A strategic view to building CPA websites can ensure a more compelling site. A quick-n-dirty perspective can produce flashiness but lacks the opportunity to use your website to its full potential.
Initially when you look around at templates for CPA websites, it’s not unusual to become overwhelmed. Lots of consultants will point out what they know will catch your attention but not the website your practice truly needs. They have several reasons for this.
Firstly, flashy/trashy websites are less costly to build. A site that fits a long-term strategy necessitates the sort of add-ons and features that will keep the interest of your customers. This requires investment.
Possibly more compelling, however, are pipe-dreams of quick conversions that exude lots of allure for customers new to online advertising. Unfortunately as anybody with experience in internet marketing understands, this is a hollow hope. Very few of your casual visitors will actually be in current need of an accountancy. Almost all of the folks clicking on your web site are searching for information. If folks cannot see those resources on your site, they will leave – regardless how flashy your site or dazzlingly written your copy appears.
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.
Meanwhile, the majority of your visitors will not be immediate sales prospects. Maybe our visitor already has an accountant he or she likes. Some can do their own accounting right now. They may not have client potential right now, but what about the future?
According to market research the average life expectancy of a client/accountant relationship is 6 years. If you take a six-year view of client development, almost 100% of your website traffic could be future clients. After all, accountants retire. They get married and move, change their practices or go to work for companies. Any number of things could happen.
Someone without much money now may need your help next year. Income changes. People get married. They start businesses and buy property. I’ll never forget the panic I felt the first time I laid eyes on a 1040 long form and knew I needed to fill it out. Suddenly hiring an accountant became very compelling!
In addition to quality of information, think quantity. You want to have so much great content that the visitor finds many reasons to return. Envision the difference. Your competitors are offering just a service description and a contact sheet. What you offer is a caring compilation of valuable resources. Every time clients visit, they connect with your brand. 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. Look for content.
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. Use these articles to showcase ways you can help your clients save money, and position you as the expert that can help you do it. Make sure visitors can access them easily. 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.
Aggressive website marketing gurus may tell you to hold this content hostage until you get an email address. DON’T HEED THAT ADVICE! Your visitors seldom enjoy strings. You’ll only start turning off the same prospective clients you hope to keep becoming loyal to your web site. What they can’t get on your site, they know they can get from via your competitors.
So, in considering templates for professional CPA websites, keep strategic marketing in mind. On top of standard basics comprised of services pages, a map to your office and contact forms, your web site ought to include the long term methodology described in this article. You’ll see that over time, your sustainability strategy will give greater return on investment,produce greater return on investment, not only in additional client conversions, but in more desirable accounts and vibrant client ties.