5 Essentials Every CPA Website Should Have Create the best possible CPA website

Visions of numbers dance through CPA's heads -- it's all part of the job, right? While accounting equations play a major role in a CPA's workday, so too should the number of new clients you're attracting.

The greatest challenge faced by most CPAs is gaining and retaining new clients. Ideally, your number of new customers will be ever-growing, and having a strong online presence is critical to success. An online business platform gives CPAs a chance to build awareness of their business, engage with current clients, and attract new clients to their doorstep.

For their online business platform to work, a CPA website must have these five essential features.

1) Mobile-Optimized, Professional Showcase

Your website will likely offer new clients their first impression of your business. Having a professionally designed page with well-written, SEO-friendly text and attention-grabbing photos is a must. Because an increasing number of people access the web through mobile devices, it's also important to have a mobile-optimized site that is also optimized across multiple browsers, like Chrome and Firefox.

2) Contact Management

Facing the challenges of attracting and keeping clients is simpler when your web platform has smart, reliable content management features. You should have to ability to easily collect and store contact information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, and more. With this information at hand, you can reach out to your customers any time you'd like.

3) Customer Relationship Management and Advertising Optimization

CRM tools have become a necessity for every type of business owner. CRM lets you develop valuable relationships with your clients and use that relationship to generate leads and sales. You can track your customer interactions, monitor growth, and target which services are in the highest demand. With this knowledge you can target clients with email campaigns and special offers.

You website should also include analytics tools that measure the effectiveness of advertising efforts so you can track their success or weaknesses, and gather information to make changes if necessary.

4) Scheduling With Automatic Reminders

Much of your interactions with clients comes during appointments -- either in the office or over the phone. Your website should include an appointment scheduler that sends automatic reminders to clients, helping you avoid missed appointments and ultimately saving you lost time and money.

5) Financial Software Integration and Payment Management

As a CPA it's essential your website seamlessly integrates financial software like QuickBooks and Quicken. Additionally, you'll need to manage payments, and the website should incorporate a variety of payment methods, including PayPal, and give you the ability to offer special discounts or payment plans.

These five must-have features will give CPAs a robust online business platform that delivers excellent ROI. Platform building tools such as Ocoos Websites for CPAs are geared specifically to CPAs, and offer an easier, less expensive solution than using DIY website builders or hiring a developer.