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No Website? Really? Automation, Low Costs & Simplicity Mean No Excuse for No Website

Column: Tricks & Tips

From the June 2010 Issue

[If you’ve already read the part of this column that appeared in our June print
issue, you can click here to jump to the bonus online content.]

It is the nature of my work that I spend virtually all of the business day
online, and usually a few more hours when I’m not at work. So it’s
probably not surprising that while researching the latest accounting and business
technologies, taking note of tax law changes, and collaborating with tax and
accounting professionals, I see a lot of websites for accounting and tax practices.

One of the most amazing things, however, is that according to our 2010 Readers’
Survey, about 50 percent of small practices claim not to have a website at all.
There are different reasons, of course, but quite often these smaller practitioners
just don’t see the direct ROI or benefit from a website, especially if
they are the person who has to maintain it. If you’re in the 50 percent
group who currently does not have a website, I’m probably not going to
get you to convert. But you should at least keep this in mind: When you’re
in your office or at home and you want to look up the telephone number for a
business, do you go first to a phonebook or first to your computer? If your
answer is the computer, you should have just convinced yourself of the need
for at least a basic website.

You probably won’t find strict definitions of basic and advanced websites,
but I categorize them based on the amount of content/pages on the site as well
as how often it is updated and whether it offers tools and resources that might
cause a website visitor to return.

At the most basic level, a website should offer a little about the professional
practice, such as services offered, a short bio on key staff and contact information.
This is pretty basic stuff and can be done at a cost of less than $100 per year.
Many vendors of professional tax and accounting products offer “website
builder” tools either free or inexpensively to their customers, and there
are also several accountant-focused and general business website development
systems out there that are inexpensive and easy to use. Some are all-inclusive
of the name and the hosting, which are the two key components of getting a website
online.

A Domain Name:
www.youraccountingfirm.com is an example of a primary domain address.
This is bought/registered on an annual basis through domain “registrars”
like Network Solutions, GoDaddy, WestHost and others, and can be prepaid for
multiple years, with prices starting around $20 if paying for only one year
at a time. As an alternative, some website building systems will give you
a web address that adds onto another address, such as www.techvendor.com/youraccountingfirm.
These are not nearly as memorable, professional or effective for marketing
your firm, but they are better than nothing. These domains are usually free
and are worth what you pay for them.

Web Hosting:
Where the domain name is similar to creating an entity, it doesn’t really
do anything other than buy a name. The next step is to get hosting, which
is essentially renting space on an Internet server. You’ll find a lot
of web hosts out there, too, including most registration companies. You can
buy from one and host on another, but for most small businesses it may be
easier to keep them together. Web hosting costs also vary on how far in advance
you want to prepay, as well as the expected traffic volume to the website.
For most accounting practices, a general small business hosting package will
cost around $10 to $40 per month, but can sometimes be found a little lower
with prepayment of a year or two. Hosting packages also usually include several
email addresses for your domain name, such as yourname@your accountingfirm.com,
info@youraccountingfirm.com or other options.

For those professionals who don’t want to bother with either of these
aspects, the combined domain/hosting template-based packages make the processes
pretty simple. And once you’ve gotten these two items in place or are
using an all-in-one system, you are ready to actually put your website content
online.
Everything I’ve discussed prior to this point has been related to just
getting a website up and running, at least at the basic level. But when it comes
to the effectiveness of a website, content is king.

I see a lot of great professional websites and some not-so-good ones (and
even a few that fall below that level). What really sets professional websites
apart from others is having more than just the basics, but also having more
detailed information about specific firm specialties and industries that you
serve. Take a look at this website for an example of great content and branding:
www.daviscpasolutions.com.

Also useful are links to news about your practice or your firm’s point
of view on how particular new legislation might affect small businesses. For
many practices, a blog is great tool for this, as it allows you or another professional
in your firm to jot down a few notes on what you think of a new tax law or how
it might affect your clients. Then, you can provide a link to the online source
where you learned about it and also recommend that they contact you if they
have questions about how it might affect them. Through a blog and/or a firm
newsletter, professionals can reinforce their client relationships by positioning
themselves as experts and also urging action on the part of the client, potentially
resulting in new client services. Authoring articles is another way to position
members of your firm as experts, and you can read more about this process at
www.CPATechAdvisor.com/go/2746.

The most valuable content, however, is often information that probably isn’t
all that practical for accountants to produce themselves, because it requires
expertise and time. Such tools include periodic guides for financial and business
planning, tax strategies, tax guides, and detailed overviews on tax laws written
for individuals and small businesses. Fortunately, firms can add these sections
to their websites in a syndicated fashion, by subscribing to content packages
from companies like BizActions.com, which produce such materials specifically
for the websites of professional accounting firms. In addition to these resources,
the content providers also offer additional business content, e-mail-based marketing
tools, automated newsletters and financial calculators that let your website’s
visitors quickly estimate taxes, paycheck changes, college savings, retirement,
estate planning, amortizations and other data. And by performing these tasks
on your firm’s website, when they decide to take action, they are much
more likely to seek your professional guidance.

