Accountant Websites – 7 Often Seen Design Disasters
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The primary purpose of an accounting website is to generate new business. These strategies will help you be certain your accounting practice’s website is built to attract actual conversions.
A lot of peeps find they need a good accounting firm each day. How ready will you be the next occasion someone Google’s your services? Let us admit it, the phone books and magazine promotions are just accumulating dust on the shelf. Word of mouth can be great and it’s always reaffirming to receive a referral from a loyal customer. However, no business should depend on it to generate a consistent flow of new business. Instead, you will want to focus on the web. High quality accountant websites need simple navigation and frequent updates. People often come to the Internet with a question they want answered or a problem that they need solved. The most effective websites offer a solution to the web viewer’s problem. Now that you know the importance of a website, you may want to consider updating it. If it’s time for a redesign, keep these common mistakes in mind and learn from them so that your website stands out!
Even though many of these mistakes may seem obvious to you, they are often overlooked. Redesigning a website is a big task and sometimes the most essential details get lost when looking at the details. It is helpful to keep these pitfalls in mind as a sort of running checklist throughout the entire website upgrade. An essential take away from all of the tips is to ask yourself if this element is essential to giving your readers the information that they need.
CLUTTER
Accounting is foreign enough to some people without looking at a website that is full of numbers, spreadsheets and charts. Most people are looking to find out the services a business offers. And more specifically, they want to know how those services can be applied to their needs. Sell your services, don’t write a manual about them.
OBSCURE TERMINOLOGY
Avoid any accounting jargon that the average person may not understand. In other words, avoid “accountant speak!”
BE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR READERS
Feature your contact information prominently on the website so that people can easily contact you. It may seem obvious, but it can be easy to overlook when you are redesigning a website. Many people use the Internet in place of a phone book, so this is a key element to have on accountant websites.
HIRE A PROFESSIONAL WEB DESIGNER
Realistically evaluate your web design knowledge and skills. If you aren’t a skilled web designer be honest with yourself. It will be well worth the money spent on a professional to do this work for you. Refer to http://blog.hubspot.com/blog for some helpful resources.
EMBRACE SEO
SEO or search engine optimization is a critical component of a website. Incorporate it into your website in a skilled way so that your website will get noticed. SEO will help people find your website by giving your great page the ranking it deserves in the search engines. Think about it, what good is your site if people can’t find it? You can visit http://blog.hubspot.com/blog for some great SEO tips. These tips will help you improve your understanding of SEO.
EVERYTHING MUST WORK
User experience on a website is important since it is the virtual presence of your company. Broken links or pop-ups that don’t function can frustrate customers and detract from your professionalism. Visit http://blog.hubspot.com/blog for some tips on making your website operate effectively.
SELL YOUR SERVICES
A website is just another way to sell your services as an accountant. Don’t get caught up in providing a lot of unneeded information. Sell yourself as an accountant. After all, that’s why people are visiting your page in the first place. Your website should be an online extension to your office. It is a 24-7 online presence for people to find you and learn about your services. Summarize your services, provide contact information and show people a few testimonials.
Some people may deal with accountants all the time. For others, working with an accountant can be overwhelming and even intimidating if they don’t know what to expect. To make matters worse, many people are in a vulnerable financial position when they search out an accountant. In these instances they are looking for understanding and guidance. Take that opportunity to show people that you understand their problems and can solve them. Your website will make a first impression. So it is important that it represents you in every way. The entire look of your website should portray you just like you are in real life. As an accounting firm you should have a quality website with a reassuring feeling. Your website should reassure peeps that you can solve their issues. When the occasion arrives for a discussion either on the phone or face-to-face, you will have already introduced yourself by way of your site and effortlessly win a new client.
Tags: online marketing, internet marketing, web design