When you are being offered templates for CPA websites, it's easy to feel confused. A lot of consultants will point you to what they guess will grab your fancy instead of what your practice really needs. There are several reasons they'll give, as you'll learn.
First of all, it's cheaper to produce one-size-fits-all websites. Long-range thinking calls for sufficient special tools and features that add up to developer charges.
Maybe even as dangerous, though, are visions of instant conversions that hold tons of appeal for CPAs new to website development. But as any good online marketer recognizes, conversions only make up the first piece of the story. It's unlikely that a large percentage of the new traffic to your web site will be trying to find an accountancy. Nine times out of ten people visit seeking information. It won't really matter how flashy your website is or how dazzlingly written your copy is. If you don't give a visitor the information they want, the overwhelming majority of your visitors are going to click on by without offering your website, your offerings, or you anything more than a glimpse.
There are a lot of reasons not to push too hard for a first visit sale. People seeking out your webpage for an accountant are already likely to buy. Coming across as pushy can turn them off.
Unfortunately the reality is that not many of your visitors are going to be immediate buyers. Some will already have an accountant relationship. Some can do their own accounting right now. They may not have client potential right now, but what about the future?
Most client/CPA relationships last about six years. That means statistically speaking just about everyone visiting your site is a long term prospect. After all, accountants retire. Maybe the accountant will get married and move, or take a job with a large firm. You can't know what will happen down the road.
Someone without much money now may need your help next year. Income changes. People get married. They start businesses and buy property. At that first moment of dread when the 1040 long form becomes a necessity, you'll be a known entity they can turn to.
The real key to using a website to grow your firm is providing not only the information the visitor wants, but also offering such an overwhelming quantity of high quality content that the visitor will come back again and again. What we're offering them isn't just a service page and a contact sheet. You're offering them a library of financial information. Each visit exposes your brand to them again and again. A sustainable approach to marketing says don't just go for the quick sale. Create a relationship that makes you the natural go-to when the person needs your services.
At some point, who doesn't need an accountant? If the person has already been counting on you for months or years, you are likely to get their business without even "selling" them on it. The prospect will call you pretty much ready to buy.
So how can you identify CPA website templates with a long term marketing strategy? It's fairly simple really. What content is being offered?
Valuable soft-sell tools like financial guides and free reports will keep visitors returning to your site again and again. They also offer a great side benefit in that they can help you cross-sell your off season services to your existing clients. Expert materials strategically showcase your skills and ability to save your clients money. You want your visitors to have easy access to them. Divide them up into categories (Business Owners, Home Owners, Self Employed, etc) and make them searchable to make it easy for visitors to find information of interest to them.
Encourage return visitors with other great features. How about interactive financial calculators? Tax due date pages? Downloadable tax forms and publications? Make sure to offer a newsletter.
If some outdated "expert" advises you to snare email addresses before letting people to utilize your tools, don't fall for it. They'll recommend you use information to collect email addresses for later marketing. If you try requiring email addresses you'll turn away your top prospects. What access they can't get on your site, they know they can find via your competitors.
So, in seeking out templates for superior CPA websites, have strategic marketing in your sights. On top of standard features such as service descriptions, a map to your office and contact invitations, your web site should tie in the long term principles listed above. You'll be able to verify that as time passes, your sustainability strategy will bear fruit, not just in more client conversions, but in better accounts and robust customer ties.
Author Resource:-
Kenny is a business consultant and former Vice President of CPA Site Solutions. His specialty is marketing small firms by taking advantage of serious CPA websites. While using social media and SEO forms the basis of his practice he also stresses the importance of good, old fashioned network marketing and excellent customer service in helping accountants grow their client bases.
http://www.websites4accountants.com/
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.freebie-articles.com/images/rss.gif "XML Feed For RSS")
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites