New Website

New Website

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Hi Everyone,

I am considering improving my website and engaging with a professional web designer.

Please could you advise the amount of new business in % terms that you derive from your websites.

Thank you.

Dawn

Replies (19)

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By pedre
29th Jun 2014 20:48

Imperative

I am literally brand new in terms of a 'practice' (albeit on a part time basis). However I cannot comprehend NOT having a decent website.

There are cost effective ways in which you can build one yourself. Have a look at Wordpress.

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By DawnT
29th Jun 2014 20:56

Hi Pedre,

Thanks for your reply. I have only been in practice for two years and set myself up on a limited budget. I did initially build my own website, but I now feel that I have outgrown it and should have something more sophisticated in place.

If I engage a professional designer, I am not only paying for a decent design but for good SEO etc. I just want to make sure that the financial investment will be worth it.

 

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By Minnie136
29th Jun 2014 21:05

Only you can decide

If you think you will generate new leads or convert business then go for it, nothing wrong with having a professional website projecting the right image.  Do you think the existing website is letting you down?

I have been in practice for a year and set up the website first and it is very basic.  While it is a nice to have, all new clients are now from word of mouth and even though a lot are moving from larger practices, no one has said anything about my website.  

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By DawnT
29th Jun 2014 21:16

Hi Minnie,

Thank you for your reply. All of my clients are referrals or word of mouth and I have never advertised, which is great!

I was just interested to hear from larger practitioners with more sophisticated websites what % of new enquiries they get from their websites. I am looking to continue to grow the practice and I may be missing a good source of additional business.

 

 

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By Jekyll and Hyde
30th Jun 2014 08:35

I have a 5 page static website...
... so I aam not a large practice. I like the larger websites as I et to use their calculators and guidance, however I am not convinced my clients would do the same as they tend to ask me questions and I answer them. The age old personal touch.

I have a question for you. Are you happy with your growth to date and the referrals you have received? If so I would perhaps put investment into your referral system rather than a new website, because if that is working then the bigger you grow the better the referrals you get.

As for a website, I have come accross too many sophisticated websites that have all the links and news feeds, but when you look at the detail the website hasn't been maintained and is out of date. Ie, the last bit of news was from 2010. The calculators are for 2010/11. So remember if you are going to have a sophisticated website, I feel you need to also think of the annual investment cost of keeping it up to date.

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By bernard michael
30th Jun 2014 08:55

I've not received a single client from my admittedly crap website. I have to ask the question why anyone would select an accountant by virtue of a wonderful website, which is designed by professionals to look good but is not indicative of how good at accountancy a firm is.Perhaps I'm not fit for this modern techno age?

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Replying to Wilson Philips:
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By Kirkers
30th Jun 2014 09:29

Yes

bernard michael wrote:

I've not received a single client from my admittedly crap website. I have to ask the question why anyone would select an accountant by virtue of a wonderful website, which is designed by professionals to look good but is not indicative of how good at accountancy a firm is.Perhaps I'm not fit for this modern techno age?

I agree to an extent. I don't think people assume a firm is good based on a well created website. On the other hand I do think people decide against an accountant if they don't have a decent one.
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By leicsred
30th Jun 2014 08:56

Leads

We have one of the generic web sites and in terms of absolute leads from it I would think 2 or 3 a year, but it is impossible to say whether they would have come even if we had a one page static website as the primary driver is often location.

What we have found the website more useful for is to give people an idea that we are an established firm after they have driven past us or heard us mentioned by their mate in the pub, and also to provide personalised help sheets top email to clients.

For us we can't put a value on the work generated by our website, but I think that presence on the internet - Twitter, blogs, Facebook and website all help to raise your profile in terms of searches and making some clients feel that you are active rather than passive. (rightly or wrongly!)

We are now re designing our website to include more personalised free add-ons for potential clients - e.g. free simple software for start ups - and hopefully making a personalised Iris Openspace portal on the site.

 

 

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By pedre
30th Jun 2014 09:05

Maybe I'm looking at this...

...from the wrong lens. Due to having a handful of clients (and wanting more!) the favoured referral method I feel is something I don't have control over. However I'm all about building a brand and to me if someone went on my website and saw that it was professional and modern, it would be indicative of the end product (I hope). Just my thoughts but they're in the absence of having the client base to get referrals from.

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By Philip Hoyle
30th Jun 2014 09:44

Mixed results

I've been through the "off the shelf" websites from Mercia and Accountant Websmiths but was ultimately disappointed.  Not by their service, which was excellent from both suppliers.  Not by the website itself, which looked good and was functional.  But by the type of "potential" client I received enquiries from.  Most were the kind of people I wasn't really looking for, particularly people from abroad sounding as if they wanted a UK accountant for their maybe dodgy dealings.  Also from other dubious characters wanting details of tax avoidance/evasion schemes (which weren't mentioned on my website!).  I also found myself heavily spammed  Despite loads of factsheets, online calculators, etc., very few clients used them (if any).

My most successful period of website presence was in the very early days, 10-15 years ago when I put up my own amateur websites written in frontpage express (basically a several page word document on line with a few links etc).  Don't know whether it was the timing at the infancy of the broadband age, or whether my personality came through a home made website, but I got quite a lot of new clients from it.

