5 Easy Ways to
Increase Revenue with Your Accounting Firm’s Website
By
Mark Elmo Ellis
The bottom line. Everyone in the accounting industry talks to
their clients about increasing it, yet few firms take simple steps boost their
own. It’s easy to spot this malady,
just take a look at the average accounting organization’s website. Tedious “Welcome” sections that nobody reads,
the usual bookkeeping assurances that every site has, and the biggest sin of
all: few, if any, benefits of doing
business with the firm.
No wonder accountants get
portrayed as formal bookworms in movies; their websites are so boring! Not only
that, but there’s hardly any sales or marketing messages on the page at
all. When you do this, you are literally
walking away from a chance to work with clients that could generate revenue
long-term. So, what I’d like to do, is
take a few moments and show you how you can drop the monotony, attract more
clients, and increase your bottom line.
I promise, this won’t be dull.
The
first thing you need to keep in mind, is that the Internet is a merciless, cold
hearted marketing venue. One second of
boredom, and “click”, you’re gone. Your
home page must generate interest and curiosity from the get – go. The best way to do that is to have a headline
at the top of your page that does two things: generate interest, while showing your prospects
the most important benefits you can provide them. Remember this simple rule: Interest + Benefits
= Headline.
Here’s an example:
“Find
Out How Our Firm Uses Little Known Techniques That’ll Save You Big Money ―
Giving You More Cash To Increase Your Investment Portfolio!”
While I
realize this headline does not demonstrate the mission of every accounting
practice in the industry, it gives you an idea of how you can create interest
in what you have to offer. It has the two elements I mentioned above, Interest,
(through curiosity, in this case) and a major benefit. This one element is extremely important, so
much so, that a good advertising copywriter will spend 80% of his time crafting
it. It must make the reader want to move
further down the page to your marketing message, otherwise “click”.
After
you have generated enough interest in your site, the next thing to do is get
the reader to move their eyes further down the site. This can be accomplished by using two proven features:
formatting and subheadings. When a
person reads a webpage, they usually scan down the page, looking for
information that is easy to find and read quickly. A subheading is a mini-headline that is short
and drives home benefits in short, punchy statements. If you use subheadings that are slightly
bigger and bolder letters this is a natural target for their eyes. Subheadings are usually placed before blocks
of text that explain something, like this:
Clerical Errors – The Easiest way
To Lose Money!
“Working with clients, we pay very close attention to
business tax planning and preparation. If
not handled properly, valuable tax deductions can be lost by simple clerical
errors. Using successful and proven tax
strategies, we can make sure you get money saving reductions on your taxes so
that you can put that cash to work in your business or portfolio.”
The third advertising copy component that you can easily
implement is the use of bullet statements.
Not just any bullet statements, but bullet statements with
benefits. What I mean by this is you
create a bullet statement with a feature or a benefit like so:
Our firm will give you monthly financial counseling
Next, you add a more in depth benefit or group of benefits
to the bullet:
– We’ll guide you
through expenditure planning, help you set goals, and warn you of any financial
hazards along the way
The whole statement reads, and look like this:
• Our firm
will give you monthly financial counseling — we’ll guide you through
expenditure planning, help you set goals, and warn you of any financial hazards
along the way!
- Imagine what the impact a series of bullet statements like this will have on your prospect. Of course you will need to brainstorm as many benefits your company has in order to write these, but the chore is well worth it.
Another way to grab attention and gain the trust of a client
or prospect is to let them become familiar with your and your staff. A good professional picture of yourself and
members of your team will allow potential patrons to take a good look at whom
they are dealing with. A way to make
this even more effective is to tell a story about yourself or company.
 |
| Here's some corrections I made on an accounting Web site recently. Click on image to see larger view. |
The big mistake most accounting businesses make on their
sales pages is they will have a paragraph or
two with information that’ll put
people to sleep. As the National
Enquirer will tell you, “Enquiring Minds Want to Know!” People love exciting and intriguing stories
about other people. If you can come up
with a unique story about yourself or business, you will be remembered and
differentiated in the market place. So,
a great picture of you or your staff, accompanied by a unique story is
important to your home or sales page.
Finally, your home page should have a call to action on
it. Just like any other business, you
have to ask for the sale. If your
company has a newsletter that goes out regularly, you can ask for the prospect’s
contact information in exchange for a free issue. You can also offer free promotional items if
potential clients make an appointment with you.
At any rate, asking for the prospect to contact you for more information
should be a tantalizing offer, especially if you have used all of these
advertising copy elements and implemented them into your site.
If you want to get compelling copy to work for you while increasing your bottom line, I'm your man!
My contact information is listed below:
If you want to get compelling copy to work for you while increasing your bottom line, I'm your man!
My contact information is listed below:
Mark Elmo Ellis
Phone Number : (859) 797-9560
Email: elmo033057@gmail.com
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