audience.

If you are interested in writing for the CPA Site Solutions blog, email support@cpasitesolutions.com.

When you write a compelling blog post, the more you promote it via social networks, the more potential readers you get. Those readers may share that content with other people they know and your CPA firm gets more exposure. Now that there is an auto update feature on your CPA website, using those social networks is that much easier.

Don’t forget to subscribe to our weekly blog updates. Just fill out the newsletter subscription on the right side of this page. Don’t worry – your email is only used for the blog update and nothing else.

When you start looking into marketing your CPA website, there are certain terms you hear over and over again. One of the first that many Internet marketers talk about is keywords. Even if you have heard the term before, there may be some questions about what these do.

Here is a quick overview of  keywords.

Basic Definition. At the most basic level, keywords are the words a user types into the search engine to start a search. If a potential client wants to find your firm, they might type “accountant” in the search field. The more likely keywords would include your location, too. Of course there are as many variations as there are services that you offer.

Use Keywords to Make Your Firm Stand Out

Keyword Importance. Think of keywords as the gateway to potential clients. You need to understand what people are searching for to find your services. When you do you understand more about what gets them to your CPA website.

Basic Keywords. The first basic keywords are specific to your location and services that you offer. Start by making a list of all the services you offer. Now combine each with your location and you have a base level of keywords for your CPA website.

Then expand this list by making the terms more specific to what a potential client might need. An example might be a string of keywords like, “San Francisco small business accounting.” Use a spreadsheet to stay organized with the terms you generate.

Using Keywords. At the very least, use your keywords a couple of times on certain prime pages. An example is your home page. The home page should have the keywords of your primary service and your location somewhere in the text.

Once you have modified the home page, move onto your firm profile page and include some keywords there. Then go to your individual service pages and make sure your location is included within the pages text.

There is a lot more to using keywords – but including them in your website pages’ text is a great first step.

Look for more ways to use keywords in future posts.

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Once you have a CPA website you want people to be able to find and view it. Using Internet marketers is usually an expensive process. You do have the power to effectively market your accounting website without the expense. One sure bet is getting listed within Google via the local listing. Here is a quick way to get that done.

Don’t have time but still want the marketing advantage of being listed? Consider using our Search Engine Optimization for accountants. You pay once and get listed with Google Local along with many other local directories and the other major search engines, you get set up with Google Analytics, and more.

Getting Listed. First, log into your GMail account. Don’t have one? Go to gmail.google.com and easily set up a free account.

Once logged in, go to maps.google.com and type in your city, state, and the word accountant. Look through the list for your firm as you may already be listed. If you are already listed skip the sign-up process and “Edit” your listing.

Make Sure You Have a Place for Your Firm to Dock

Search a couple of ways to be sure; a double listing can be a real headache. Try finding yourself by your business name and your domain name. If you can’t find your firm you need to start a new listing by signing up here.

Editing the Listing. In the first part of the listing process Google prompts you for a lot of business details. Be sure to fill it out completely.

There’s a few niceties to keep in mind when editing up your Google listing.

• Use common business names, not official ones that no one would recognize.
• Integrate keywords and/or phrases that people would be searching for like “CPA,””Accounting,” or “Tax Preparation.”
• Include a physical location, not a mailing address.
• Include an Email address, but don’t use a personal one so as to avoid spam.
• Include a short description.
• Enter your business hours, and upload a picture of your building, your staff, and/or yourself.

It does take time, but be patient. It all pays off.

Claiming Your Business. You claim your business by going through an authorization/verification process with Google. There are a couple of different methods.

1. Google calls you at the currently listed business number.
2. Google mails you at the postal address on the current listing.

Importance of Verification. Google creates no listing if it cannot verify through one of the above methods. If you don’t have dependable live reception on your phone line you’ll have to verify by snail mail.

Once this is done Google verifies your changes and sends you a user PIN by mail. Use this pin by logging into your Gmail account and then going to your Business Dashboard and entering the pin.

Time Well Spent. Google local is one of the best ways to advertise your firm. It is a process – but, once completed, it establishes and markets your firm effectively.

Don’t miss out on future tips to market your firm! Subscribe to weekly updates direct to your email without any spam (see newsletter sign-up on right).