Today's Technology for Tomorrow's Firm.
Issue link: https://cpapracticeadvisor.epubxp.com/i/511071
14 May 2015 • www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com FEATURE Here are some simple things you c a n do to ma ke su re you r f i r m's website and marketing eforts are moving in the mobile direction. MAKE SURE YOUR WEBSITE IS M O BI L E F R I E N D LY. I N A P R I L , Goog le deployed what 's ca l led a mobile moniker that is assigned to w e b s i t e s o n m o b i l e a n d t a b l e t searches. Tis alerts the searcher to t he site's mobi le f r iend ly desig n. Speak w ith your website adminis- trator to ensure the site is mobile ready in 2015. You can test the site on tools, such as Google's Mobile Friendly Testing tool. CHECK YOUR FIRM'S WEBSITE ANALYTICS REPORT for the past 12 mont h s to see how muc h t ra f f ic comes to the site from mobile and tablet dev ices. Then compare the r e p o r t m o n t h - o v e r - m o n t h t o determine the increase in mobile trafc to your site. You should begin to see a patern of increase, which will only continue to escalate as the year moves forward. LOCAL LISTINGS. Google, Bing, and Yahoo! each have a free, local listing feature you can use to display you r f i r m's geog raph ic loc at ion, hou r s , ser v ic e s , a nd more . T h i s listing w il l appear on mobile and desktop devices whether your web- site is mobile friendly or not. APPLICATIONS. More and more applications clients want and need are being ofered on mobile devices. You, too, may leverage those apps. T h i n k about e x pense repor t i ng , accounts payable and receivables, and even mobile/cloud document upload i ng a nd dow n load i ng fea- tures. Providing an added value to c l i e n t s v i a a n y t i m e/a n y w h e r e applications is a w in-w in for both you and them. EMAIL. Check your current email template on mobile devices. If you have a multi-column email template, test it using the applications mobile pre v ie w fe at u re – bot h C on s t a nt Contact and MailChimp ofer this feature. A lso, if you send emails to clients, make sure the font size and for m at t i n g a re e a s y to u s e on a mobi le dev ice. I f not, consider a si ng le-colu m n for mat for f ut u re campaigns. CONTENT CREATION. Developing content in mobile-friendly formats i s i m p o r t a n t . C o n s i d e r v i d e o , images, blogs, and lead generation forms you can use to market your frm's services, resources, and tools. Te more mobile friendly your frm's content is, the beter chance it has to be shared, liked, commented on— all helping to increase your brand a nd i n f luence you r f i r m's sea rch ranking. Mobile technology will continue to move forward, even to wearables. Yo u r e f f o r t s t o k e e p y o u r f i r m moving forward may depend on this technology as well—if not today, in the near future. W h a t q u e s t i o n s d o y o u h a v e about developing a mobile-friendly marketing strategy for your frm? B elieve it or not, accounting firms that focus on lever- aging mobile technology in their practice are ahead of the curve. Mobile marketing is "the now" and the wave of t he f u t u re. Accord i ng to recent reports from Wolters Kluwer, CCH, BMO Wealth Institute, and the AICPA, mobile efforts rank in the top three initiatives best- practice frms employ. Becky Livingston has more than 25 years' experience in marketing and technology in fnancial services and engineering frms. She is the President and CEO of Penheel Marketing , a boutique marketing frm specializing in social media and digital marketing for CPAs. Connect with Becky's frm on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Plus, Pinterest, and YouTube. Join the conversation in CPA Practice Advisor's LinkedIn group: www.linkedin. com/groups/cpa-practice-advisor-3927201 Why CPAs Should Embrace Mobile Marketing By Becky Livingston