Building an accounting website that works for you

Among my various projects as an accounting marketing specialist, managing a website re-design can be fun, challenging, and sometimes frustrating. Many accountants and accounting marketers don’t go through the website design process very often, so anything learned from a previous go-around is often forgotten or irrelevant.

We help CPAs build sites that produce value to their organization. If you know what your site should do, what you should expect from it, and where the true value lies in the design and implementation process, your chances of building a superior site are high.

Let’s start with what you want. What should an effective accounting website design do?

1. Promote the image of your firm
2. Serve as the 21st century Yellow Pages
   Most people go to the web to find the information they need
3. Introduce your people and your services
4. Sell your services 24/7
5. Generate qualified leads
   Your site should attract the clients that you want and that you can best serve
6. Attract talented job candidates
   How you come across to young professionals will have a strong influence on the quality of your applications.
7. Provide relevant and current information to your market
   As an advisor, your clients want to know you are on top of everything, from opportunities to compliance.
8. Build your brand
   Your site is the face of your firm. Its message had better be in line with your marketing.
9. Establish and enhance the professional profiles of your people.
   Your accounting website can be a powerful tool for building up your people as subject matter experts in your community.
10. Leverage information
    Generate content relevant to your clients and prospects.
11. Maximize your voice across multiple mediums and channels

Yes, that’s 11 components to track for your accounting website! If that seems like a lot, don’t panic. Take the first one and go from there. You’ll find that once you start, you’ll find that one topic leads naturally into the next. You and whoever you partner with to create your site will be glad you did the work ahead of time.