The cost of setting up a custom accounting website design can speedily get out of control, but if you understand a few basic trade secrets you can seriously shrink if, not eliminate, your set-up expenses.

Before you decide to use one ask yourself, "Do I truthfully need a custom site". There are astonishingly few advantages to having a "from the bottom up" custom CPA and Accounting site.

Personally I suggest using a template instead of investing in a custom designer.

A lot of owners drive their costs up and delay their site publication for months worrying about the least important element of a site design. The graphic design should be completely finalized before your designer writes a single line of code. The look of the website isn't that important to the websites overall effectiveness.

You're going to be up to your eyeballs creating content for your site. It really doesn't make much sense to obsess on the superficial appearance of the site. All this does is add to your costs and make more work for you. Get it done, and get it done fast. If your designer is any good at all you should be able to get the graphic design decisions made in a few drafts. Will it be perfect? Probably not. But it will be good! Custom accounting website design starts at about $2000 and in many cases this is a vanity expense. There are a lot of companies that provide excellent accounting and tax website templates. These products are more than adequate for most small to medium sized firms. They also tend to come packed with content, so you'll be able to get a good site up much faster for a lot less work.

If you decide that having the unique look and feel is worth some extra money you may still be able to avoid the bulk of the expenses accrued by setting up a custom site. Some companies that provide accounting or CPA website templates will be able to modify an existing template to suit your needs much more cheaply than the cost of a full blown custom site.

Before making this decision, consider this. One problem I have all the time is when a client with a modest understanding of design comes into the process with a rigid preconception of what he or she wants. These are without doubt some of the ugliest websites I've ever done. Let's do some honest self reflection here. Accountants get paid to pay meticulous attention to detail. You're likely a type A personality and are loath to surrender control to someone else. Well, this can get very expensive when you're dealing with a web designer, so here's some pointers for keeping our natural tendencies from doubling or tripling the cost of our site. It's just not a good idea to indulge in artistic expression when someone else is holding the brush. It's best to approach the design process with an open mind about what the final result will be.

A website is primarily a commercial product, not an artistic one. Consider Google, CraigsList, and Reddit. All are A-list websites, and all have site styles that range from minimalist to just plain ugly. Aesthetics just isn't that important to designing a commercially successful website.

Your ability to provide accurate and timely tax and financial advice and preparation is far more important than your eye for color and balance, so stick to what you do best and trust your designer to do the same.

The number one reason for design cost overruns is overestimating the importance of graphic design. Finalize your graphic design choices before the designer starts coding, and once you make your decision, stick to it. Once the coding process begins even seemingly minor changes become very expensive.

Be aware that every monitor displays colors a little bit differently, so there's no point in obsessing on colors.

The key to custom accounting site design is to find a good designer. Find a skilled and experienced designer who understands your basic vision and trust his or her process. Stay focused on the design elements that really matter.

Don't strive for perfection. It can be very frustrating to see a website sit idle for months or even years because an obsessive owner is trying to perfect it. Every day that goes buy is another day of lost revenues and lost domain authority. Even if they succeed it's never worth the time and money they spent getting it "just so". The most ironic part is that while they may have a really nice site, it's a site designed to appeal to the website owner. This is not a good advertising paradigm. Too many advertisers are afraid to confront their clients on this issue and just let them do this. You're not trying to get you to hire yourself. You're trying to get your prospects to hire you, so design your site to appeal to them. The perfect shade of blue really won't help much attracting a wide range of prospects. What matters is having useful, diverse content and presenting it in a personable, easy to navigate way.

Website development is an ongoing process, so don't think of your CPA website as finished just because you've got your design done. Your accounting site won't ever actually be "finished". I've had clients put off publishing sites for months waiting to finish the site. This is a trouble doubled. It's unhealthy to let yourself think of your website as finished. As soon as you do it will quickly slide in obsolescence.

We've all seen sites like this, with news and tax updates years out of date and broken links all over it. Are you impressed by sites like this? Well... neither are your clients and prospects.

Once you decide to get a website, make your priority to get it up as quickly as possible. A website only has value if it's public. Not only will it start making money for you, it will also begin accumulating domain authority in the search engines. Once the site is open you can continue to tweak it all you like. Tweaking the site once it's open will actually help you get your accounting website noticed by the search engines.

Your website is an investment in your firm. Handle it the same way you'd treat a new lobby, a direct marketing campaign, or any equivalent marketing outlay. Whether you decide to set up a custom CPA and Accounting design or start with a template and progress from there, get your website up promptly and let your clients and prospects watch as it continually gets better.