Firm Management
2013 Review of Build Your Firm Websites for Accountants
Nov. 29, 2013
From the Dec. 2013 issue.
Overview
Build Your Firm uses a staff web site consultants to write copy, create pages, optimize navigation, and perform maintenance tasks. The company estimates that the consultant will write 95% of the site content, and the firm will be responsible for creating partner and manager biographies and approving the consultant’s work. The base plan includes 1 GB of storage (additional storage can be added for $9.95/mo per GB), and is hosted in a secure data center with 24 hour monitoring and security. The company provides a 100% uptime guarantee for its web hosting services.
Firms can create an unlimited number of mailboxes for staff which are hosted on the Build Your Firm website, or they can operate their own dedicated e-mail server at their own expense. One internet domain (yourcpafirm.com) is included with the price of the subscription, and users can add additional domains as desired for a small fee. Firm pictures, stock photos, and videos can be added to the website to give it a personalized feel.
The base service includes file transfer, a client facing portal, e-mail newsletters, newsletter management tools, e-commerce integration, a page for promoting publications and events, and spam filtering. Optional add-on services include tools for managing Google Adwords and other pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns. WordPress blog hosting can be integrated into the custom website for an additional fee.
The service does not currently have a social media templating toolset, although the company made significant enhancements to its client e-mail communication system for 2013, including tools for reputation management, automated birthday e-mails, creation of e-newsletters, and routine client correspondence. The base service includes a form for self-service e-mail newsletter subscription maintentance, financial calculators, and basic search engine optimization (SEO). The default statistics package is Awestats, but the company supports integration of the industry standard Google Analytics stats application upon request.
Best Firm Fit:
Build Your Firm provides customized content and web design for a unique website solution designed to meet the needs of each individual firm. Practitioners with specialized or nontraditional practices should be a good fit for this solution.
Strengths
- A library of e-mail newsletter articles are provided to subscribers.
- An optional WordPress blog can be added for a small additional charge.
- The company has ten years of experience creating websites for accountants.
Potential Limitations
- The integrated client portal application has very limited capabilities, but the service can be integrated with ShareFile for an additional fee.
- Although firms can make minor changes to their websites, most of the significant modifications must be created and uploaded by the website consultant.
Summary and Pricing
Pricing is variable based on a wide range of available services and add-ons, and starts at $83.33 per month ($1,000 per year), with no set up fee for a basic Premier website, and base setup fees of up to $1,500 for customized Niche websites. Websites are offered with a 60-day free trial.