Creating a Website About Your Accounting Firm 

Creating the ideal website for an accounting firm can be more complex than expected. From the writing to the design of the site, one can easily be overwhelmed on where to get started. Even those who have attempted to create accounting sites can be overwhelmed by the number of variables involved. To simplify the process, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to create an informative, impactful, and professional accounting firm website using CPA website templates.

How to create an accounting website – A step-by-step guide

There are really two approaches on how to create an accounting website. The first approach is to hire programmers to build the accounting site from scratch. This can be both time-consuming and expensive. The second option is to use CPA website templates that have already been tested and proven to work. For example, TaxDome’s website builder allows anyone with little to no technician experience to build a professional accounting site from scratch.

An example of the website created with the TaxDome website builder.

Establish goals

Before you create an accounting firm website, you should design it with specific goals in mind. What impression would you like the accounting firm to make to the potential client? Are you looking to establish your firm as a specialist in a particular area? Are you targeting specific clients such as small business owners or entrepreneurs? Also, are you looking to target a specific visitor engagement? Perhaps you are looking to harvest contact information or have visitors download a whitepaper. Be sure to list out the primary goals of the website before getting started.

Define the audience

It’s a good idea to know what type of audience that your account site is targeting. If you are targeting entrepreneurs, for instance, then you will want to create an accounting firm website that is more simple in design and education-focused content. If you are targeting CFOs, then you will want to give your website a more corporate design with a focus on your firm’s complex accounting capabilities and expertise in regulatory manners. One great tactic is to create an individual profile of your target audience. Imagine who he or she is, their age, educational background, work experience, and what they are looking for in an accounting firm.

Select a domain name and a hosting provider

One of the most important but overlooked decisions is to settle on the right domain name and hosting provider. At TaxDome, we offer a free domain and free hosting that makes the entire hosting process easy and cost-effective.

When it comes to choosing the domain name, you need to decide if you simply want to use your accounting firm’s name as the domain or if you would like to create a name that makes a connection to your firm’s services. For instance, if you specialize in tax accounting for medical professionals, you may consider registering the domain MedicalCPAFirm.com or DentalCPAfirm.com.

Your firm & clients will always see your personalized branding – not a generic portal site.

When it comes to hosting, you can choose one of the dozens of hosting companies or use an in-house solution if you have a dedicated IT team. However, TaxDome’s free hosting services that are available to all TaxDome clients.

Creating the website vs. using a website builder

You will need to decide if you want the accounting firm website created from the ground up or if you would like to use a website builder. There are a number of website builders that require no backend experience. Some of the top options available include Appy Pie Website, WordPress, WIX, Drupal, and SquareSpace. There are advantages to both approaches. However, the main thing you have to consider is control. If you hire someone to build your website from scratch, you will ultimately give control of your site to the website builder. If you use a CPA website builder service, you will have more control over your site.

Work on the design of the site

The design and feel of the website will depend on whether you are hiring someone to build your site or whether you are using a website builder. No matter which approach you take, the main priority should be on the user experience and easy site functionality. The best CPA website design should make it easy for the website visitor to find what they need.

Integrate analytics

It is important to know everything about the visitors who come to your CPA website. That’s why it is important to integrate an analytics tool from the very start. You can install a Google Analytics tracking code for free. With this tracking code, you will get a wealth of data on each visitor including their location, page visited, and time on the site.

Develop a promotional plan

Now that your accounting firm website is complete, it is time to promote it. This is a critical part of the website building process that is often overlooked. However, promoting a website is important in order to drive traffic to the site. One way to promote a CPA website is to update the signature line for all firm employees promoting the new site. If marketing funds are limited, making use of social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter will be important. If you have more funds available, then consider running ads on social media platforms via promoted posts.

Don’t forget SEO

SEO or search engine optimization is important to make your site easily discoverable to the right audience on searches such as Google and Bing. Most design agencies are familiar with SEO and will be able to use best practices to ensure that your site’s pages and posts are optimized. If you are using an accounting firm website builder, then you will be able to download free plug-ins such as SEO Yoast that can assist you.

Creating the right website for your accounting firm

The key to creating an impactful CPA website is knowing all the important steps needed to target the right audience and create the ideal user experience. If you want to simplify the process, the popular free CPA website builder available to TaxDome clients will be your best choice. You can learn more by visiting the TaxDome custom website page.