With a subscription to a content provider, your website can be automatically
updated with new information relating to questions your clients might have.
This might include the latest “cash for appliances” program, which
people think of as similar to “cash for clunkers,” but is really
quite different in every state. Do you really want to spend a couple of hours
to find out that a client might save $100 on a new refrigerator? Probably not.
But with information about this energy efficiency rebate program and many other
individual and business tax credits and benefits programs automatically updated
on your site, your firm can provide valuable information to current and potential
clients with no effort.

The frequently updated content also has the benefit of helping your website
move up higher on search engine results. And fresh blog content can raise results
even higher and produce more pages from your website in the search results.

Websites don’t have to be overly complex or take too much of your time,
but they are a necessary component of any professional practice. Even at the
basic level, a website can help clients find you and your services, while advanced
features and content can keep them coming back and reinforce relationships.
If you’ve tried to maintain a firm website in the past but found it either
too cumbersome or you didn’t think the end result was professional enough,
the good news is that professional sites are easier than ever and about as inexpensive
as ever to buy and build. And the do-it-yourself development tools are as easy
to use as Word. So no more excuses. Get your website up and running.

You can also read about several website builders at www.CPATechAdvisor.com/go/2639.
You may also want to check out a recent webcast, “Build Your Website Today
… Increase Presence, Productivity and Profits,” at www.CPATechAdvisor.com/CCHeducation.

(Bonus Online Content Starts Here!)

As I was saying, content is king. And if you read the first half of this column
in our print edition, then I kind of proved it by drawing you to our website
to read the rest. You came because you were interested in the subject: making
your website’s content easier for you, fresher and more useful to your
clients and other visitors.

I see a lot of great professional websites and some not so good ones- and then
a few that go below that description. But what really sets professional websites
apart from others is having more than just the basics, but also having more
detailed information about specific firm specialties and industries that you
serve. Also useful are links to news about your practice or your firm’s
point of view on how particular new legislation might affect small businesses.

For many practices, a blog is great for this last aspect, allowing you or
another professional to just jot a few notes on what you think of a new tax
law or how it might affect your clients. Then provide a link to the online source
where you learned about it and also recommend that they contact you if they
have questions about how it might affect them. Through a blog and/or a firm
newsletter such as this, professionals can reinforce their client relationships
by positioning themselves as experts and also urging action on the part of the
client, potentially resulting in new client services.

The most valuable content, however, is often information that just isn’t
all that practical for accountants to produce themselves, because of expertise
and the time involved. These include periodic guides for financial and business
planning, tax strategies, tax guides and detailed overviews on tax laws written
for individuals and small businesses. Fortunately, firms can add these sections
to their websites in kind of a syndicated fashion, by subscribing to content
packages from companies like BizActions.com that produce these materials specifically
for the websites of professional accounting firms. In addition to these resources,
the content providers also offer additional business content, e-mail-based marketing
tools, automated newsletters and financial calculators that let your website’s
visitors quickly estimate taxes, paycheck changes, college savings, retirement,
estate planning, amortizations and other data. And by performing these tasks
on your firm’s website, when they decide to take action, they are much
more likely to seek your professional guidance.

With a subscription to a content provider, your website can be automatically
updated with new information relating to questions your clients might have.
Such as the latest “cash for appliances” program, which people think
of as similar to “cash for clunkers,” but is really quite different
in every state. Do you really want to spend a couple of hours to find out that
a client might save $100 on a new refrigerator? Probably not. But with information
about this energy efficiency rebate program and many other individual and business
tax credits and benefits programs automatically updated on your website, your
firm can provide valuable information to your clients and website visitors,
with no effort.

The frequently-updated content also has the benefit of helping your website
move up higher on search engine results. And fresh blog content can raise results
even higher and produce more pages from your website in the search results.

At the end of each year, we take a look at the various website building tools
for accounting practices that are on the market, such as those mentioned at
the start of this article. (Click here for the 2009 look at website building
tools. www.cpatechadvisor.comgo/2639)

Websites don’t have to be overly complex or take too much of your time,
but they are a necessary component of any professional practice. Even at the
basic level, a website can help clients find you and your services, while advanced
features and content can keep them coming back and will help reinforce client
relationships.

If you’ve tried to maintain a firm website in the past but found it either
too cumbersome or you didn’t think the end result was professional enough,
the good news is that professional sites are easier than ever and about as inexpensive
as ever to buy and build. And the do-it-yourself development tools are as easy
to use as Word.

So, no more excuses. Get your website up and running.