Now I'm in a half way house with a professionally designed wordpress site, but where I've written the content myself, which is back to being basics etc., no online calculators or gimmicks, etc., and I'm definitely getting the kind of client that I'm aiming to attract.  No longer get the overseas enquiries or dodgy clients.

A smart, flash, all singing all dancing website is fine if that's the image you want to portray, but if you're a small firm, maybe limited in your services and client base, then I'd say you need a smaller-scale simpler website to engage your target audience.

But the main thing is SEO, keywords, content, etc., as that's what gets you your Google rankings and without that you may have the best website in the world, but no-one will find you.

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By ShirleyM
30th Jun 2014 09:48

A more established practice only needs a basic website

One of the busiest (and very hard working) sole practitioners on here has a really crappy website ... I am sure he won't mind me saying that as he has said it himself.

For newer practices, I think it depends on your target clients. A big flash website may well push smaller clients away (they may think the practice is too grand or expensive for their modest needs), but may attract the larger business. A way around this problem may be to publish your standard fees on the website.

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By c-adamsllp
30th Jun 2014 12:15

A really powerful tool!

Just come across this and felt i'd have my say...

How can we not afford to have a good website in this day and age??

How many people actually pick up the trusty old Yellow Pages??

I'd have to strongly disagree with anyone who believes that people wouldn't be put off obtaining accountancy services if their website looked naff. Let's say for example that someone is looking for a new accountant in a specific area and after a Google search they are presented with two different companies: one website is really bland and looks as if it's been hiding in the dark and dusty corners of the internet; the other looks visually striking, modern and professional. Which one are you going to choose?

A website really is the shop window to your company and you don't really have to pay too much to have a 'decent' one.

I guess it's a bit like wearing shorts and T-shirts to a black tie event... 

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By MissAccounting
30th Jun 2014 12:34

I have a self-built website (Wordpress) and a most people comment how good it is and a few people have actually asked for the web designers details which is quite the compliment!

However, as good as the website is (certainly compared to the local competition) I find that 90% of the enquiries from there are people looking for cheaper prices or starting out in busines, neither of which I am interested in so I would think carefully before committing a couple of grand to do it properly.

Im not saying dont have a good website as clients who have been referred from existing clients will probably check your website out etc but regarding SEO and getting to the top of Google it will depend on the type of client you are looking for I guess.

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By gerrysims
30th Jun 2014 12:40

well worth it

We have a bespoke website designed by a professional designer (my wife !). I would say 80% of our business comes directly from the site. We do operate in niche areas but our excellent SEO focusses on these so it pays dividends. We only run one generic advert in a specialist paper which doesn't actually generate a lot but between my partner and I we field about 20 enquiries a week directly from hits on the website.

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By morgani
30th Jun 2014 13:42

Target

From speaking with other accountants and from the mixed answers on here I think it asks who are you targeting?  Is it going to be a website for new business or is it going to be one for existing clients?

For me it is for new clients.  Therefore I have nothing really of any value on there for existing clients, no tax tables, tax calculators, etc.  It is completely aimed at potential new clients and what they can get from us.  It's basic and to the point and... it works.

I gain on average 4 clients per month and 50% come from the website with the other 50% from referrals.  In terms of leads I generate about 4 from my website per month so around 50% sign up.  Not all the clients are the type we wish to take on and some are just time wasters but the majority are good.  This has been the way we have built our practice since 2009 when I left employment and as at today we now have 185 clients so almost a net gain of 40 clients per year.

You need something to drive traffic to your website.  I've tried SEO but to be honest I get much better results with Adwords.  It isn't cheap but you can control your costs.

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By DawnT
30th Jun 2014 23:07

Thank you to everyone that has replied. I found all of your comments really useful.

Before I commit to spending money I can't really afford, I think I will have a go at building a wordpress website and if I can't develop a professional looking site, then I will engage a web designer.

 

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
01st Jul 2014 12:48

@Gerry Sims

Will your wife design me one?

I have been having the same thoughts about a website. I have had a holding page fo12 months and just not had time to put into to it to get it right.

I have gained a lot of work elsewhere so I have been busy and not convinced a website would deliver much in way of referrals.

I agree that the news feeds are not really used by clients.

 

 

 

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Alex Tucker, PracticeWEB
By AlexTucker
02nd Jul 2014 10:26

The % of clients that come from the web will of course depend on how actively you promote yourself via other means. At PracticeWEB we use a few benchmarks to test the effectiveness of a website in generating new business and you can read a bit about these here:

http://www.practiceweb.co.uk/news-and-opinion/blog/how-much-web-traffic-do-you-need-grow-your-business

There are also a few areas we suggest practices pay particular attention to in order to get the best conversion rates they can from their web presence

http://www.practiceweb.co.uk/news-and-opinion/blog/six-easy-ways-get-more-conversions-your-website

Hope this is useful.

 

 

 

 

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By Outerbridge Pen
07th Aug 2014 12:49

The profession with the worst websites?

c-adamslip - you are spot-on.

It's not just about how many leads you get from the website - it's how many people look at your website and decide not to contact you and go elsewhere. Or never find your website at all.

I am constantly amazed at the poor quality of websites belonging to accountancy practices. In fact, it may even be the profession with the worst websites. How accountants expect people to buy from them when their website gives an less-than-professional image is beyond me.

A proper website is an investment, not a cost.

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